Plans to build a new tramline linking the north and centre of Edinburgh seem certain to be to be shelved following a row over the proposed route. According to the BBC, City of Edinburgh Council would prefer to run the extension from Granton via the Roseburn Path, but has faced strong opposition from campaigners and local residents.
An alternative line, which would run across Dean Bridge from Orchard Brae, was also under consideration, however a report before the local authority’s transport and environment committee has recommended halting plans for now.
A separate southern-only extension, connecting Princes Street with the Royal Infirmary and BioQuarter development, is set to go ahead as a “priority”.
A consultation on the plans for the line extension was launched in August last year. It outlined two alternative routes as part of the latest phase of the Edinburgh Trams project.
One proposed sending the tramline along the Roseburn Path, a cycling and walking route which previously formed part of the now-defunct north suburban railway line.
Council officials recommended the path as the “preferred route” for the proposals, which were revised to include a line running alongside a pedestrian walkway.
However, those plans were at the centre of a row with campaigners, who claimed the proposed pedestrian route was “too narrow” and risked destroying local trees and wildlife.
Cost estimates for the Roseburn Path route were put at about £2.5 billion.
The second option proposed sending the tramline via Orchard Brae and across the A-listed Dean Bridge at a cost of about £2.9 billion. That would have required work to ensure the 193-year-old structure, which forms part of Edinburgh’s Unesco World Heritage Site, could bear the weight of the vehicles.
The council report found there were “public acceptability issues with both alternative routes”.
The council’s transport convener, councillor Stephen Jenkinson, said the Roseburn Path option remained the local authority’s “preferred route”.
He said the local authority has exhausted all other possibilities beyond the two suggested.
“It’s not off the table and I would like it to be delivered,” he said. My preference is the Roseburn Path route. I think it ticks the patronage number box, which obviously helps with future revenue. It’s cheaper to deliver and it has a reduced engineering risk.”
“But for now we are focusing on the southern route in the short to medium term because I think that’s more likely to receive the support from a regional transport perspective to enable it to be delivered.”
(Picture: Yay Images)
