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Scotsman
23-06-2025
- Scotsman
Council chiefs looking at road safety measures after incident near Edinburgh school
Council chiefs are to consider a series of safety improvements near an Edinburgh school after a boy was reported to have been hit by a van and knocked off his scooter. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The incident happened in September last year, near the junction of Comiston Road and Morningside Drive, as the boy was on his way to South Morningside Primary School. His mother petitioned the council's transport and environment committee in December, calling for immediate safety measures to stop a child being killed. Nadia Cunden, who has two children at the school, said many parents were frightened every day when they took children to school. South Morningside Primary School Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She claimed the daily journey to school was unsafe, with signs hidden by bushes, bins blocking drivers' and pedestrians' view and a shortage of lollipop patrols. A site visit involving officials and ward councillors was held last month and an update to the committee sets out a number of observations. 'The crossing patrol guide's visibility is obscured by buses waiting at the stop on Comiston Road. The bus shelter at Braidburn is obstructing the footway. The location of this bus stop also obscures visibility of traffic signals. 'Signage located in front of a set of traffic signals is obscuring visibility. A green lamp is not operating at one set of signals, a 20mph sign is obscured by a bus stop and the signpost is loose. A school warning sign is misaligned. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Suggestions include a zebra crossing at Comiston Drive/Road, continuous footways at Greenbank Avenue and Comiston Gardens, and buildouts for Greenbank Drive and Crescent. 'Some footways are narrow or uneven. The yellow box junction markings are faded, and road markings overall require to be refreshed. 'Residential parking around Craiglea Drive should be reviewed with consideration given for installing red lines. 'Overhanging vegetation is obscuring signage at one location. Hedge encroachment is reducing footway width on Comiston Road. A bin hub is causing an obstruction and impeding pedestrian access on footway.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And the update concludes: 'Officers from the Road Safety team will liaise with colleagues to consider these observations as part of the School Travel Audit process.' The update also notes that as part of the council's approved Road Safety Delivery Plan, new 'pedestrian facilities' are already planned at the junctions of Morningside Drive and Comiston Road, and Craiglea Drive and Comiston Road this financial year. Committee convener Stephen Jenkinson said: 'It is important when there has been any incident involving children near school, or on their way to school or their way home, that the road safety team do a thorough investigation and then liaise with the school community to see what steps can be put in place to see that it doesn't happen again. 'I'm really pleased that members of the committee, officers and the school community have got together to discuss this. A lot of issues have been highlighted and I'm sure the discussions and recommendations made as part of those sessions will be considered carefully by officers as they develop school road safety initiatives, not only in South Morningside but across the city.'
Edinburgh Reporter
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Edinburgh Reporter
A peaceful protest on Ashley Terrace – but with a serious message
On Wednesday evening locals took to the streets in a peaceful protest drawing attention to the amount of traffic, the speed of the traffic and the lack of pedestrian crossings. An 80-year-old woman was seriously injured at the junction of Ashley Terrace on 28 April. Cllr Christopher Cowdy said to The Edinburgh Reporter: 'The biggest problem is lack of resources in the council. So when I came here in 2022 there was already a pedestrian crossing programme. There were hundreds of crossings being promised. But within a year, when I was on the Transport Committee that had already run over two years late, because they had bitten off more than they could chew, they said, and they were lacking in resources. 'So I know that the city council is short of money, and it's running on a budget deficit about £50 million a year, and trying and trying to make that up, and trying to get the resources to provide all of the crossings for all of the schools across the entire city is very difficult.' David Hunter of Living Streets said: 'I think it's fantastic to see. I think pedestrians often don't kick up as much of a fuss as maybe other groups do, so it's great to see it mobilised. 'There must be quite a strength of feeling to have this amount of support. 'But of course there has been a really serious injury to an old lady here. You can see the speed, some of this traffic's going at. I think we really need a strategy for the whole city. I would like to see more money going into these kind of routine improvements, particularly around schools, and I think it would get a lot of public support.' Despite the council promising crossings three years ago nothing has happened, although Cllr Stephen Jenkinson the Transport Convener has said that 'Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, Transport and Environment 'pedestrian safety across the city is a priority' He said: 'I fully understand the safety concerns raised by the community in relation to the junction at Ashley Terrace and Harrison Gardens, particularly given the recent road traffic accident which took place there. 'As outlined in the Road Safety Delivery Plan, there are plans in place for two footpath build-outs on Ashley Terrace. Unfortunately, we have experienced some delays due to necessary design revisions and coordination with other services. 'In relation to Ashley Terrace, the installation of a build-out directly in front of the school entrance requires the relocation of a nearby bin hub. This is being progressed through a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) by the Waste team, and we are awaiting further updates from them.' Like this: Like Related
