Edinburgh Council’s approach to road “improvement” is just a load of bollards, and Silverknowes is the latest in a long line of communities to bear the brunt of the onward march of the cones.
“It’s like a bowling alley,” said one exasperated Silverknowes Road resident who contacted me after she came home from a shopping trip to find she had nowhere to park her car, and thousands of people across the city will know what she means.
Under cover of an “experimental traffic order” the council has installed bollards and painted double yellow lines to limit parking and create cycle lanes, and the new restrictions will remain in place for 18 months while a “consultation” takes place.
It’s hard to tell what the consultation is for, apart from a token effort to comply with the law, because residents’ views were gathered by the Davidsons Mains Residents Association and such changes were roundly rejected. I went down to speak to locals last Friday and I have only heard from one resident in favour.
Apart from the loss of parking, it’s well known that the plinths for the posts create a trip hazard, and sure enough there have already been reports of accidents.
It’s just another example of the authority thinking it knows better than the residents what’s good for them, imposing changes where there wasn’t a problem and costing taxpayers thousands in the process.
But the councillors responsible for approving these schemes know exactly what they are doing. Experiments they are not.
