We’re pleased to share a mega-update on several key road safety initiatives within our Community Council area, focused on the Merchiston Ave / Polwarth Crescent / Yeaman Place corridor.
Over the past few years we have been working with the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) to inform the development of several schemes including the Polwarth roundabout junction redesign, and the Merchiston Ave/Rochester Junction Local Traffic Improvement project. These are advancing well and moving towards delivery in 2027 (we hope!). We also have brief updates on long-awaited traffic lights at Yeaman Place/Dundee street (sadly delayed into mid-2028) and a new project to improve the Merchiston Ave/Colinton Road junction. Read on for full details!
Polwarth Junction redesign advancing towards delivery
Work is actively advancing on the Polwarth roundabout transformation, moving the project from the design phase toward delivery in early 2027. It has now been one year since our community responded to the CEC consultation, overwhelmingly supporting the shift from a risky, car-centric roundabout to a safer, pedestrian-focused T-Junction.
For those needing a reminder of the approved “Design Option 2,” the final plan includes:
- A T-Junction to simplify traffic flow and reduce speeds.
- Significantly widened pavements throughout the junction area.
- New and improved crossings: Including a new zebra crossing at the southern end of Polwarth Crescent (from the barbershop to Margiotta’s) and an enlarged zebra crossing at the southwest branch.
- Community-prioritised safety: Reflecting local feedback, a pedestrian refuge is confirmed between Cafe Florentin and Polwarth Pharmacy, taking precedence over a third loading bay.
- Two new formalised loading areas to support local businesses without compromising pedestrian space.
- You can revisit the original announcement and view the full design schematics here.
Since the beginning of 2026, the CEC road safety team has been working hard behind the scenes to fine-tune the designs and ensure they pass a Road Safety Audit.
We are pleased to share some positive improvements that resulted directly from community feedback:
Greenery! One of the main points of community feedback was to incorporate some greenery into the new junction design. CEC officers undertook extensive studies to understand how planters could be incorporated. The good news is that the designs have been updated to include two ground-level planters that will add greenery and also help with natural rainwater drainage. These will be located on the South-East side of the junction, near the existing zebra crossing over Polwarth Gardens.
New raised crossings! Many residents, especially parents of school-age children, wanted additional safety measures to support children crossing side-roads on the way to school, especially where Merchiston Avenue crosses Granville Terrace/Polwarth Gardens (google map link). Although many local parents called for a zebra crossing at this location, the CEC deemed that it would not work well due to poor sightlines and could create new hazards — we detailed this in an earlier blog post. CEC has, however, confirmed they will proceed with raised crossings at both minor arms of Merchiston Avenue. It will not be a “continuous crossing” (where the pavement itself extends across the junction). Rather, the pedestrian crossing surface will be level with the footpath, encouraging vehicles approaching the junction to slow down. According to CEC, this should further aid pedestrians and discourage traffic from rerouting. You can see example of such a crossing at Newbattle Terrace/Morningside Road (google map link).
Cycle hangars! We pushed to have cycle hangars installed as part of the scheme, providing much-needed secure on-street cycle storage for our tenement-dwelling residents. We’ve recently learned that several locations in Polwarth are slated for the next batch of cycle hangars which will be installed in late-2026. Two cycle hangars — each with a total of 12 spaces for bikes — are proposed on each of the following streets: Bryson Road, Forbes Road, Harrison Road, Polwarth Gardens, Temple Park Crescent and Bryson Road. The Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for these has already been advertised and is now under review. In 2027, new hangars are proposed for Ashley Terrace, Dorset Place, Harrison Gardens and Leamington Terrace.
Benches! Two new benches are proposed for the area outside of Margiotta’s, offering a lovely green view down Granville terrace with St. Giles in the distance. We hope that new benches will support our vision of transforming this area to be a place where people are happy to meet their neighbours, shop, and linger.
Next steps The Polwarth junction designs will soon be advertised via a Traffic Regulation Order and will then be slated for delivery. CEC hopes that construction can begin sometime in 2027. We will communicate dates as soon as we know more.
Junction improvements planned for Merchiston Ave /Rochester Terrace
The junction at Merchiston Ave / Rochester terrace will be also redesigned this year, following a successful submission by our Community Council to the CEC’s Local Traffic Improvement Programme. Nearly 100 residents responded to our community survey in December 2025, and this helped inform the Council’s decision to move ahead – read those survey responses here. Thank you to all of you who took the time to share your views!
The CEC road safety team has now proposed significantly widened pavements at all four corners of the junction, which will create a much shorter crossing radius for pedestrians, and improve sightlines for drivers and pedestrians and cyclists alike. The narrowed junction would also force speed reduction and discourage larger vehicles (especially HGVs) from using this road as a rat run. There will be ground-level planters here as well, and which will be placed to deter illegal parking which also blocks sightlines.
CEC wants to hear your views! If you have any views on these proposed improvements, please fill out this short survey.
We hope that CEC can deliver in this financial year, but there may be delays if the roadworks for this junction are packaged together with the Polwarth junction roadworks or the Merchiston Ave/Colinton Rd Junction (read on!). There are also plans for much-neededresurfacing along the entire length of Merchiston Ave sometime in 2027.
New project to improve Merchiston Ave/Colinton Road junction
We are delighted to share that CEC is also examining how to make improvements for this heavily used junction (near Starbucks and Tesco), which also happens to be an entry point for the Merchiston Ave / Polwarth Crescent / Yeaman Place rat run. We are in touch with the Road Safety Officer managing the scheme, and will share updates once the project is further along.
Tell us what you think! If you have any views on this junction (problems and ideas for improvements), please fill out this short survey.
Traffic lights at Yeaman place – delayed again
The long-awaited traffic lights where Yeaman Place meets Dundee Street are unfortunately delayed once more. A 4-way traffic light is proposed as part of the Fountainbridge/Dundee Street active travel scheme. The project start date has been delayed another three months, from Jan 2028 to April 2028. This comes from the council’s June 2026 update (PDF – scroll down for ongoing projects). We want to confirm that this project is not paused, just delayed. Many other CEC active travel projects are facing similar frustrating lags. Residents have been waiting decades for safer crossings there and we urge CEC to move ahead and implement this without further delay.
A positive set of changes for our community
Overall, we are pleased to see these different strands of work coming together and we urge CEC not to delay on delivery! We started the Polwarth Pavements project in 2022 and have been engaging constructively with CEC ever since to address local road safety issues.
In 2024, we reported that some 65,000-70,000 vehicles, including thousands of HGVs, negotiate the current Polwarth roundabout weekly, a volume that is inappropriate for residential streets.
By redesigning several key junctions in ways that prioritise pedestrian safety, we believe these schemes will make a notable difference to people walking, wheeling and cycling to school, work, shops and beyond. It will also reduce risk for drivers as they will need to slow down and give way.
Taken together, all these schemes should markedly reduce the use of Yeaman Place / Polwarth Crescent / Merchiston Ave as an arterial route. We believe these schemes will help rebalance priority away from non-resident drivers looking for a shortcut and improve resident safety and well-being.
