We have been out on the streets chatting with residents about plans to make the Polwarth Junction a safer and more pleasant place to shop, linger, walk and cycle.
Your responses have been largely positive, ranging from “hallelujah!” to “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” Very few people think that the roundabout works in its current design.
Thanks very much to those of you who have stopped to chat, ask questions, and share your experiences. We want to show the City of Edinburgh Council that the community wants change, and your engagement is a great sign of this.
What’s been happening behind the scenes?
Since late 2024, the Road Safety team at the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) have been doing an enormous amount of work behind the scenes.
- Listening to the Community: CEC officers have reviewed the data and recommendations from the Merchiston Community Council’s (MCC) 2023 Polwarth Roundabout Report to understand the community’s main concerns and recommendations.
- Engagement with MCC: MCC representatives have met with CEC officers to discuss the project scope, vision and how to best work together. CEC are keeping MCC informed of new developments and any updates that can be shared with residents.
- Traffic surveys: New traffic survey data has been collected and analysed. This measures the flow of vehicles, type of vehicles (including bicycles) and amount of vehicles using the roundabout area.
- Pedestrian surveys: New data has been gathered to track pedestrian movement at the junction, including the number of pedestrians and the type of pavement user (e.g. adult, child, wheelchair user).
- Topographical survey: CEC commissioned a detailed survey of the position and height of all the natural and man-made features within the project area – everything from kerbs and road markings to bins, signs, utility cables and manhole covers!
- Bus requirements: CEC officers have held discussions with Lothian Buses to ensure that a redesigned junction facilitates timely bus movement.
- New cycle hangars: The Council plans to add more bike storage units (cycle hangars) in Polwarth in 2025. While this is separate from the junction project, early talks have been promising. If you’d like secure bike storage near you, please let the Council know by filling out this form. If you’ve filled it out in the past, you can submit another request. Your requests will help them understand how many units are needed and support their funding applications.
Next steps this year
- Business engagement: CEC officers will be contacting local businesses to discuss their needs and concerns and to consult with them on the Council’s proposals for change.
- Share draft designs: The CEC will also share a draft design concept with MCC. We will use this to generate some visuals that are easy to understand and share these with you, our local residents, as part of our public engagement.
- Timing: We hope that these designs will be ready to share with our community in the first half of 2025.
Help share the good news
| We are keen to spread the word that change is coming. You may have seen our posters or flyers, and our email subscriber list is growing at an encouraging rate. Please share the news with your friends and neighbours and encourage them to sign up for project updates at our website. You can also download our flyer below to share electronically. |
Your views are always welcome!
You can always contact us with your questions or suggestions and we will ensure that key points are shared back with the Road Safety team.
