Great news: change is coming to the Polwarth Roundabout!
We are delighted to report that the City of Edinburgh Council is redesigning the Polwarth roundabout junction to improve safety, following a campaign by the Merchiston and Districts Community Council (MDCC). This is great news for local residents!
In August 2025, the City of Edinburgh Council released designs for a new road layout, which were developed in close consultation with MDCC. These designs were shared with residents for feedback and CEC is has now agreed to follow resident preferences, and implement design option 1.
You can read MDCC’s independent assessment of the City Council’s proposals.
To stay up to date, please sign up for project updates, and we will share news and opportunities for input. You can also contact us to share your views.
Project background
In spring 2022, MDCC received a grant from the City of Edinburgh Council to carry out a community engagement project focused on the pavements of Polwarth. The project focused on the Polwarth Roundabout — at the junction of Polwarth Gardens, Polwarth Crescent and Granville Terrace. Over 12 months, MCC collected community feedback, commissioned traffic surveys, and analysed pedestrian safety and public amenity issues.
The Polwarth Roundabout Report was published in July 2023. It proposes radical changes to the layout of the roundabout in order to improve safety, increase space for pavement users, reduce vehicle volume and speed, introduce much-needed facilities for cyclists, and ‘green’ the environment. The executive summary summarises MCC’s recommendations.
MDCC has been using the report to undertake lengthy engagement with the City Council.
In August 2024, MDCC was delighted to learn that a new ‘Local Traffic Improvement Programme’ had been set up; and that improvements to the Polwarth junction would be included in it. Some £100,000 has been allocated for 2024-25 for design work, with implementation to follow probably around 2026/27.
What’s next?
Keep an eye on the news page below for the latest updates as the project develops. And if you want to stay up to date with developments, please sign up for project updates using the form on this page, and share your views on the contact us page.
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Smoother does not mean safer! Have the pavement works at the Polwarth roundabout achieved anything? We think very little!
To the enormous frustration of all those involved in the detailed Merchiston Community Council study of the road safety and public realm problems around the Polwarth Roundabout, CEC has insisted on carrying out long-planned works to resurface the pavements at the Polwarth Gardens / Yeaman Place intersection without pausing to consider whether it could cost-effectively
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What’s happening to the Pavements in Polwarth? An update on the Polwarth Pavements Project and the council’s work along Polwarth Gardens.
POLWARTH ROUNDABOUT So much money spent, so little achieved Many of you have been asking about the works underway at the roundabout. This project is about resurfacing the pavements. Only that. Nothing more. The City Council decided to press ahead with this work, at substantial expense, despite pleas from Merchiston Community Council to delay the
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The Polwarth Project hits the Media!
The Edinburgh Evening News has today – March 25th 2024 – published an article about Merchiston Community Council’s now long-running Polwarth Pavements Project, which endeavours to improve safety for pedestrians, parents with buggies, wheelchair users and cyclists, while enhancing the immediate vicinity of this small but important hub. To read the article follow this link.
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Update to the Polwarth Pavements Improvement Project
Remember this? MCC has been busy trying to influence key people in the City Council & elsewhere to take up the proposals in our Polwarth report. There’s some disappointing news, but also some encouraging developments. Here’s a short update. MCC December 2023
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The Polwarth Roundabout report is finished
And now the hard part starts… Merchiston Community Council is glad to announce that its report on the Polwarth Roundabout is now complete and has been submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council. You can find the final report at this link. It now includes a report from Police Scotland, a new section on implementation,
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Not a good look — update on Polwarth Roundabout
Thanks to all of you who commented on our draft report on the Polwarth Roundabout. We have been busy revising the report before submitting it to the City of Edinburgh Council.