Green addendum
Addendum by the Green Group
Transport and Environment Committee
11 September 2025
Item 8.1 – City Mobility Plan Capital Investment
Programme Update 2025/26
Add at the end of recommendations:
1.2 Committee notes with concern that the A8 corridor project (Gogar/Maybury to
Roseburn), which was ranked with a total score of 25 and was agreed to ‘proceed’
in the CMP CIP prioritisation agreed by committee in May this year, is no longer
listed in the projects at appendix one; agrees therefore to receive an urgent
update from officers on the reason for this;
1.3 In respect of the ‘Liveable Neighbourhoods’ section of the report, committee
welcomes the £140,000 funding for further developments to the Leith Connections
project, and requests that officers carry out engagement with ward councillors and
other relevant stakeholders on the scope of works associated with this;
1.4 In respect of the Active Travel delivery delays section of the report, committee
agrees to receive a written briefing from officers in respect of the ‘Internal review
of TRO processes and resources’ mentioned at paragraph 4.16, and agrees that
‘Active Travel delivery delays’ should be a standing item on the meetings of the
Transport and Local Access Forum which consider transport matters, with updates
provided to committee via the business bulletin as and when required.
Moved by: Chas Booth
Seconded by:
Cllr Booth welcomes funding for planning of A8 project - this was cited in the Mobility Plan Delivery Plan as first project under new policy of main road segregated bike routes forming the 'Primary Cycle Network'
officer speaking
Scot Govt announcement of Bus Infra Fund cash, including A8 bike/bus corridor project - funiding is for initial planning only, further application would be needed for construction
Project name Description CEC or Regional
A8 Sustainable Transport Corridor Improvements in walking, wheeling and cycling from Gogar, Maybury to Roseburn including providing new bus priority while improve walking, wheeling and cycling. Tasks will include; Concept designs, transport modelling (integrating with existing WETIP proposals), options appraisal and stakeholder engagement. Within the limited time remaining this FY, we will prioritise specific focus on advancing designs for Drumbrae junction (benefiting public transport, pedestrians and cycling). CEC only scheme
A90 Blackhall Junction Improvement Improvements to the A90 Corridor based on smart technology (utilising Fusion – we are the only Local Authority in the Scotland to have Fusion) and small scale infrastructure for bus priority (where appropriate). Building on the existing Queue Management System on the outer section of the A90, the configuration of Fusion along the inner part of this corridor will further improve public transport journey times and reliability, particularly around the Blackhall junction, Hillhouse Road, Craigleith area. CEC only scheme
A702Sustainable Transport Corridor Detailed design and stakeholder engagement of public transport and active travel improvement (including traffic signal optimisation) along the corridor CEC only scheme
Midlothian, East Lothian and Edinburgh Sustainable Transport Corridors To continue design development and business case/value for money work on the development of a series of sustainable travel improvements on the A701, A7, A772 and A1/A199 (with bus priority at its core). This builds on previous Strategic Business Case Corridor work progressed via BPF. CEC Leading but in partnership with MLC and ELC
7-7-7 Trial - Phase 1 Deliver a trial to change bus lane operational hours …
#EdinWebcast
#MobilityPlan investment report-> democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s8...
Cllr @chasbooth.bsky.social:
Concern that Mobility Plan project to extend #CCWEL to #Corstorphine not mentioned
👍 A: Council has won cash (yesterday!) for A8 corridor🚲🚶🚌 planning (& other bus/bike corridors)
![Huge amounts of precious time having to be spent by officers in reassuring & re-reassuring worried councillors on issues where evidence is already pretty solid...
In conclusion, a random thought
Looking back on the stories above, one has to be struck by the huge amount of precious officer time that is devoted to handling the concerns of councillors worried by objections which in the end often prove either irrelevant or largely unfounded. Time which could be spent far more productively. Here are some examples…
There is no better example than the saga of the Travelling Safely experimental Orders and the role of the TRO subcommittee (see ‘2025’ near the start of this article), resulting in additional meetings and literally hundreds of pages of reports [e.g. this 682-page download for their third meeting covering much of the same ground]
The Braid Estate story (see above) is another – huge amounts of time in meetings, massive reports, preparation of traffic orders, finding contractors, abortive costs – all in aid of a messy compromise experiment, unwanted by many, and which may now not happen
Most recently, the decision of TRO Sub to postpone a decision on whether to allow east-bound cycling in Rose Street, where westbound has been legal for decades. Officers now have to prepare a report on issues such as whether bikes may collide with cafe tables or get through any roadworks that might happen, even though the existing west-bound cycling works perfectly well.
Is there a solution to this tragic time-wasting, delaying projects which are far more safety and environmentally significant? Certainly, objections must be heard, and councillors must interrogate officers. Some objections do have real substance. But when evidence is clear, and plainly laid out by officers when questioned at Committee (as, largely, in the above examples) surely there must be a mechanism for making councillors think twice. Is yet another investigation, more reports, more meetings, mor…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2ood4k4wojq5jku2zl3myqco/bafkreigm4aqkvdzwcswswz2vo5x3ao7darvfnglbc72ymh7jldoeddezza)
