As many of you will have noticed, the trial Corstorphine Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) project (aka Corstorphine Connections) started on 24 May. These changes aim to make our streets feel safer and easier for walking, wheeling, cycling and spending time in by reducing the amount of non-residential through traffic.
Thanks to the implementation of an Experimental Traffic Order (ETRO), the key interventions – including a timed bus gate on Manse Road designed to reduce traffic while children travel to and from Corstorphine Primary School and restrictions on cars exiting from Featherhall Avenue onto St John’s Road – can remain in place for a limited period of 18 months while the effects are monitored and assessed. A six month public consultation period on the ETRO has now started.
Those of you who have children at Corstorphine and Carrick Knowe Primary Schools, or who live on Manse Road or Featherhall in particular, will have already noticed the improvements in terms of the reduction in “rat-running” by cars and vans passing through the area.
We’ve heard from residents who feel the streets are safer for their children to walk, play and cycle, particularly at weekends when parking is drastically reduced. It feels as if motor vehicles are now less dominant in the area, making the streets a great deal more pleasant for other users.
The trial comes after decades of frustration from Corstorphine residents faced with an ever increasing volume of traffic on our residential streets, and Low Traffic Corstorphine’s stance is that a “try then modify” approach is best. Let’s see what happens in the first six months and make changes to address any concerns from those who live and work in the area.
Find out more about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods on our website.
Show your support
We’re urging everyone who lives in the LTN area to feed your comments back to City of Edinburgh Council before the six month consultation ends on 23 November 2023 by emailing Edinburgh.Consultation@projectcentre.co.uk – full details are on their website.
It’s essential that positive responses and suggestions are heard. You may be broadly in favour of the project, but still have ideas about how individual interventions could be improved. You may for example feel the scheme doesn’t go far enough!
Please also consider emailing your local representatives (City of Edinburgh Councillors, the community council, MSP and MP) to let them know your thoughts.