Queensferry Road bus lane: Ill-conceived idea will punish more than it will help

WHILE Greenways have undoubtedly brought benefits to bus commuters in Edinburgh by speeding up journey times, they have also deliberately made car journeys on main routes much more difficult. With reduced space for other road users it is inevitable that queues, particularly at peak travel times, will be greater and journeys will take longer.

The installation of Greenways has had the greatest effect in increasing congestion on some of the city's main arterial routes, namely the A8 corridor and the Calder Road. At peak times when traffic flows are heavy, buses get a free run while drivers can do little but sit out the slow crawl to and from work. Most notably on the A8 route, bottlenecks at Haymarket, Roseburn and on St John's Road are common and the dual carriageway through Sighthill is effectively reduced to one lane as drivers negotiate a series of busy roundabouts.

But while both of these roads are busy they pale in comparison to Queensferry Road, the main feeder route into the north of the city and Leith from the Forth Bridge, the west and central Scotland. At peak times drivers can always expect to face lengthy delays. It is understandable that bus companies using this route are seeking a way to circumvent the queues and are seeking a rapid escape from the city by having a bus lane installed on a section of the northbound carriageway. But are all interests served by such a scheme? The main beneficiaries are long-distance operations such as Stagecoach's inter-city services and First, as relatively few routes operated by Lothian Buses go beyond this point.

Despite a wide choice of public transport options from Fife and beyond, many still choose to drive to Edinburgh and shaving a few minutes off the exit time from the city on a homeward bus journey is hardly likely to woo them from behind the wheel and on to public transport.

But the likely outcome of this scheme would be to increase congestion in Blackhall as far back as the busy junction at Hillhouse Road and Telford Road where traffic from the east and city centre already merge as they seek to exit the Capital. Before allowing this to happen it is to be hoped that the council will very carefully weigh up the benefits against the likely consequences of giving such an ill-conceived proposal the go-ahead. It might trim the number of cars coming into town initially, but the price will be unprecedented congestion.

Here is an opportunity to show that they are not always anti-car and are prepared to resist the narrow self-interest of bus operators by rejecting a scheme that will punish far more people than it will assist.