CYCLING groups today hit out at the delay on work to create a new cyclepath and walkway in an abandoned railway tunnel near the city centre.
The Rodney Street tunnel in Canonmills is being re-opened after 40 years to let cyclists and walkers avoid a busy road on their way between the city centre and the city's foreshore.
But no progress has been made on the £350,000 scheme for almost
a year after work stopped amid a funding shortfall.
Transport charity Sustrans has finished reinforcement work on the tunnel – which lies between the King George V playing field and Tesco on Broughton Road – but work to create a path and light the tunnel has yet to begin.
Council chiefs today insisted the remaining money for the project has to come from the Scottish Government, something which it is working with Sustrans to achieve.
Ian Maxwell, a member of cycling pressure group Spokes, said: "This is a key link in the network of cycle paths in Edinburgh and it would be splendid to get cyclists away from what is a very busy junction.
"It is a real shame that this project appears to be falling down when much of the work has already been done. We will keep up the pressure on the council to try and get a resolution to this."
Originally built in the 19th century, it was designed to take trains from Canal Street station – on the site of Waverley Station – to the Granton ferry, before the Forth Bridge was built.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: "I recently visited King George V Park and was very concerned to notice that work still hasn't been started on the Rodney Street Tunnel.
"Money has already been spent on upgrading the tunnel, and all it needs is lighting, a path and some speed-calming measure at the entrance. It would be a great route if completed, and I am writing to the council's director of city development to ask why the work still hasn't started."
The tunnel's cast iron arch had deteriorated and the northern end was no longer strong enough to support the road above. The first part of work, which got under way in early 2007, was to construct a reinforced concrete arch to overcome this problem.
The path will fill a missing link in National Cycle Network route 75, which runs all the way from Glasgow to Edinburgh.
A council spokeswoman said: "It's unfortunate that no funding seems to be available to see this project through to fruition at this time. We're committed to improving access for cycling and will work with Sustrans to push this forward."
Nobody from Sustrans was available for comment.
