Princes Street traffic-free from January

Seven months to lay tram tracks on busiest shopping street as cost of route jumps £10m.

PRINCES Street is to close to all traffic for seven months next year during work on the city's tram line.

The Evening News can reveal the city's busiest shopping street will be closed from January until the start of the festivals in August for the laying of tram tracks.

• Click here to see when where and when the trams work will start

Pedestrian access will be unaffected, but buses, bikes and taxis will be diverted on to George Street for the duration of the work.

It is understood that statues of George IV and William Pitt, which stand in the middle of roundabouts in George Street, will be moved along with other measures to allow the extra flow of buses.

The public opening of the tram line – previously stated as February 25, 2011 – is also likely to slip by up to two months as a result of protracted contract negotiations. And the overall cost of building the airport to Newhaven route has jumped from £498 million to £508m.

It is understood this is down to higher-specification trams being chosen for the scheme, as well as exposure to euro currency fluctuations.

Tram firm TIE today refused to be drawn on a future schedule of works, but next year looks set to be the most problematic for city residents with major works scheduled for every section of the line.

Documents obtained by the Evening News show continuous works on the different sections of Leith Walk are expected to last until the summer of 2010.

Construction on Princes Street will also coincide with work at the junction of Lothian Road at the West End. Shandwick Place is set to re-open to traffic by the end of this year, but will close again to allow tram workers to lay tracks in the autumn of 2009.

The last completed section of the tram line is expected to be at Picardy Place, where a tram and bus interchange will be built.

However, it is expected that the first trams won't be on the city's streets until August, 2010, when engineers begin to test the 27-strong Spanish-built fleet.

Driver and bus groups today warned motorists and passengers that disruption will be inevitable but business leaders said the closures could work in the city's favour.

Graham Bell, spokesman for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "If we accept the principle that the tram is a good thing for the city then we do have to accept there will be the consequent disruption while they build it.

"The good thing about a sustained closure like this is that TIE can get in and complete the work faster and the city can return to normal quicker.

"It is inevitable that there will be some increase in costs. I think TIE are doing their best to limit these and the contingency funding was built into this project for the unforeseen events like currency fluctuations."

The Evening News revealed last year that tram chiefs were considering closing Princes Street and diverting traffic on to neighbouring George Street. However, it was thought then that works would only be for two months.

TIE had previously stated that tram works would be carried out in stages, with a maximum of seven roadworks taking place at any one time, with each one no more than 200 metres long.

But it is thought a different strategy, which would see the firm close sections of streets to get quicker results, is now the preferred option.

Bill Campbell, Lothian Buses operations director, said: "With the majority of our bus services using Princes Street a total closure is bound to cause some disruption. We are, however, confident that with careful diversion planning we can minimise these delays and keep buses moving."

The entire programme of trams roadworks will take more than three years to complete and involve digging up the streets twice – to move water mains and gas pipes then build the tram lines, stops and overhead wires.

Bruce Young, Lothian and Borders co-ordinator of the Association of British Drivers, said: "There is no doubt that all this work is going to be very painful for motorists and I think we are now beginning to feel the full effects of this tram scheme.

"I don't know how they are going to justify the costs and the disruption against what we will be left with in the end."

A TIE spokesman said: "TIE cannot comment on speculation. We will be announcing the full construction programme for the remainder of the tram project on Friday."


Shortfall caused by exchange rates limited to £6m

TRAM bosses have limited the project's exposure to euro currency fluctuations to between £5 million and £6m, it emerged today.

The News revealed on Tuesday that plans to extend the city's tram line towards Granton were facing a shortfall of up to £30m.

Record low exchange rates between the Euro and pound in recent months have hampered TIE's attempts to complete deals with the German and Spanish firms it wants to supply the trams, tracks and other infrastructure needed for the project.

This has forced transport chiefs to dip into the scheme's £96m "contingency" reserves.

However, tram officials today said they've managed to keep their exposure to the currency fluctuations, which have hit most firms operating in the eurozone, down.

The currency changes, combined with tram chiefs plumping for higher specification trams, has seen the price of line 1A increase by £10m to £508m.

And it is thought at least another £20m will be needed to meet the shortfall for the 1B spur, which is relying on the contingency funds being left over.

TIE's executive chairman Willie Gallagher said: "We moved to start hedging the exposure to the euro as soon as we had the specification sorted out, but we were unable to do this until the specification was sorted out."

Both tram and council chiefs are currently investigating ways of paying for line 1B, which was always expected to have some shortfall in funding.

Among the options being considered are selling off council assets, pressing for more developer contributions and borrowing from either public or private sources.

The 1B link was originally put on hold when the tram scheme was scaled back in 2006. However, TIE has secured a fixed price of £87m to build the line – if it can commit to the project before next spring.

• www.tramsforedinburgh.com