I WOULD like to comment on several articles that appeared in the Evening News on August 6.
I am amazed to read that city leaders are calling for Edinburgh's trams project to be added to the list of Scotland's top planning priorities.
Given your further article on Lothian Buses "City tells bus bosses to reverse route cutbacks", it can no
w be clearly demonstrated that the trams are destroying what was once Scotland's finest bus service. There is a direct link between the building of the trams and the downturn in people using the buses.
As your editorial says, areas such as Haymarket, Princes Street and St Andrew Square have been decimated. Now on the horizon is the spectre of further cuts to the Lothian bus service. This must put a new spin on democracy, "the needs of a few are greater than those of the many".
Your editorial fell well short of laying the blame on this dramatic downturn on the trams, choosing instead to blame the cost of fuel.
If you need further proof then your article "Champion to rescue Leith from tram chaos" demonstrates that the cost far outstrips the benefits. It states that Leith has been hit the hardest. Why? Because that is where all of the effort is currently.
Princes Street will suffer even more when it is subjected to closures later on this year. Will we be seeing a champion for Princes Street?
How much pain are the people of Edinburgh going to suffer from this project, how much is it costing in real terms?
Surface trams have fallen out of favour with even the most ardent supporters. Dublin has now decided to put its future expansion plans under ground, increasing the numbers carried from 2400 per hour in each direction to well over 10,000.
In making this decision they also save the heritage of streets like O'Connell Street which would equate to our Princes Street. It also insures that the disruption during construction is kept to a minimum.
This is not a national priority, it is a national disgrace.
John R T Carson, Forthtag, South QueensferryAxing No 13 will be unlucky for someI AM very concerned about the axing, or otherwise, of the No 13 bus (New, August 1) as it really is a lifeline for so many elderly people and others, in the Ravelston/March Road area, who I know are very dependent on this service.
In years gone by a No 18 bus used to branch off Queensferry Road, into Strachan Road, along March Road and back out into Queensferry Road, thus providing a regular service day and night for a good number of years.
Why can't a No 41 do this now, especially when it will gain financially as the route along that part of Queensferry Road, which it will not be using, is virtually without houses? I would think that the No 41 would benefit greatly from this slight route alteration, bearing in mind that people are not able to take their cars into town and park easily nowadays especially in the evenings when they want to go to theatres, classes, etc.
Could Lothian Buses not try this out – it could be a potential option for restoring one of the most socially important services.
I may say that, on the whole, I do think we have a very good bus service.
Miss M L McIvor, Craigleith Hill Gardens, EdinburghHard to see where bus priority fits inAS a local resident I am following with interest the roadworks at the intersection of Sir Harry Lauder Road, Portobello High Street and Seafield Road. The plan is to replace the existing roundabout with traffic lights. It seems like no time at all since the original traffic lights were replaced with the roundabout! I hope we don't have to wait too long until it is all changed back again.
The genius who thought up this alteration and the new traffic flow system stated that the approach roads to the new traffic light controlled junction would include "bus priority lanes". In view of the fact the pavements at Goff Avenue, Bryce Avenue and Kekewich Avenue in Inchview Terrace have been extended by about three metres, I fail to see how a "bus priority lane" can be fitted into the great scheme of things!
Dennis R B Anderson, Vandeleur Avenue, Edinburgh Soldiers were not defending countryWHILE I have nothing but sympathy for the soldier who was stabbed in an attack close to Redford Barracks (News, August 4), saying he felt "safer dodging bullets and mortars in Iraq than walking the streets of Edinburgh", he is totally wrong to suggest that he has been away "defending his country". He was in Iraq as part of a military force that initially invaded a sovereign nation state of the United Nations without being sanctioned by the UN, making it indisputably illegal.
He should not delude himself that these troops are even acting in the interests of the civilian population of this country.
William Burns, Pennywell Road, EdinburghCity falling short in replacing its treesEDINBURGH City Council says it is committed to replacing felled trees.
This does not seem to be the case in Davidson's Mains or at Western Corner. At both locations there were mature trees which were felled a few years back and no replacements have yet been planted. At these road junctions there is a high volume of standing traffic, and trees are an excellent way of absorbing the CO2.
Colin C Maclean, Hillpark Avenue Edinburgh The full article contains 934 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
