Trams work: 'Planners can't allow congestion to manage itself'

THE disruption that has so far been caused by the preparatory works for the city's tram system is small beer compared to what will happen from next week.

Although traders in Leith Walk, whose shops are already suffering, might disagree, the effect on traffic and businesses will step up several gears when Shandwick Place is closed for five months from Monday.

While works have been able to proceed on Leith Walk largely by reducing the carriageways to one lane in either direction, the total closure of Shandwick Place presents an entirely different challenge. Already there are warnings of delays of around 30 minutes, rises in taxi fares and similar dips in trade from local businesses. Sadly such fears are likely to be proved well-founded. Existing traffic will be diverted into the New Town but the effects will be felt much further afield as drivers seek new rat-runs to beat the congestion.

And with the distinct possibility that the relatively narrow Shandwick Place may remain closed – at least to cars – once trams begin operating, it may provide an insight into what a drive through Haymarket and from the west may be like in the future.

To make matters worse, later in the spring Princes Street will experience the first of two lengthy closures. While some have questioned the wisdom of this decision it makes sense. Even though it is shut to all but buses and taxis, the effects will still be severe. Although pressure will increase greatly on George Street and Queen Street, which are the only viable alternative cross-city routes, at least the work will be carried out over a much shorter period.

But while there has to be a general acceptance that disruption on alternative routes is inevitable, transport planners cannot just sit back and allow congestion to manage itself. Chaos is simply not an option, as the ill-fated City Centre Traffic Management Scheme proved, and hopefully the imaginative traffic solutions will help make the whole process as painless as possible.

No-one has ever attempted to hide the fact that re-introducing trams will be a difficult process, or that all affected will just have to fasten their seatbelts for what will be a bumpy ride over the next few years.

For their part, TIE and the council have a duty to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible and that the work is completed on, or ahead of, schedule. The city must continue to move and breathe, especially during the lucrative Festivals period. They also must listen to what they are being told and respond by considering adjustments which will benefit traffic flows and assist local businesses.

In the meantime, Shanks's Pony might prove to be the most effective mode of transport in the city centre.