A MULTI-MILLION-POUND package of improvements is to be carried out on the streets around Edinburgh's new tram stops.
The £508 million tram scheme is expected to help regenerate a number of areas around the 22 stops and council chiefs are keen to ensure roads and pavements along the line are up to scratch.
Among the improvements being considered under the £12.5m
scheme are new public performance areas, trees, benches, signs, paths and pedestrian crossings.
Officials have warned that serious thought needs to go into redesigning the streets, saying Princes Street will "become worse than it is" for street clutter unless improvements are put in place for when the trams open.
The recent revamp of St Andrew Square Garden is seen by council chiefs as a good example of the success of renewing public spaces along the route between the airport and Newhaven. Officials have identified £2m worth of work along Leith Walk as the top priority, while a further £3m of improvements are needed for the West End to ensure it retains its traditional role as a city meeting place and shopping area.
The improvements are separate from the main tram budget and only around 20 per cent of the money has been found so far. It is envisaged that further developer contributions and bids to the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise will help pay for the improvements. Traders and politicians said the investment was needed and presented a one-off opportunity to improve the city's streets.
Michael Apter, chairman of the West End Association, said: "It is great that the council are looking beyond just the tram line and its stops because the construction project really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to improve the way the city is presented.
"If you take Coates and Atholl crescents for example, you have the opportunity to replicate the success of St Andrew Square garden – there are lots of ideas out there and £12m sounds like it will only be the start of it."
Dave Anderson, the council's director of city development, said there was a need to extend the basic tramway design to consider how it would interact with the surrounding roads and pavements. He added: "Using the tram as a catalyst for the early components of a wider and longer-term programme of urban public realm improvement is practical and effective."
Last year the city's design champion, Sir Terry Farrell, claimed the tram scheme will do "more harm than good" unless it is made more aesthetically pleasing. Mark McInnes, the city's Tory transport spokesman, said: "There are already significant problems in Edinburgh with street clutter and public realm and the tram project is an opportunity to address this. It is something the council should be thinking about anyway but the areas round the tram stops will open up and become more important once the line is in."
