Consultation opens on future Dalry town centre proposals

Plans to make the town centre a more attractive place have been designed to make it easier to access local shops, schools and services with wider pavements and better cycling provision. Ideas include features to create better spaces to spend time, with trees and nature, planting, public art, and opportunities to rest.

Improving public transport is a key focus, with measures to reduce travel times through the area put forward alongside more space at bus stops and resurfaced roads. Better cycle connections and safer routes to local schools are also presented.

Dalry Living Well Locally is one of the first projects that implements the recently announced Our Future Streets approach to provide both a more integrated transport network, and a greener, more inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone in Edinburgh’s neighbourhoods and key travel corridors.

It is part of a new 20-minute neighbourhood strategy to help local people meet most of their daily needs within a short walk, wheel or cycle from their home.

To make these changes possible, proposals include measures to reduce traffic driving through Dalry on the way to somewhere else, while retaining vehicle access for everyone. This would be achieved through a proposed filter for cycles, buses and taxis just south of the Haymarket junction, operating between 7am and 7pm.

All homes and businesses would still be accessible by car, but most traffic heading from or to the city centre would use alternative routes such as the West Approach Road instead of Dalry Road. The Council will also use this is an opportunity to review the weight restrictions on the West Approach Road.

If approved, the works would be undertaken alongside the Council’s scheduled road renewal programme to minimise disruption to everyone using the area.

There are also proposals to introduce more one-way streets in the area including along Caledonian Road, Caledonian Place, Orwell Place and Orwell Terrace, and the streets around Murieston Park.

Ideas for segregated cycle lanes connecting the town centre to local schools, Haymarket and the wider network, including the new Roseburn to Union Canal active travel scheme, are also being put forward. This includes a redesign of the junction between Gorgie and Dalry at Murieston Road to improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.

It is also proposed to improve and expand the pedestrian space to the front of Dalry Swim Centre, enhancing the setting of the B-listed building. Footways will be widened where possible.

The proposals have been designed using the findings of a survey of local residents and businesses to understand the needs, opportunities, and any barriers that limit people making more active, greener travel choices in Gorgie Dalry.
The survey, conducted between November 2022 and January 2023, identified common issues amongst people who live, work in and visit the local area, including a need for:

• Wider and better quality pavements, especially at busy bus stops and around local shops
• More and safer pedestrian crossings, with shorter waiting times
• Safer and more attractive routes to local schools
• More pleasant, greener streets and public spaces with more places to stop and rest
• A less car-dominated environment that retains easy access for people with mobility issues and deliveries to shops and local businesses
• Safer cycle provision along Dalry Road and Gorgie Road, and secure cycle storage

Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said:

Like many of the town and local centres across our city, Dalry has plenty of shops, services and facilities that people need every day but it is divided a busy road with cramped public spaces. Residents have told us this makes it a difficult area to access and spend time, and we want to improve the way it works for people, allowing everyone to live, shop, work and move around more easily.

The local area has one of the lowest rates of car ownership in the city, and we want to create more pleasant streets that are better connected with local services and public transport options. We are proposing some changes to the flow of through traffic to achieve this, so people who would usually travel along Dalry Road by car to reach destinations like the city centre will simply use other routes such as the West Approach Road instead. Everyone will still be able to drive into and out of the area to reach homes and support businesses.

This will help walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport to become the natural first choice for most of the shortest journeys. It will help make Dalry more of a destination in its own right, rather than a place people drive through on the way to somewhere else.

We will be listening to the local community, and I will make sure all voices are heard. I am also keen to hear from local businesses in the area. I firmly believe high-performing local businesses are at the centre of places like Dalry, and these enterprises need support and a safe and high quality environment for their customers to thrive and grow.

Residents across Edinburgh tell me they want to be able to access work, leisure and shops easily without having to use their car because they know it’s good for them and the environment. These plans for Dalry could meet that need locally, and become something other parts of our capital may want to follow.

Sam Valentine, Senior Grant Advisor for Sustrans said:

“Working closely with the local community, these early designs present a comprehensive and ambitious vision of a place where people are able to walk, wheel and cycle with ease. Safer routes to school and better connections with public transport will create a more inviting space for everyone and restore peace and enjoyment to an area sorely overburdened with car dominance from through traffic. We encourage everyone living and working in the Dalry area to engage closely with these exciting proposals and help make this project a success.”

The consultation on the proposals is now open and will close on Wednesday 26 June.

In addition to the 2022-2023 public survey, the Council has organised workshops with local school pupils and engaged with a wide range of community groups.

A ‘Community Advisory Group’ (CAG), including local councillors and community organisations, was established in spring 2023.

The project team has also joined local community council meetings, visited local businesses and issued leaflets to residents in the area to encourage them to share their views.

The consultation is being promoted through measures including door-to-door leafletting, lamp post wraps and a local engagement event at The St Brides Centre on Thursday 11 April between 3 – 7pm.

Following the consultation, any agreed changes to local traffic restrictions or redetermination of carriageway or footway will go through the required statutory processes.

ENDS