Edinburgh roads: Controversial ban on turning left from Leith Walk into London Road to be reversed

A controversial ban on turning left from Leith Walk into London Road is to be reversed after council chiefs said it was adding to bus journey times.

The ban - introduced in 2022 as part of a new layout prompted by the tram extension - caused a furious public backlash and cameras found more than 930 drivers making the illegal turn rule in one week.

Instead of turning left, the ban meant motorists had to drive up past the Playhouse, round the Picardy Place roundabout and back down to turn right along London Road.

Council chiefs defended the new layout at the time.  But a report to next week's transport and environment committee says monitoring has shown the arrangement has had an adverse impact on public transport.  And it recommends reintroducing the left turn.

Transport convener Scott Arthur said the ban had been agreed by the previous administration at the council. "They did it in good faith, to protect public transport and there were very few public objections at that time. When it went live there were real issues with lawlessness."

But he said data showed it was not working as intended. "Rather than protecting public transport, it has actually made things more difficult for public transport."

And he said traffic should now be allowed to turn left. "That's going to reduce the amount of traffic going round Picardy Place and the modelling shows that this will improve public transport times through that junction. Obviously, fundamentally the issue is there's just too much traffic but we have to manage the impact that has on public transport."

The change is expected to be implemented at the end of June or in early July. Traffic turning left will have a minimum of 10 seconds to do so. When the left turn goes off, the ahead signal will remain on, allowing pedestrian and cyclists to come over from London Road.

The proposed changes are not anticipated to have any impact on Elm Row bus stops and will benefit the overall traffic flow around Picardy Place, Leith Street and Broughton Street

Cllr Arthur denied the move was a "climbdown". He said: "What we've done is we've looked at the data on the ground, Lothian Buses have raised it with us - they were really concerned about the impact on the services they're trying to provide - and it is the right thing to do.

"What would have been the wrong thing to do is simply to change things because people were breaking the law and putting pedestrians at risk - a completely unacceptable situation."  

He said the original decision to ban the left turn had been taken pre-Covid and traffic patterns had changed significantly since then. The plan to reopen the left turn had been based on monitoring the situation at key periods - after the introduction of trams to Leith Walk, during the Festival and in the busy Christmas period.

“It was important for us to give the successful new tram line to Newhaven time to bed in, and, as with any major transport infrastructure project we continued to review the traffic management arrangements in the area. 

 “After this monitoring process, and in response to public feedback and discussions with Lothian Buses, we’re proposing to re-introduce the left hand turn from Leith Walk onto London Road. Importantly, thanks to the plans, we’re also maintaining single phase crossing for both pedestrians and cyclists crossing over from London Road.

 “The overall positive impact of these changes will support Lothian Buses and their operations while also easing congestion in and around Picardy Place and associated streets.”