Capital in traffic scheme u-turn

Residents had been ignoring some of the restrictions

Elements of Edinburgh's controversial £3m traffic management scheme introduced last month have been overturned by councillors.

The u-turn, which will cost about £35,000, came after businesses argued that the New Town road closures had actually made congestion worse.

The scheme was aimed at reducing pollution, cutting accidents involving pedestrians and increasing parking.

But Edinburgh City Council leaders have admitted they got it wrong.

Drivers found a number of the changes so confusing they were just ignoring them and retailers reported a downturn in trade.

REVISED TRAFFIC MEASURES Lowering of bollards on George Street Removal of traffic signals at the Hanover Street/George Street junction Traffic allowed to exit from North St David Street onto Queen Street Scrapping road closure at Drummond Place/London Street

Councillors backed the scrapping of a number of measures in the New Town area and the changes will be made over the coming week.

Council leader Donald Anderson said it showed the council had been listening to retailers and the local community.

Councillor Andrew Burns, executive member for transport, added: "The scheme was designed to improve traffic flow within the city centre - a request that's been made to us over a number of years.

"However we acknowledge that elements of this scheme have been of concern to some people and a number of alterations are now going ahead."

The council has asked for people in the city centre to be patient while the changes are being made.

Stephanie Harvie, from the Broughton Village Association, said: "I feel the council have wasted a great deal of money on a scheme that they were told would fail."