Turnhouse Road Bus Gate

At the end of January, Lothian Buses announced their plans to change the route of the 31 bus so it serves West Craigs, running along Craigs Road and Turnhouse Road. 

Lothian have said they will make this change when the new Craigs Road/Maybury Road junction is complete and when the new southbound Turnhouse Road bus gate is put in place. 

However, the Lothian announcement said the new southbound Turnhouse Road bus gate (restricting access to buses only) will operate 7am-7pm every day.

This completely contradict the information we were given by council transport officials last year, which said the bus gate would operate only at peak times: 7am-9.30am and 4pm-6.30pm, Monday to Friday.

The commitment that the bus gate would operate only at peak times is information we passed on to residents in good faith. It is extremely frustrating and deeply concerning that completely different information has now been published. 

We contacted council transport for urgent clarification on this. 

Lothian Buses have now removed the 7am-7pm hours reference from their website. We have been told this statement should not have been made as there was not agreement for this.

However, officers have confirmed that discussions have been taking place over recent months over the exact hours of the bus gate.  We are very frustrated that, as local councillors for West Craigs, we were not told of these discussions or given the chance to properly represent our constituents.

We know there was already deep concern in the community at the bus gate even operating at peak times. It is clear the idea of the timings being extended to 7am-7pm, seven days a week is creating even more opposition.

Officers have now promised to engage with us before any decisions are taken and before the relevant traffic orders are published. They expect the new bus gate to be put in place from April. However, as local councillors, we remain unconvinced that the bus gate is needed at all.

Local Lib Dem councillor Ed Thornley said, “One thing is clear - it is vital that everyone in affected is given the chance to have their say before any final and permanent decisions are taken. We will be doing our best to keep everyone informed as this moves forward.”