Requests for reinforced bus stops on Leith Walk seem to have been ignored.
In January 2013, Leith Central Community Councillors, who now sit on the Leith Programme Stakeholders’ Group, suggested that bus stops should be reinforced or underpinned as the road was repaired. (This suggestion was made in a consultation submission.)
At intervals over the last year, they have asked optimistically for specifications detailing the planned reinforcement, but have been unable to prise any relevant information from the City of Edinburgh Council.
So, instead, they asked the contractors who are currently rebuilding the road between Iona Street and Pilrig Street. Answer: they haven’t reinforced the bus stops.
Leith Business Association’s Alex Wilson, also a community councillor and trained engineer, suggested that underpinning the bus-stops would incur minimal additional cost if it were done during the repair work.
On Monday evening, Leith Central Community Council also heard that new Leith Walk paving slabs have been broken (probably due to vehicles mounting the pavement) before they could be grouted into a stable condition. It was suggested that the slabs had been left ungrouted while they were temporarily laid round lampposts prior to the lampposts being moved.
Community councillors who attend the stakeholders’ meeting also suggested the project was now running behind schedule
Are these problems specific to this section of the project or will we see something similar as the contractors tackle the Spurtleshire reaches of the Walk, probably some time next year?
Leith Walk ward Councillors Angela Blacklock and Nick Gardner will attend the next stakeholders’ meeting on Thursday at which point a few more answers may become available.
For more information about Leith Central Community Council, visit their website here.
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COUNCIL RESPONDS
City of Edinburgh Council has responded to Tuesday's piece with a firmly worded rebuttal of claims made by some LCCC members concerning what they feared is a lack of road reinforcement beside Leith Walk bus stops.
A CEC spokesperson said:
The photos posted alongside [your] article are not part of the new works. The on-going Phase 2 works have seen us use a different kind of HRA (hot rolled asphalt) for the bus stops to what is used on the carriageway. The total depth of the bituminous materials at the bus stops is greater than in other areas of the road, giving increased overall structural strength. The High Stone Content HRA we have used in the bus stops is typically used in places like haulage yards where there are heavy vehicles turning.
The existing material that is immediately beneath the new road construction has also been tested to ensure that it is strong enough to provide an adequate foundation for the road.
These measures are not a standard specification for bus stops but were in fact specified for the Leith Programme to address the concerns raised by stakeholders about this issue.
Photos 1–3 (below) show the difference between materials used for bus stops and carriageway.
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SPURTLE RESPONDS
Spurtle fully accepts that the photos used on 19.8.14 do not show the new Leith Walk works. As clearly stated in the article, they are of Leith Street outside John Lewis. They were used simply to illustrate the problems which occur without reinforcement of the road immediately adjacent to bus stops.