Steps to make the Shore a more appealing place for locals and visitors alike, took a big step forwards yesterday when the City of Edinburgh Council agreed to fund detailed feasibility and further community consultation work. This action has been approved in response to a motion lodged by local Councillor Marjorie Thomas. Her motion read as follows:

"Council notes the success of the Traffic Free Day on the Shore in September 2009 and the local support from many residents and traders for reducing through traffic on the Shore, particularly the stretch from Sandport Bridge to Bernard Street.

Council, therefore, calls for a report into the feasibility of removing through traffic, excepting emergency vehicles, public transport and cycles, from Sandport Bridge to Bernard Street to be provided to the Transport, Infrastructure and Environment Committee within two Committee cycles."

There is a growing groundswell of support for the idea that something needs to be done to reduce the levels of traffic using the Shore - particularly the HGV lorries that use the route as a short cut from the docks to Ferry Road.

Last year we organised Car Free Day on the Shore to coincide with European Mobility Week, and apart from a few local residents who were unfortunately inconvenienced because they had their cars moved without their knowledge, the event was largely viewed as a success.

Local group the Friends of the Water of Leith are at the forefront of the campaign, representing both businesses and residents in the area. They've uncovered several stories from local residents and businesses that highlight the problems high traffic levels are causing. These suggest that the historic buildings on The Shore are being damaged by the levels of traffic using the street, with reports of buildings cracking and shaking as a consequence of the larger vehicles using the streets. The traffic also causes disturbance and distress to residents living close to the road.

In addition, we wrote to 30,000 households in Leith and invited them to take part with our Future Travel Action plan. We asked residents the open question "What would help you walk, cycle or use public transport more?" More than 300 people responded to our survey and the most popular idea, by quite a long way, turned out to be measures to cut traffic on the Shore too.

It is clear that cutting traffic on the Shore could provide a number of benefits to the whole area. These include:

• Better quality of life for local residents.
• Improved road safety for pedestrians and cyclists in the area.
• More opportunity for job creation/retention in the area, particularly in catering.
• Improved scope to promote the area as a "destination" to tourists.
• Better support for environmentally friendly transport modes like cycling and walking.

However, the devil is in the detail and so we are pleased that the council is going to put in resources to work with local people to uncover how various traffic options will impact on the area. Some of the options we've proposed might be considered include:

• Banning through car and lorry traffic, whilst leaving the road open to buses, pedestrians and cyclists (local access would be maintained).
• As above, but additionally, making the street a one way street.
• Fully closing the street to all motorised traffic (apart from local access) at weekends or Sundays.
• Blocking the street at Sandport Place (outside Cafe Truva) removing all through traffic, but retaining parking and local access.

We've also received some concerned comments from some local residents too.

We've recieved a couple of comments during our consultation process that relate to local car access for residents, whether this is accessing private "off-street" parking or helping relatives with mobility problems to the shops. All of the options outlined above would preserve local access, and so people who live on, or near The Shore, would still be able to access their off-street parking spaces, and people would still be able to park for long enough to pick up and drop off people with mobility problems. 

A second concern is over the impact on traffic levels elsewhere in Leith. It is of course true, that measures to reduce through traffic on the Shore may displace traffic to other nearby roads. However, it's a common misperception that traffic levels are 'fixed'. In fact, people choose their routes and their mode of transport according to which is most convenient. This means that over time people will avoid driving particular streets if they know they are congested, or they will take public transport, or cycle, or walk.

Other cities, like Copenhagen, have learnt that they can gradually 'manage traffic' out of their residential areas, because car traffic is in effect 'self managing'. In Leith, there is a wider decision to be taken - which streets should be regarded as arterial routes and which streets should be treated as residential streets?

It is possible that the traffic reduction measures on the Shore, if they get the go ahead, would not physically happen before the tram makes it to Leith. So, residents of the city will be able to take the tram to the Shore - there's two stops nearby. Also, by redesigning the street, it will become more appealing to pedestrians and cyclists - so it will encourage more people to use other forms of transport.

Also, the traffic modelling undertaken by TIE shows that when the tram is built it will reduce traffic throughout the harbour area. Therefore measures to cut traffic on The Shore will help to ensure that through traffic remains on the current arterial routes, rather than "rat running" through streets, like Henderson street that are not really wide enough to cope and largely residential in character.

Furthermore, the council and SUSTRANS are developing plans to develop a quality cycle link from the western end of Portobello promenade, to Sandport place, in order to provide a safe route East-West route across the city. So, if implemented this plan will also help to encourage more people to cycle, helping to cut local traffic.

You may have wondered about the photograph at the top of this blog post. No, it isn't Leith. But it is a European city with a proud maritime history, at a similar latitude to Leith. It is the Nyhaven, in Copenhagen. Once it was little more than a car park, just as The Shore now, is not much more than a bus station.

However, now it has been fully pedestrianised, and is a 'must visit' for tourists visiting the city. If hundreds of people are prepared to pay to eat outside in Copenhagen, then why not in Leith? Afterall, we already have more Michelin starred eateries than anywhere else in Scotland. Surely, we should be playing to our strengths if we are to keep jobs in our neighbourhood?

You can read the full council report here:

http://cpol.edinburgh.gov.uk/getdoc_ext.asp?DocId=142037