On Friday, 7/10/22, Councillor Tim Pogson, Ian Chisholm (Chair of Grange Prestonfield CC) and I met with Brendan Forrester, CEC roads engineer on the Active Travel team, at the junction of Salisbury Road and Dalkeith Road to discuss improvements to the junction.
Brendan is working on the Quiet Route 30 project, Holyrood Park to Ratcliffe Terrace. In the report "Holyrood Park to Ratcliffe Terrace, QuietRoute 30 Walk and Cycle Improvements Consultation Report", among the design decisions based on the consultation is the statement:
Dalkeith Road/Salisbury Road
● We will undertake further design and traffic modelling to try and improve pedestrian crossings and pavements at the junction with Salisbury Road.
The full report can be found at this link on the consultation hub.
Brendan outlined to us the proposals that are in the pipeline, which would be a widening of the pavement on the south side of Salisbury Road to 2 metres and a corresponding reduction in the size of the pavement bulge on the north side, so bringing the south side pavement up to Edinburgh Street Design Guidance standards. The railing on the south side would be removed, but some railing would be retained on the Dalkeith Road side. Bollards to prevent turning vehicles clipping the pavement could also be introduced. it is hoped that these changes, together with some adjustment to the road markings on Dalkeith Road to extend the yellow box, will be the subject of TRO / RSO orders in the next couple of months, and the work completed in the summer of 2023.
In a second phase, likely to follow in 2025 / 2026, it is planned that there should be an overhaul of the traffic lights at this junction and the Dalkeith Road / Holyrood Park Road junction, at which time it might be possible to introduce a pedestrian phase for crossing Salisbury Road.
I showed Brendan the simulation of a simple change to the lights that is on our website (See this link), and he agreed to show this to the appropriate engineers within the Council.
We stressed the importance of this crossing for children going to and from Preston Street Primary School, and pointed out that there used to be a schools crossing patrol officer here (George Pitcher) some years ago. Ian explained how some children have to cross to the other side of Dalkeith Road and back again so all their road crossings are by "green men". We all agreed that improvements to this junction are needed, and Brendan expressed the hope that the changes will soon come.
Philip McDowell
7/10/2022
Since writing this report, I have heard that Preston Street Primary School Parent Coulncil have written to Brendan Forrester as follows:
I'm writing on behalf of Preston Street Primary School Parent Council Transport and Environment sub-group. You may know that we met with Stacey Monteith-Skelton on 9th May this year to discuss a number of transport issues around school that children and parents have highlighted to us.
One of the areas we looked at in particular is the Salisbury Road/ Dalkeith Road junction which is a difficult crossing for families travelling to a from school each day. Parents and children consistently tell us how dangerous this crossing is, with poor sightlines and lack of pedestrian phase in the traffic light sequence.
We support Southside Community Council's suggestion for an improved phase in the traffic lights to allow for a controlled crossing at this point.
When we met with Stacey, we also discussed:
● Removal of the railings. The pavement is narrow and very difficult for families with buggies. At peak times this pavement is extremely congested.
● Potential for a raised crossing at the junction, with a junction build-out to slow cars turning into Salisbury Road
We would be grateful if you can confirm that these aspects are likely to feature in your plans to upgrade this junction. Any other information about the wider QR30 project would also be welcome.
Many thanks
Raphael Bleakley
Preston Street Parent Council Co-Chair