The City of Edinburgh Council is set to approve or reject plans for a £36 million revitalisation project for George Street, and most Edinburgh residents and professionals have hesitantly welcomed the initial proposal drawings.
On Friday, the council released new images of the George Street and First New Town redesign.
The designs show widened pedestrian pavements, a two-lane cycleway, the removal of central parking bays, and landscaped seating spaces in the centre. There is a stronger overall emphasis on greenery, atmosphere and people over traffic.
Katie and Chris, young professionals from Leith, said the proposed drawings are reminiscent of Fringe.
“During Fringe they had George Street blocked off for cars, and they had stages and tents set up in the centre. I think it would be cool to have that year round,” Katie said.
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The couple said the designs would transform George Street into more of a culture centre and bring more foot traffic into the area, which would boost local businesses.
According to the council, the proposed plans follow several years of development and public engagement. A few years ago, the council held a public consultation where more than 1,900 people voiced their opinions.
More than half of consultation respondents were happy to remove the central parking on George Street, and on Tuesday afternoon most passerbys agreed that pedestrianising the busy street was the way forward.
Alan, a middle aged New Town resident, said he was open to the new design, and believed it would revitalise the area and surrounding businesses.
“Most people know this as a very street, but it’s not a very relaxed atmosphere. [The new design] may make it nicer for everyone,” Alan said. “It looks good. There are no cars [in the proposal], so it’ll be interesting to see what happens to traffic.”
Alan recalled when more shops used to be along George Street and predicted the new designs would bring foot traffic and shoppers back to the area in greater numbers.
Likewise, Helen, from Pilrig said the concept was a good idea that would make the area more beautiful and atmospheric, but she had concerns about what the council was planning to do with the existing bus routes on George Street.
“I think it’s a good idea but I think transport is the bigger problem,” she said.
“I depend on the 10 [to and from George Street] to commute to the city centre, and they will obviously have to make some changes, and I have concerns about what might happen to buses.”
David is a middle-aged man who works in hospitality, and he was all for the atmosphere and aesthetic of the proposals but questioned the practicality of some of the choices.
“What about deliveries? Will there be a time when delivery trucks can access the shops on George Street? It definitely looks better without cars, but I hope they’ve thought about everything,” he said.
An unnamed local man who lives on the other side of George Street said there was “nothing fundamentally wrong” with the new design.
“I’m not sure if it’ll be good or bad but it’s the way a lot of places are going,” he said.
“It may cause traffic elsewhere [in the city] and I can see it having an effect on drivers because we’ll lose all the parking spaces. It’s typical of Edinburgh Council to provide this type of proposal without providing offsets to potential traffic problems.”
Three employees at a four star hotel on George Street provided the harshest criticism for the project on Tuesday.
“They need to keep roadworks to a minimum. There’s so much all over Edinburgh, and we don’t need any more [disruptions,” one of the doormen said.
The other men agreed that the city wide construction disruptions were too much of a burden on locals, and they did not want to see lengthy projects and delays come to George Street.
Some residents on Twitter had criticised the lack of trees in the design plans. During consultations, more than half of respondents strongly wanted to introduce trees to George Street with more than 70 percent generally supporting the idea.
However, opponents argued that trees would interfere with underground utilities. Heritage groups commented that trees were not a feature of the original George Street design, and ‘not in spirit’ with the area.
The council’s proposed plans critically lack trees in the design.
The plans are set to be discussed at an upcoming Transport and Environment Committee on Thursday. If the plans are approved, the next step will be construction. If the plans are approved, works are likely to start in 2024 and last for approximately two to three years.
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