Final road layout agreed for Edinburgh’s Picardy Place

Final designs for the road layout and kerb lines on Picardy Place have now been agreed by the City of Edinburgh Council following further discussions with cycling and pedestrian organisations and the local community.Construction work is expected to start in May to implement the finalised designs, due for completion by the end of 2018.The new layout will improve pedestrian and cycle access, revamp Picardy Place as a public transport interchange and ensure the area is future-proofed in the event that the council decides later this year to proceed with taking trams to Newhaven.Enabling works at Picardy Place have been ongoing since March.Meanwhile, work continues on initial proposals for the public realm outside St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral and on the island site by Optimised Environment Ltd (Open). These proposals will be available shortly.A number of final alterations have been made to the design since a special meeting of the council’s transport and environment committee approved updated plans in January after a period of public consultation which generated around 1,000 responses.The alterations include:- Reducing traffic lanes to give more space to pedestrians/cyclists- Increase in public realm space around the Cathedral- Confirmation of bus stop provision and servicing provision- Upgrade of traffic signal arrangements working closely with council signals team- Simplification/improvement of crossing arrangements for pedestrians and cyclists- Cycle priority measures at junctions e.g. right turn on to Broughton Street