Roseburn to (almost) Canal opens

A fantastic new offroad route linking the North Edinburgh path network to Dalry, with bridges over Dalry Road and the Midcalder electrified railway, opened on 9 December 2024 after a 10-year gestation. It will later be extended to join the canal towpath at its wider inner-city section near Boroughmuir School.

With the bulk of the funding coming from the government (via Sustrans Scotland), the opening was performed by Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop MSP, Edinburgh’s Transport Convener Cllr Stephen Jenkinson, a host of mini-cyclists and, being December, Santa!

The new route is an absolute pleasure to cycle or walk – away from traffic, with great urban views, including a spectacular see-through bridge over the railway. It also provides an incredible safe north-south link through an area based on east-west transport corridors which had made north-south bike travel complex, slow and daunting.

The project also includes a completely revamped Dalry Community Park, with sports arena and play equipment, and almost 5000 woodland and semi-mature trees, mainly in Sauchiebank, replacing the 250 or so that were removed.

The 10-year gestation was due to a combination of factors. There were no significant delays caused by objectors, because the path did not involve roadspace reallocation and changes to car-parking provision – which under the government rules at the time could cause literally years of delay, as with CCWEL.

However, delays resulted from long periods of inadequate staffing and shifting priorities. In particular, onroad projects such as CCWEL were higher priority, but when it became clear that they were indefinitely stuck in objection processes, and could not yet use the Sustrans capital funding then available, Roseburn-Canal became the obvious next major scheme to go ahead.

One holdup resulted from Network Rail insisting on an incredibly high specification for the bridge over Midcalder railway, increasing costs noticeably. The bridge is wide enough to span 6 tracks, though there is zero likelihood of the existing 2-track railway being widened; and it is raised higher than seems necessary above the railway’s overhead cables. That said, it’s a lovely bridge!

Future improvements – planned and not planned

Many enhancements to the route are possible – some planned, some aspirational and some still to be considered. Most are clear from this original (2014) Council aspirational project map.

• Bridge over the mainline railway A very costly project, with Network Rail demanding an extremely high standard. In the early days it was hoped to get funding from other sources such as the EU or the City Deal, but in the end the only external funding available was from Sustrans, and the bridge was dropped in favour of the much cheaper lengthy new ramp up at Sauchiebank. The bridge remains an aspiration for the council (as with the proposed Jeffrey Street to Leith Street Waverley bridge) should the funding position ease in future years. Spokes will be arguing that if the tram uses the Roseburn path (and we do not have a position on this) then the project should include building this active travel bridge over the mainline railway.
• Foot of Sauchiebank This is the only point between Leith and Dalry where the North Edinburgh network crosses a road without a bridge, a light-controlled crossing, tiger crossing or even a raised entry. Although not a through road, it is the entrance to an industrial estate, and not a safe crossing. On the very day of the path opening, one user (with children) said she had a close miss with a car here. Clearly a solution is needed.
• Crossing of the West Approach Road The toucan crossing installed here is very welcome, but city-bound traffic often approaches at speed from a blind corner not far away, so there are potential dangers. Measures to moderate traffic speeds before vehicles reach this point are needed. In the 2015/6 consultation there was talk of a possible future bridge over the West Approach Road, from the playpark area to Dundee Street, but this no longer appears to be an option.
• Extension to Morrison Crescent Long planned by the Council, this was dropped from the project, we can’t recall why. It should not be over-costly, running along the north side of the West Approach Road, where there is a very wide walkable verge already used informally by many people.
• Crossing Dundee Street, to the Union Canal The Council plans segregated cycle provision along the street, replacing and extending the current covid bollarded routes, and the crossing will be built as part of that. Although this makes sense financially, it leaves the new route ending in a messy and daunting fashion in the interim. Initial consultation expected “early next year” i.e. early 2025.

Resources

• Roseburn-Canal council web page
• Spokes North Edinburgh page, including Roseburn-Canal documents going back to 2014
• Council news report of the opening
• City Cycling Edinburgh discussion of the new route
• Evening News report of the opening

What you can do

• If you find the new path useful, why not tell your councillors how it helps you, and give the Council a pat on the back. They are always getting complaints, but people rarely email when something good is done. It also encourages councillors to do more if they know that people appreciate the outcomes
• Of course, having congratulated them, you might wish to suggest some ‘next steps’! The Foot-of-Sauchiebank Crossing and the Morrison Street extension should be fairly low cost, and not requiring traffic orders. West Approach Road speed reduction would be low cost but controversial, although advance signage might help
• Retweet our Bluesky post about this article
• Why not join Spokes to keep in touch about future developments and what you can do to encourage them!