Edinburgh tram works threaten to derail showpiece events

TWO of the biggest events during Edinburgh’s festival season face being cancelled or drastically scaled down under plans to continue tram works in the heart of the capital throughout most of next year.

City council officials have admitted they are considering ploughing on with the laying of tracks on Princes Street during the six-week festival season. It is thought likely Princes Street will still remain closed to all but emergency vehicles from late July to early September in a effort to ensure work does not drag on until 2010.

Business leaders in the capital, who say that the “over-riding” wish of retailers is to have work finished as soon as possible, are calling for a decision to be made within the next few weeks on whether a traditional festival embargo for roadworks is shelved next year to accommodate the tram works.

At the moment, the council is proposing to halt all work on Princes Street for the main festival season, but transport chiefs have confirmed it is already consulting over the prospect of continuing work, particularly if the programme is running behind schedule.

But the move, which is expected to go ahead if it wins enough support from business and tourism leaders, may come at the expense of the two showpiece events that herald the start and finish of the festivals.

The Scotsman has learned there will be a major question mark over both the Edinburgh Festivals Cavalcade and the Edinburgh International Festival Fireworks if tram works on Princes Street are not halted.

Hundreds of double-decker buses would also be diverted on to George Street, which hosts the biggest venue on the Fringe, during August.

That prospect came under fire from William Burdett-Coutts, artistic director of the Assembly Rooms, while the organiser of the Festival Cavalcade said he was unaware of any suggestion that tram works would be going ahead on Princes Street during August.

The council is facing the dilemma because of the need to finish the tram project on time and on budget.

Originally, the plan was to have all tram works on Princes Street under way in early January and finished by August, so that the festival events could go ahead uninterrupted.

But it could be the end of February before a full closure of Princes Street is in place, because of the need to test a host of traffic diversions in the city centre in the wake of a botched earlier attempt in October.

Now the council has admitted that the earliest the works on Princes Street will be complete is the end of November.

Source: The Scotsman

Tags: cancelled, Cavalcade Festival, Edinburgh International Festival Fireworks, Edinburgh's festival, scaled down

Category: Festival News