Corstorphine High Street: Renewed calls for Edinburgh to prioritise road safety after car filmed overtaking on wrong side

Corstorphine High Street, Edinburgh, has seen multiple collisions, including a major crash where a van killed a dog and narrowly missed its elderly owner, making it a major cause of concern for nearby residents.

A fresh demand for new safety measures in the neighbourhood comes after a cyclist posted a video online of a car overtaking him on the wrong side of the road in question on Sunday, 24 January.

After seeing the footage, Corstorphine Community Council member Jonathan Melville has renewed his call for Edinburgh City Council to treat the street with priority for the safety of those living and visiting the area.

“I was horrified to see the video but sadly it’s just another dangerous driver on that road which we have seen plenty of,” he said.

Mr Melville said he was nearly hit by a car when two vehicles crashed on Ladywell Avenue, which meets Corstorphine High Street, on July 3 2020.

He spoke of another collision that happened metres from where he was almost run over where a car crashed into a lamppost in September last year.

The road is marked with a 20mph sign, but the resident said drivers in the area appear to be travelling well above the legal speed limit.

“Going for a walk in your local neighbourhood shouldn’t be intimidating,” he said, “but we have a triangle of horror here making it impossible to not feel scared.

“The council needs to do something about it before someone gets killed, not after.”

Chris Young, of Low Traffic Corstorphine, an organisation set up make neighbourhood traffic safer, said community groups and residents have been lobbying the council to make changes to the road for years.

He said the junction of Ladywell Road with Corstorphine High Street is particularly bad for collisions.

“It’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed,” he said.

"The fact that it’s a busy area with a primary school and two entrances to a public park for families and dog walkers should also be a reason for the council to treat it with a matter of urgency.”

He suggested turning the road into a one way street to relieve traffic flow.

Transport and Environment Convener councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “We appreciate the community’s concerns around road safety in the area, and have been liaising with residents and elected members about this for some time.

“We need to prioritise our limited resources to streets in most need of road safety interventions, and we follow pre-approved criteria for identifying these locations. However, as we have discussed with local community members, we will soon be carrying out site investigations on Corstorphine High Street and Ladywell Road for potential speed reducing measures as part of our Road Safety Improvements Programme.

“We’re also proposing cycle markings and segregation at Ladywell Road’s junction with Meadow Place Road.”

Police Scotland has confirmed the collisions referenced in this article and said a 34-year-old woman was charged in relation to road traffic offences following the crash on July 3 2020 where Mr Melville was almost hit.

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