Edinburgh's East London Street: Setts could be replaced with tarmac in bid to solve bus noise problem

The option of removing cobbles from a New Town street at the centre of a row about traffic noise is to be explored amid continuing complaints from residents.

Edinburgh's transport and environment committee agreed to ask for a report on the pros and cons of keeping and reconstructing the setts in East London Street or tarmacking the central carriageway, as well as the costs and timescales involved in both scenarios.

Residents presented a petition to the city council last year, complaining of excessive traffic, particularly out-of-service buses, using their street, which is just round the corner from Lothian Buses’ central garage in Annandale Street. They said their sleep was regularly disturbed by the noise of buses going to and from the garage late at night and early in the morning. But a report to the committee said the number of buses using East London Street had reduced, their speed was within limits and noise levels were generally acceptable, though night-time levels were higher.

However, Mike Birch, from New Town and Broughton community council, told councillors that noise was the fundamental issue. He claimed that data from the council’s noise survey had been misinterpreted and so the conclusions were faulty.

He said: "The night-time noise levels, which are the most critical aspect of this, are well above World Health Organisation recommended maximums and as such they are likely to be causing significant health impacts for residents. The guidance says about 45 decibels, we're looking at over 60. We believe the council has a responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of its residents.”

He said the report’s claim that traffic diversions along East London Street were for “a short period” did not reflect the real situation. “For extended periods in 2022 there were nearly 500 buses a day being routed along East London Street and that doesn’t include the out-of-service buses going to and from the garage.” He said there had been a significant increase in traffic of all types in the past few years and hardly any maintenance work had been carried out in the street for over three years.

City Centre SNP councillor Finlay McFarlane said the street was in "incredibly poor condition" and had been "pretty much wrecked" by the large number of vehicles using it as a result of repeated diversions.

And he said it was not just buses causing the problem. "There's a bigger picture here, of HGVs, construction vehicles, huge tour company coaches all using the street, which has just made it insufferable for residents. What we need to do as a committee is accept there is a fundamental problem that merits attention, have a look at all options – including converting from setted to tarmac carriageway – what the costs of that would be, would that be more sustainable in the long run or what the options are for re-setting and how that would impact on noise.”

He said he hoped at the committee’s January meeting, they would have “all the cost information, the pros and cons, to make a really informed decision about how we can progress to make things a bit easier and more liveable for the residents of East London Street”.

Transport convener Scott Arthur accepted Cllr McFarlane’s call for a report, saying it was important to view the issue on an objective basis, using data and information. The committee agreed the move without a division.