On Saturday 8th November, members of Living Rent Lochend held a community day at Craigentinny Community Centre to launch their campaign for safer roads in Lochend. Local councillors were in attendance and heard testimonies from locals about their experience with road accidents in the area as well as proposed solutions to prevent further danger to pedestrians and cyclists.
Living Rent says that the lives of people in Lochend are at an increased risk of road accidents and that something as simple as dropping your children off at school shouldn’t mean taking your life in your hands every day. They say improving road safety would have a hugely positive impact on the local area and will in particular ensure the safety of local children, elderly residents and pets.
Living Rent highlights that the most dangerous areas are on Restalrig Road, Sleigh Drive and around St Ninian’s and Craigentinny primary schools. They call upon Gareth Barwell, Director of Place, and Dave Sinclair, Public Safety and Operations at Edinburgh Council, to ensure that road safety is improved by having police survey the area, to install accessible safe light crossings, to introduce a 20mph speed limit around local schools and nurseries, and to repaint all the worn away road markings in the area.
In October, the House of Commons released a report that found Lochend was the fourth most dangerous area for road collisions across Edinburgh and Lothians [1]. In 2024, a total of 110 casualties were recorded, two of which were pedestrian fatalities, in Lochend. The report goes on to highlight that road safety is a major concern across the whole of Edinburgh and Lothians with 972 reported accidents in total, 305 which were serious and 12 which were fatal.
Find out more and get involved in the campaign here!
[1] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-traffic-accidents/
