September 24 2024

A disused road bridge, latterly known as the Leith Pride Bridge following a rainbow makeover, is to be extensively upgraded in line with a new planning application filed with the City of Edinburgh Council by Mott MacDonald.

Council subsidiary Leith Connections has won funding from Sustrans to replace the vehicle deck of the Lindsay Road Bridge and erect a themed community space to re-establish an important active travel link and reinstate an LGBTQ+ landmark.

Key interventions include the removal of a central masonry pier to improve sightlines along the Hawthornvale Path below, as well as a replacement parapet and surfacing which will retain the distinctive 'rainbow' patterning. Traffic calming measures to approach roads will improve safety, including ornamental glacial boulders to stop vehicles accessing the bridge and an amphitheatre-style community space will connect to the footpath below.

In a planning statement Leith Connections wrote: "Feedback from the public suggested, overwhelmingly, that the divide between the upper level of the bridge and the lower level of the park had created a two-tier local community, where the lower level felt intimidating to many of the local residents; connection between the levels was therefore considered a key aspiration.

"The reason for changing the existing 3-span bridge to an extended 1-span bridge is to create a far more open and welcoming area below the bridge, that can be enjoyed by all whilst feeling safe (by removing areas for nefarious activity)."

Other projects to be taken forward by the local authority for its active travel and public realm programme include improvements to Leith Links and Great Junction Street.

3 Comments

#1 Posted by Philip on 24 Sep 2024 at 17:16 PM

Happy for the big meteorite to take us now...

#2 Posted by It really has to be said, as i can't put up with this drek anymore. on 25 Sep 2024 at 12:49 PM

Loving the dystopian 'amphitheatre-style cascade of steps' image. - They're clearly thinking to themselves, why have we all been deluded for so long? Trouble is, authoritarianism can't do irony, self-reflection, answer basic questions or entertain any doubt for that matter.

#3 Posted by Mark on 27 Sep 2024 at 19:07 PM

"Council subsidiary Leith Connections has won funding from Sustrans" - that made me chuckle. Where do you think the Sustrans funding comes from? The Scottish Government. Sustrans are just a middleman, taking their cut as they pass on the money from central government to local government. Hopefully the SG emergency budget cuts will put an end to that arrangement.

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