Slashing buses along Princes Street would be a 'foot-shooting exercise'

A major review of the city's bus network is expected to be ordered after international design experts warned councillors that Princes Street was "noisy and unfriendly" because of the number of vehicles using it.

Danish architectural practice Gehl wants pavements widened, new cycle lanes created, and trees and benches installed on Princes Street as part of a drive to cut traffic levels and create more space for pedestrians.

Separate proposals would see Princes Street regularly closed for temporary events and festival performances.

Some business leaders have expressed concerns about the Gehl vision, which is expected to be endorsed by councillors on Tuesday, claiming it would be a "massive foot-shooting exercise" if it was implemented.

Mr Renilson, who headed the bus company for ten years until he retired in 2008, said more than 50 per cent of retail spending in the city centre came from people who go there by bus. He told The Scotsman: "The big issue is the basic geography of Edinburgh, and particularly the city centre, where most buses need to go through.

"The only real options for running buses through the city are along Princes Street or George Street. Queen Street is just far too far away to be viable.

"I just can't see a way of reducing the number of bus services using Princes Street, although you could reduce the impact by adjusting the times of traffic lights and reviewing where bus stops are located."

Pilmar Smith, who was chairman of Lothian Buses for 12 years, said: "It's all very well having these high-flying ideas but shops and businesses rely on people being able to use the bus to get into the city centre.

"The idea of trying to reduce the number of buses on Princes Street is just pie in the sky."

Denzil Skinner, chair of Essential Edinburgh, which represents the interests of businesses on Princes Street and George Street, said: "Surveys have shown that 80 per cent of traffic going through the city centre is not stopping and we would like to work with the council to help reduce that figure."

Chief executive of Lothian Buses Ian Craig declined to comment on the plans but said: "A vibrant and dynamic city centre is crucial. We will work to support any measures that will advance this."

On the level

RADICAL ideas to transform the look of Edinburgh city centre are nothing new.

In fact, some of the most memorable proposals date back to 1949, when a landmark study on Scotland's capital was published by Sir Patrick Abercrombie.

His ideas included creating a two-level thoroughfare on Princes Street, with people and shops at street level and traffic underground.

He also recommended that Waverley Station be replaced by a new two-level station at Morrison Street to restore Princes Street to its former green glory.

But he wanted a huge hole drilled through Calton Hill to make way for a new highway connecting the Old Town and the city's east end - and a new flyover created at Haymarket Station.

Later schemes advocated the building of a London Tube-style system, an underground shopping mall in Princes Street Gardens and a bypass on stilts to take traffic in the Meadows.

The council later banned private traffic from Princes Street, but many elements of a scheme to curb traffic in central Edinburgh had to be reversed after a disastrous introduction.