A resolution has been reached in the Edinburgh tram dispute, which has seen track laying on the capital's main thoroughfare halted for four weeks. Following crunch talks, the work will begin on Princes Street next week. Project bosses Tie and their contractors Bilfinger Berger have been locked in a deadlock over disputed costs since 21 February. Edinburgh City Council leader Jenny Dawe said she was "delighted" with the outcome after "a frustrating period".
From the BBC News website
Nothing in our beloved capital city is ever straightforward. The much criticised trams project has been inevitably shunted into a siding for the past month while Edinburgh City Council and the project contractors argue over the financial cost of having what seems like half the city turned into a building site for what seems like an eternity. It's not the first time the consortium contracted to deliver the tram system by 2011 - and I'll believe this when I see it - has been involved in such a dispute. Some months ago it locked horns with Transport for London and the Tramtrack Croydon Ltd. TfL eventually lost patience. Edinburgh's city fathers were either unaware of the problems with the consortium or chose to ignore it.
However, it seems now that work can continue on the building site that used to be Princes Street. As if the destruction of Scotland's finest thoroughfare wasn't bad enough, those of us who enjoy ambling through its famous gardens are greeted with something akin to a ploughed field. The east end of Princes Street Gardens has suffered from the Christmas and New Year festivities - big wheel, ice rink, German Christmas Markets - and has had to be dug up. Like Princes Street itself right now, this part of the gardens is an eyesore. But the good old Cooncil says it will be restored to its former glory - by May...
As I write this, it's a gloriously sunny day in Scotland's capital city. The good people of Edinburgh will be heading out in droves to enjoy the long-awaited fine weather. But with Princes Street a building site, the gardens a muddy field, endless traffic diversions and queues of traffic - you can't go very far in the city without gas pipes being replaced or road resurfacing taking place - many of us will wonder if it's really worth it.
A bit like the Edinburgh Trams Project...
2 comments:
Oh dear, sounds like every other major city council project around the world. Glad you are getting some sun and some trams. I love them!
Trams a definite fiasco! At least the turf is being laid in Princes Street Gardens, at least it was this morning, but who knows the contractors may have stopped work by now in a dispute over watering issues...
Post a Comment