{"id":794285,"date":"2026-02-28T07:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T07:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/794285\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T07:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T07:46:14","slug":"upcoming-roadworks-on-royal-mile-to-replace-unsightly-security-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/794285\/","title":{"rendered":"Upcoming roadworks on Royal Mile to\u00a0replace \u201cunsightly\u201d security barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"

AS PART of a push\u00a0to replace the \u201cunsightly\u201d security barriers on the\u00a0Royal Mile<\/a>,\u00a0roadworks will\u00a0commence\u00a0next month to complete the installation of new\u00a0security-rated, retractable bollards<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Security barriers\u00a0installed at the behest of the UK Government in 2017,\u00a0in response to the\u00a0London Bridge terror\u00a0attack<\/a>,\u00a0were only supposed to be temporary but\u00a0have remained in place in the absence of a better solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An answer recently presented itself in the form of security-rated\u00a0hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) bollards, however, and\u00a0a project\u00a0is underway to have all\u00a0the barriers\u00a0replaced.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prohibitively expensive\u00a0pricing has, in the past, been the main barrier to the project, but \u00a31.5m\u00a0has now been\u00a0allocated\u00a0for the\u00a0installation of the bollards\u00a0from the forthcoming visitor levy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Barriers<\/a>Barriers installed after the 2017 London bridge attacks to prevent HGV vehicles being used for terror attacks will be replaced with restractable security-rated bollards (C) Deadline News<\/p>\n

This has allowed plans to move forward, and the council is now looking at the replacement of all barriers along the Royal Mile and in the Old Town.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council decided on how to\u00a0allocate\u00a0funds expected to be raised from the\u00a0visitor\u00a0levy\u00a0earlier this month, with\u00a0\u00a31.5m\u00a0allocated\u00a0to the bollards and\u00a0millions\u00a0allocated\u00a0to projects around the Old Town.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One set of barriers \u2013 at the eastern end of the\u00a0Lawnmarket, at the junction with George IV Bridge\u00a0\u2013\u00a0were replaced last year, but further works must take place\u00a0before the bollards can be fully automated.<\/p>\n

HVM bollards are specialized, crash-tested security bollards designed to protect pedestrians, infrastructure, and crowded spaces from vehicle-based attacks or accidental ramming.<\/p>\n

The bollards installed at the Lawnmarket are retractable underground, and, once completed, will be able to automatically react to traffic, retracting and distending accordingly.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0council\u00a0spokesperson confirmed that the works are slated to\u00a0commence\u00a0next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rest of the barriers \u2013 known as National Barrier Assets \u2013 on Johnstone Terrace, Mound Place, St Giles Street, High Street, and Cockburn Street will be replaced as part of\u00a0separate\u00a0programme, fully funded by the visitor levy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finlay McFarlane, a local councillor who\u00a0represents\u00a0the City Centre ward,\u00a0expressed regret at the \u201csad reality\u201d of terror threats on the Royal Mile but praised the bollards as a \u201cwelcome step forward\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cAs a local councillor,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0really pleased to see the completion of this new and fit for purpose infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0a sad reality that we must take precautions to keep visitors and residents safe in our highest footfall areas but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0equally important that the measures we put in place respect the character and heritage of our city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cReplacing the\u00a0previous, unsightly barriers with something more\u00a0appropriate for\u00a0this historic setting is a welcome step forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he wants to see the appearance of the Old Town reflect the area\u2019s cultural and historical\u00a0significance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEdinburgh\u2019s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and our public spaces should reflect that status,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to securing funding from the visitor levy, we should now see this upgrade programme continue down the Royal Mile, replacing other barriers with solutions that are both effective and sensitive to their surroundings \u2013 a\u00a0long held\u00a0wish of Old Town residents and businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0looking forward to seeing more of these improvements delivered in the months ahead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are currently no dates set for works to replace the rest of the barriers and it is unclear how long the roadworks will be in place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edinburgh\u2019s new visitor levy will add a 5% surcharge on all overnight stays\u00a0(for the first five nights)\u00a0in\u00a0Edinburgh, and\u00a0is expected to raise around \u00a390m in its first three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These funds were recently\u00a0allocated\u00a0by the council to a range of initiatives\u00a0around the city.<\/p>\n

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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AS PART of a push\u00a0to replace the \u201cunsightly\u201d security barriers on the\u00a0Royal Mile,\u00a0roadworks will\u00a0commence\u00a0next month to complete the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,37802,4884,230830,37416,70459,712,16,15],"class_list":["post-794285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-britain","tag-edinburgh","tag-edinburgh-council","tag-great-britain","tag-lawnmarket","tag-roadworks","tag-royal-mile","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116147151483436436","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}