Edinburgh local businesses have shown their frustration over a bridge that has been closed for almost three months in the west of the city for works yet to be completed.
Shandon bridge has been closed for cars and public transport since January 17 and is located close to Harrison Park. The passage connects the two streets of Shandon Place and Ashley Terrace, just off of Slateford Road.
Many businesses have been frustrated with the closure as they claimed that it has affected their income from people not passing through the area. The bridge is owned by Network Rail with works being carried out by CityFibre.
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CityFibre have told businesses and residents that they are unable to ‘give an exact timeframe’ for when the bridge is set to be reopened. The firm has apologised to those affected.
At Edinburgh Live we decided to speak to local businesses that have been affected by the bridge being closed. Maisie, Manager of Star Dogs Grooming, said: “I think this in Edinburgh, in general is pretty extreme to be honest, this seems to be going really slow and I don’t really know what’s going on with it.”
However, Maisie continued onto say that it hadn’t made a massive impact on the business and said: “Our customers are happy. They usually park and walk up the bridge, it’s maybe only delayed a couple of people.”
Sauder, Owner of the Terrace Café, said: “There hasn’t been as many people who have walked in, so we aren’t making as much money as we used to do and we’ve only been in business for one year so it does affect us."
Benjamin Bennett, Owner of Pollination for six years, said: “It definitely has affected” his business. He continued onto say: “All the practical aspects of our business such as getting rubbish collected, deliveries and customers coming in and collecting orders, it’s been quite difficult.”
“I know it is causing a lot of anxieties and a lot of stress and the lack of communication with it as well, we’ve had no formal communications from anyone at all.”
Jacqui Thomson, owner of the hairdresser, Karma for 12 years talked to us about how this has impacted her customers.
Some of her elderly customers must use buses, taxis and many other means of transport to access her stylist salon with some even missing their appointments altogether due to the detour.
“It’s just a knock-on effect and we end up working later and later with some people missing their appointments because they don’t have the access like they had before. It’s a complete mess out there, it doesn’t look good and it puts people off coming into the area.”
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Paul Wakefield, CityFibre’s Area Manager for Edinburgh, said: “Following full fibre deployment by CityFibre on Ashley Terrace and Shandon Place, the bridge which spans the old railway line has been closed and has temporary traffic restrictions in place for additional reinstatement works.
“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and to reassure residents that we are working closely with City of Edinburgh Council and Network Rail to find a solution to reopen the bridge as soon as possible.”
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