A “SAFE promenade” is being trialled in the harbour area at Musselburgh amid fears about “near misses” between children and vehicles.
Conducted by Fisherrow Harbour & Seafront Association (FHSA), the initiative is being supported by East Lothian Council.
It is hoped to create “a continuous, safe walkway” across the Fisherrow Harbour area in a bid to “minimise the risk of a serious accident”.
The altered layout will use spaces left by boats which are craned into the harbour over the summer, and the route will be separated from vehicles by wooden planters.
The trial will run from July until October, when the boats are craned out of the harbour for the winter months.
Stuart Rillie, FHSA harbour manager, said: “Currently, there is no safe route from the beach at the west side of the harbour to the beach/promenade at the east side, so we are carrying out a summer trial to the harbour car park with a safe walkway for pedestrians, wheelchairs and slow cycles.
“We have considered many different designs, some of which would result in a significant decrease in parking spaces.”
He said that the selected design retained most of the car parking spaces but six would be lost for the summer.
The walkway is a continuation from the old fish market triangle along to the height barrier at the entrance to the back sands car park, he added.
Mr Rillie said: “The spaces we will lose are occupied by boats in the winter months so we will only lose the six spaces for three months as part of this trial.
“The idea of using planters is that they are temporary and can be moved if we realise something isn’t working well or we need to space them wider apart or closer together.”
He added: “If this works and we hear lots of positive feedback, we might carry it on next summer as well.
“At the moment, any changes we make will be temporary until the design of the flood protection scheme becomes available.
“Full access will be maintained to the area for emergency vehicles.
“Any locked barriers in the East Lothian area, including all coastal car parks, are locked by a padlock for which the Coastguard has keys and this will be the same for the harbour, should we ever have any locked barriers in a public area.”
Mr Rillie said: “Since FHSA took over the management of the harbour and seafront in 2018, we have become increasingly aware of lots of near misses in the harbour area between (mainly) children and moving vehicles, as there is no walkway, so we need to take steps to address and minimise the risk of a serious accident.
“We welcome any constructive feedback and would like to hear about any comments people have at safeprom@fhsa.org.uk”
He explained that the existing planters on the promenade were mainly “adopted” by individuals to fill them with blooms, adding: “Now that we have another 15 planters to fill, we need more planter adopters.
“If people are a bit green-fingered or have never planted a plant before and want to try it out, more information can be found at fhsa.org.uk/planters
“FHSA will supply the compost and each planter will be filled with compost ready to plant flowers or shrubs.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here