The road through Holyrood Park is to be closed off at certain times of the week under new rules that come into force this Saturday (June 13).
The announcement by Historic Environment Scotland, who manage the park, will see roads closed to all vehicles at weekends.
The public body tweeted the announcement yesterday (June 9) saying: “From Saturday 13 June, we'll be making some changes to the current road closures in Holyrood Park.
“All roads in the Park will be closed to vehicles from 8.30am and re-opened for 6pm on both Saturdays and Sundays.”
“The High Road remains closed every day, with a one-way system in place for cyclists. All car parks (except for Broad Pavement) will remain closed every day. Broad Pavement Car Park is strictly for the use of key workers and visitors with mobility issues.”
In response to many Twitter comments asking why this hadn’t happened sooner and calling for a more comprehensive closure of roads Historic Environment Scotland explained it was a staffing issue.
They said: “Rangers need to be on site to facilitate road closures and this was not possible when we implemented an ‘Emergency Response only’ phase at the start of lockdown.
“With lockdown easing, we're able to reintroduce a skeleton Ranger Service and implement weekend road closures.”
The car park remaining open during lockdown has been a source of contention with many saying it was being used by people driving from far away to come and visit the park in violation of lockdown rules. Historic Environment Scotland has kept it open for use by key workers and people with mobility issues – but some fear without enforcement parking at Holyrood has been a free-for-all.
Responding to this, Historic Environment Scotland said the re-introduction of rangers would also allow them to supervise the car park, adding: “signage at our car parks highlights the restricted usage and we have asked visitors to the Holyrood Park to respect these restrictions.
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