What's next for Edinburgh's proposed tram line extension?

A decision on whether to take over the Roseburn Path for the use of trams is set to come in September.

Council officers will submit their final recommendations, a strategic business case on the project, at a transport committee meeting that month.

Suggestions for councillors may include proceeding with the project as outlined, proceeding with parts of it, or pausing it, all subject to funding.

The September report will also contain information on the costs of developing an outline business case, which will detail the estimated overall cost requirements of the project.

Council transport convener and Labour councillor Stephen Jenkinson told press on Tuesday that the results before that meeting would tell councillors “what we do and where we do it.”

Councillors will make a decision at the September meeting, and may not follow the recommendations of officers.

Cllr Jenkinson’s comments came ahead of an update report set to be heard by councillors on Thursday next week, which laid out what would come in September.

The update report also contained information on the outcome of the council’s public consultation into the project, as well as polling undertaken by the council.

The consultation found a lack of public support for the Roseburn Path option, with 68 percent opposed.

Meanwhile, the route through Dean Bridge had 40 percent support, though 19% of respondents said they neither supported nor opposed it.

The polling, which targeted residents across the city with a focus along the route, found 43 percent support for the Roseburn Path option and 44 percent for the Dean Bridge option.

A further 36 percent did not support or oppose the Dean Bridge option, while 34 percent felt the same way towards the Roseburn Path option.

Both the consultation and the polling found over 50 percent support for the leg of the route that runs from the city centre to the Royal Infirmary and Bioquarter.

The consultation brought in 11,425 responses, while 1,209 people were polled.

Thursday’s report broke down the demographics of consultation responses, with respondents almost twice as likely to own a bike than the broader Edinburgh public.

In addition, car ownership among people who took part in the consultation was 69 percent, versus 58 percent to 62 percent of city residents as a whole, depending on which data source is used.

Cllr Jenkinson said it was ‘fair to say’ the polling undertaken was more representative of the city as a whole than the consultation.

But he added that he would weigh both equally running up to the September decision.

He also made the case that the extension to the tram network was necessary for Edinburgh to continue to thrive going forward.

He told press: “Edinburgh is the fastest growing place in Scotland, it’s growing at twice the rate as Glasgow.”

“Edinburgh is the economic powerhouse of Scotland. Our GDP per capita surpassed London last year and certainly it doesn’t feel like we’re going in any other direction other than an upward trajectory.

“We do contribute 30 percent to Scotland’s GDP with 10 percent of the actual workforce, so we need mechanisms to manage the city but also help manage the pressures that are being faced in the region in the most appropriate way.”

The council’s SNP group announced opposition either option to extend the tram north in advance of the May parliament elections, saying they wanted officers to identify a different route.

Cllr Jenkinson said he was ‘disappointed’ by the group’s position, given that it had come before the consultation results were announced.

“I don’t think that’s the right way to do business. We should wait until we have all the data to help us make informed decisions.

“I’m comfortable waiting to see the full results of the [September report] before jumping in to any decisions.”