Lawnmarket

The popularity of the attractions on and around Lawnmarket mean there is a high number of visitors throughout the year, particularly at weekends and during holiday periods. In summer, we see over 5,000 people moving through the street every hour.

The historic narrow pavements mean that those walking and wheeling are regularly forced to use the road, which compromises safety and accessibility, as well as making the area uncomfortable to spend time in.  

Apart from the summer festival period, Lawnmarket is open to general traffic and is regularly used by coaches, tour buses and taxis.

By restricting vehicle access to Lawnmarket at the busiest times, we can create a better and safer place for everyone.

Since 2019, we have carried out several trials to restrict vehicle access to improve pedestrian safety. We monitored these which told us that pedestrian safety continued to be a significant issue due to the presence of vehicles, particularly larger vehicles such as tour buses and coaches.

Removing vehicle traffic during the busiest period of the day is considered the best option to improve safety, comfort and accessibility for people walking, wheeling and cycling in the area.  

Lawnmarket Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO)

An ETRO is a legal mechanism used to introduce trials to change the layout of a road for 18 months. It will allow us to test the impacts of introducing a pedestrian and cycle zone on Lawmmarket.

Lawnmarket is currently closed to traffic because of road reconstruction work, which is due to finish in July 2025. We plan to implement the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) following completion of that work.

An ETRO can be used to introduce changes to parking, loading and the movement of certain vehicles such as general traffic.

The trial will include these changes

• No vehicle access to Lawnmarket and Castlehill between 10.30am and 7.30pm Monday to Saturday
• No vehicle access to Lawnmarket and Castlehill between 12.30pm and 7.30pm on Sundays
• Restricted access to Johnston Terrace for large vehicles when pedestrian and cycle zone is in operation
• Remove existing coach parking on Johnston Terrace
• Coach pick-up and drop-off introduced on Castle Terrace
• Taxi and private hire pick-up and drop-off areas on Johnston Terrace
• Additional blue badge parking on Johnston Terrace
• Public and resident parking on Johnston Terrace
• Turning area for smaller vehicles, including taxis and vans, on Johnston Terrace
• Existing resident parking numbers will not change

Throughout the trial, essential vehicles associated with Edinburgh Castle and to allow events to happen normally will still be able to access to Lawnmarket and Castlehill.

As part of the trial, we will carry out a six-month public consultation when you can raise comments, objections or statements of support to the proposed experimental order. We will let you know when the consultation is online.

The results of the consultation, alongside the outputs of other monitoring, will be reported to the Council’s Transport and Environment Committee before a final decision is taken by the TRO sub-committee on whether to make the scheme permanent.