M8 link road 'not necessary'
21.02.10
Plans for a £50m link road from the M8 to Edinburgh Airport have been dealt a blow, at least in the short term, after council chiefs deemed the route ‘unnecessary’, the Scotsman reports. The airport, which last year handled 9 million passengers and has consistently grown even during the recession, have been asking for improved transport links as part of its continued expansion plans.
However, a report due to go before the council's planning committee concludes that longer term growth at the airport is ‘uncertain,’ adding that a new link between the M8 and A8 would add ‘considerably’ to the financial burden on development in the west of the city. The recommendation that the route be dropped for the foreseeable future follows the decision by the Scottish Government to leave the road out of its strategic transport review announced in late 2008.
The airport link road, which would cost between £36m - £51m, formed part of a study known as the West Edinburgh Transport Appraisal (WETA). The report concludes: ‘WETA suggests that an M8 link is unnecessary in the interim. Any requirement will not emerge until the long term and is dependent on whether airport traffic grows at the rate in current forecasts.’
Gordon Dewar, the managing director of Edinburgh Airport, accepted the report, telling the newspaper: ‘The long-term plan to have a link from the M8 remains undiminished. However, we accept that in the interim period, the decision to press ahead with it will be kept under review.'
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