Edinburgh Airport M8 link road ‘unnecessary’
21.02.10
Plans for a £50 million link road from the M8 to Edinburgh Airport have been dealt a blow after council chiefs deemed the route ‘unnecessary’, the Scotsman reports. The airport, which last year handled nine million passengers, have been calling for improved transport links to the terminal as part of its continued expansion plans.
A report due to go before the council's planning committee concludes that longer term growth at the airport remains ‘uncertain,’ adding that a new link between the M8 and A8 would add ‘considerably’ to the financial burden placed 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, which was announced in late 2008.
The airport link road, which would cost between £36m and £51m, formed part of a study known as the West Edinburgh Transport Appraisal (WETA). The report concludes: ‘The WETA suggests that an M8 link is unnecessary in the interim scenario. Any requirement will not emerge until the long term and is dependent to a considerable extent on whether airport traffic grows at the rate in current forecasts.’
Gordon Dewar, managing director of Edinburgh Airport, accepted the report, telling the newspaper: ‘The long-term plan to have a link from the M8 to the airport remains undiminished. However, we accept that in the interim period, the decision to press ahead with it will be kept under review.'
To book edinburgh airport hotel or edinburgh airport car park at the lowest price, click on these links to two great Edinburgh airport parking and Edinburgh airport hotel price comparison pages.
