Edinburgh Campus staff and students are advised of the following information issued by Kirknewton Community Council:
From Sunday 19 May 2013 at 12.35 am until Sunday 2 June 2013 at 5.00pm the rail crossing at Kirknewton will be closed for programmed replacement of the existing barriers with a new RADAR controlled system. Closure will be to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Vehicular traffic will be diverted through Kirknewton village and the U28, Linburn road, adding an estimated 11 minutes to journey times, congestion permitting. Pedestrian traffic will be diverted by shuttle buses via the same route to enable access to both sides of the station.
During the same period the nearby Leyden road, which could be used to by-pass this closure will be closed to all vehicular traffic.
Major traffic congestion is therefore expected to occur both within Kirknewton village and at the Junction of Linburn road with the A71.
In addition, rail passenger services will be affected with delays and for one sub-period within the closure dates there will be no trains at all on this line, i.e., Edinburgh –Glasgow via Shotts, this will clearly effect University staff and students who normally use Currie hill or Slateford stations. Passengers should watch out for more information at stations.
For future information, once the new crossing barrier system is installed, due to the method of future operation and an increase in rail traffic the rail crossing barriers will be closed /down for a possible 35 minutes at a time at peak periods, providing that all timetables are adhered to.