Bloody trams

The mess Edinburgh is in because of the buggering tram works continues to get worse - streets ripped up, constant roadworks, diversions, lengthy delays for weeks and months, bus timetables all over the place because of the delays, totally messed up pavements and pedestrian crossings (in fact in some places the crossing is now unavailable altogether because of the works and no safe alternative has been put in place, which has doubtless contributed to the three pedestrians injured in accidents inside a couple of weeks in and around Princes Street) and a fortune spent ripping up pavements we paid to have widen just a few years ago, now all being narrowed again, cycle lanes lost, listed buildings demolished and now an official letter replying to a disabled lady with MS tells her the disabled probably should go to an out of town shopping centre rather than Princes Street for the next few years while the works go on:

"I would not recommend visiting the city centre while the tram works are being carried out and would suggest instead that you continue to visit the Gyle Shopping Centre as it has dedicated parking for Blue Badge holders and an in situ Lothian Shopmobility service" (via the Evening news)

All this despite the fact the incompetents at the tram company (a council arms-length company) and the council insist that everything in the city is open for business as usual during the years of the expensive white elephant that is the tram, yet here they are telling folks not to come in (many already aren't, even before the credit crunch bit numbers taking the bus into the city centre were way down as folks avoid it because of the endless delays). These idiots are all being paid out of the public purse...

If we were going to have a decent new transport system out of it at the end of it all perhaps it might be worth it, but its just one near useless line - it goes nowhere near where the vast majority of Edinburgh residents live so it will be no use to them. I live fairly centrally and it will still be useless to me when finished, I (and 4/5 of the rest of the city) will still rely on the bus. And the bus will continue to be held up even after the tram works are finished because they will get right of way at junctions... They will also get in the way of cycles (especially in parts where cycle lanes are being lost), passengers embarking and disembarking will get in the way of other traffic and pedestrians and what happens when one breaks down? Years back we had a referendum on congestion charging, but for this trams we had it shoved down our throat and were never given the option of voting yay or nay, presumably because the council were worried that once again we would refuse to endorse their stupid, ill thought out plans. Meantime the same authorities won't even take the most basic steps to help keep traffic going through the works (despite saying they were doing everything, of course) - the green lanes aren't even being patrolled by wardens so lazy shopkeepers and customers are daily parking in them to go in and out of the shops and not bothering that they are making the long lines even worse (this is happening even right round the corner from police stations... sigh).