31/08/2026
🚧 Could St Mark’s Path bridge really be closed until 2028?
There has been a significant update on the closure of the bridge over the Water of Leith at Powderhall, and there are still some important questions we think need answers.
The bridge was closed following a structural inspection which identified problems with the timber connections.
The Council’s current position is that the bridge is now expected to need replacing, and that the section of St Mark’s Path between Broughton Road and the Water of Leith is likely to remain closed until that happens.
🏗️ Could it really take until 2028?
At our August LCCC meeting we discussed the lack of clarity about whether the bridge could be repaired, how much the work might cost and how quickly this important route could be reopened.
Cllr Jack Caldwell subsequently raised the issue at the full City Council meeting on 27 August.
A full replacement is now considered highly likely. Officers need to establish a cost and identify funding, followed by design, procurement, manufacture and installation.
If funding cannot be secured until the new financial year beginning in April 2027, the Council has indicated that the bridge may not reopen until early 2028.
🚨 How has this happened?
The current bridge is not an old structure. It was only completed around 2008 and its timber design was intended to have a very long lifespan. A later engineering inspection in 2022 had already recorded splitting in some of the timber.
How has a bridge of this age deteriorated to the point where full replacement is now considered likely?
🚶 Why does this bridge matter?
St Mark’s Path connects into Edinburgh’s wider walking and cycling network and is used for journeys to work and school, access to St Mark’s Park and the Water of Leith, and everyday travel between communities on either side.
Improvements to St Mark’s Path are also part of Edinburgh’s wider City Mobility Plan, so losing this link potentially for well over a year is significant.
🗺️ And what about the other bridge?
This was one of the questions raised at LCCC. The current diversion signage sends people around via Warriston Road, Logie Green Road and Broughton Road. For many journeys that is a substantial detour.
But there is another footbridge into St Mark’s Park, connecting with the Powderhall Road/Hughes Close development, only a short distance away.
Why isn’t that being shown as an alternative? We don’t yet have the answer. Hughes Close itself is a private road, and we have not established the ownership or status of the footbridge.
We are asking the Council to clarify whether this much shorter alternative can be used and, if not, why not.
âť“ What happens next?
At our August meeting we discussed several things we still want to understand:
• Is replacement definitely the only viable option, or could the existing bridge be repaired or strengthened?
• Can the process be accelerated given the importance of the route?
• Why isn’t the Powderhall Road/Hughes Close route being signposted?
• What can be done to provide the best possible alternative while the bridge is closed?
We also discussed inviting the relevant Council officer to a future LCCC meeting so residents and members can ask questions directly, and whether further representations to the Council may be needed.
💬 In the meantime, we’d like to hear from you.
Do you normally use St Mark’s Path?
How much is the closure adding to your journey?
Were you aware of the other crossing into St Mark’s Park from the Powderhall Road/Hughes Close side?
We’d be interested to hear from people using the route for work or school, cyclists, parents with buggies and people for whom a much longer diversion creates an accessibility problem.
Comments will be fed back into LCCC’s continuing discussions about the bridge.
Picture: Iconic Media
