At the full council meeting this week, councillors approved the project to upgrade the A7 between the Melville Dykes to Eskbank Road Roundabouts. 

The improvements, which will be done between now and March 2026, will see:

• A 3.5m wide shared use path created on the south bound lane of the A7 from North Esk Bridge to the Eskbank Road Roundabout
• 2 new Toucan Crossings built
• 4 new bus stops installed, including lay-bys, shelters and Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) signs, where applicable
• 12,000m2 of carriageway surface improved
• Low energy LED lighting installed
• 1.5m green blue strip (improving drainage, biodiversity and creating a boulevard street scene)
• The speed limit revised to 30mph over this upgraded stretch

Midlothian Council’s cabinet member for transport, Councillor Colin Cassidy, said: “We fully support the proposal to urbanise this stretch of the A7 corridor, much of which has no pavements for pedestrians and is a key route between neighbouring council areas.

“We get a lot of community feedback asking for improvements along this stretch which has seen multiple housing developments built up around it in recent years and now needs significant investment to enable active travel and access to public transport for local people.”

The work, which is estimated to take 10 weeks to complete and cost £1.496m, is not part of the recent consultation to improve active travel and connections with public transport along a wider stretch of the A7.