Wednesday August 27th 2025
The Damhead Junction before the traffic lights were installed
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Recently two sets of traffic lights have been installed along the A702 at Hillend and one set of these lights that aimed to increase safety have caused standstills and traffic jams in and out of Midlothian.
The signals at Hillend Ski Centre were first introduced by Midlothian Council to mitigate the impact of the development of the centre, improve access and provide pedestrian facilities. This junction is referred to as the Hillend junction. Unfortunately it has caused issues with the traffic levels in the area such that the lights that aimed to increase safety have caused standstills and traffic jams in and out of Midlothian.
These lights have now been handed over to BEAR Scotland who manages and maintains Scotland’s trunk roads.
But locals have highlighted that issues remain with the Hillend Junction, one road user has highlighted that delays of 20 minutes are now common on the junction. It has also been pointed out that priority at the junction has been given to a handful of cars entering and leaving Hillend Ski Centre and even a private resident, not the main road.
Earlier this year BEAR Scotland itself introduced the second set of traffic signals at the A702/A703/Old Pentland Road junction to improve safety by reducing vehicle conflicts, this junction is known as the Damhead Junction.
The junction is a double fork road built into the side of a hill. When heading south on the A702, from Edinburgh, the first left is a minor road which crosses to the A701 near Straiton, while the second is the busy A703, which also crosses to the A701. This double fork shape makes the junction difficult and challenging with the road angles turning right and left out of either junction being more challenging than basic junctions.
Since the installation of the signals at Damhead Junction, the sequencing of the traffic signals has been adjusted and continues to be monitored. Through this process the optimum green light time has been allocated to A702 traffic in both directions, minimising journey times as much as possible. This may have a minor negative impact on waiting times from the A703 and Old Pentland Road accessing the A702.
Referring to the Damhead Junction a BEAR Scotland spokesperson said: “With any change in traffic layout it takes time to settle, and we are committed to monitoring on an ongoing basis. We are still in this process with changes being made and then reviewed.”
“Feedback from users is fed into this process, which also includes journey time analysis and safety audits. It takes time to get the timings right, but our focus is to prioritise trunk road routes.”
“Whilst it is too early to compare collision data at the junction, user experience indicates that the junction is now significantly safer to negotiate, and feedback received from the local community has shown this to be a positive development.”
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