A PETITION calling for the closure of a busy stretch of road in Musselburgh has been rejected by councillors, despite gaining nearly 230 signatures of support.

Campaigner Graeme Stuart accused the council of “institutionalised neglect” when it came to traffic problems in the town.

And he described the A1 bypass as the “elephant in the room”, saying it had failed to persuade drivers to use it as an alternative to driving through Musselburgh on their way to Edinburgh.

Mr Stuart wants Inveresk Road permanently closed to traffic from the Newbigging junction to Dalrymple Loan, effectively stopping traffic from using it and Dalrymple Loan as an alternative route to avoid Musselburgh High Street.

He said 5,500 vehicles travelled through the road every day, turning it into a “giant rat run” and endangering the lives of schoolchildren.

Speaking before the council’s petitions committee, Mr Stuart said: “It is a shame I cannot make a video presentation to show the sheer volume of noise, traffic and sheer terror pedestrians face on the road every day.

“We have a trunk road going through a residential estate. The A1 is the elephant in the room; it was designed to take this traffic but the traffic does not want to use it.” Inveresk Road is already closed off at its west end, but Mr Stuart said it needed to be permanently closed to all through traffic. He accused the council of only acting on road safety when it was too late.

He said: “We had bollards installed at the end of Inveresk Road at Tesco because a child was killed. We had bollards installed at School Lane because a child was knocked down. Is that the mark this council uses for safety features to be introduced?

“There has been institutionalised negligence by this council in Musselburgh.” Mr Stuart claimed the biggest problem was motorists from Prestonpans using Musselburgh as a route into Edinburgh.

When asked how he would address the problem, he said: “I’d close the road between Prestonpans and Musselburgh.” But Councillor Margaret Libberton questioned whether this was the issue, saying: “There are always queues at Meadowmill of traffic waiting to get on the A1. I am surprised by the suggestion.

Alan Stubbs, service manager for roads, told the committee while he commended Mr Stuart’s commitment to his campaign he could not support the petition “at this time”.

He said: “The council is going through the Local Development Plan process and one of the elements being looked at is Musselburgh. Until we know which way the council views plans for the area we cannot begin to look at traffic models.” Mr Stubbs said Inveresk Road was likely to be considered in future plans but officials could not do so at the moment.

The committee’s members all said that while they sympathised with Mr Stuart, they had to agree with their official.

Afterwards, Mr Stuart said: “This is the start of the campaign, not the conclusion.”