Leith Connections Active Travel
Framework: SCAPE Scotland Civil Engineering Framework
Client: City of Edinburgh Council
Location: Leith, Edinburgh
Value: £4.9m
Sector: Active Travel
Completion: December 2025
“It’s fantastic to see this phase of Leith Connections completed, a project that is creating real transport choice for local people. This new route makes it easier, safer and much more pleasant to travel between Leith Walk and the Shore – whether you’re walking, using a wheelchair, pushing a buggy, or hopping on the bike. As well as creating healthier and fairer options for getting around, the improvements have revitalised the surrounding public spaces into a welcoming and inclusive area that people want to spend time in with friends and family, and by visiting local businesses.”
Fiona MacLeod
Director for Scotland, Cymru and Northern Ireland at Walk, Wheel and Cycle Trust
Creating safer and more comfortable conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling while improving public spaces for local people, businesses and visitors.
Delivered for City of Edinburgh Council by Balfour Beatty through the SCAPE Scotland Civil Engineering Framework, the Leith Connections Active Travel project helped transform the route from Foot of the Walk to Dock Street in Leith. The project combined infrastructure improvements with a strong place-based social impact programme, supporting youth employability, community legacy, biodiversity, volunteering and local economic benefit.
The purpose of the project was to deliver Phase 1 of the Leith Connections Active Travel scheme, improving connections through Leith between Foot of the Walk and Dock Street.
The project responds to local priorities around traffic levels, road safety, accessibility and the need for more attractive, people-friendly streets. Works included the construction of a segregated cycle track protecting users from motor vehicles, pavement improvements including resurfacing and street decluttering, dropped kerb improvements, public realm enhancements, street decluttering, dropped kerb improvements, new signalised junction with pedestrian crossing on all arms, sustainable drainage features and soft landscaping.
As principal contractor, Balfour Beatty’s role has extended beyond core delivery to support City of Edinburgh Council’s wider ambition for the project: creating lasting benefits for the local community. This has included developing and delivering a place-based Social Impact Action Plan, focused on education engagement, youth employability, community projects, volunteering, biodiversity and local economic benefit.
The project was being delivered in a busy urban environment, requiring careful management of public interfaces, traffic management, access arrangements and ongoing communication with local stakeholders. Working in a live streetscape meant the team had to consider the needs of residents, businesses, pedestrians, cyclists and visitors, while continuing to progress construction safely and efficiently. The wider scheme also involved public realm improvements, active travel infrastructure, sustainable drainage and landscaping, requiring coordination across multiple workstreams and stakeholders.
A key focus had been ensuring that disruption is managed sensitively and that the project continues to support the local area while works are underway. For example, the team supported the Leith Jazz & Blues Festival through traffic management, advertising on hoarding and barriers, and working to minimise disruption to businesses during one of the area’s key community events.
The project has delivered a high-quality active travel route between Foot of the Walk and Dock Street, providing safer, more accessible infrastructure for walking, wheeling and cycling while enhancing the wider public realm. Improvements to streets, crossings, landscaping and drainage have helped create a more attractive and welcoming environment that better connects communities, businesses and transport links across Leith. Since the start of this year, pedestrian footfall across Sandport Place Bridge is up around 20%. Numbers of people on bikes at the bridge are also up by up to 60% each month compared to previous years.
Delivered through close collaboration between Balfour Beatty and the City of Edinburgh Council, the scheme successfully balanced construction activity within a busy urban environment while maintaining a strong focus on stakeholder engagement and community needs. Beyond the infrastructure itself, the project generated significant social value through local employability, volunteering, biodiversity and community legacy initiatives, ensuring lasting benefits for the area.
Social value initiatives
The Leith Connections project delivered measurable social value across community legacy, youth employability, biodiversity and local economic benefit. The project exceeded several of its original Social Impact Action Plan targets, including:
- 51 hours of school and college engagement
- 27 hours supporting young people into work
- 40 community volunteering hours
- 160 hours supporting green infrastructure, biodiversity and clean green spaces
- £746,351.00 Social Value generated
Environmental sustainability was embedded throughout the project through responsible resource management, material reuse and locally sourced products, helping to minimise carbon emissions and waste. Circular economy principles were applied wherever practicable, with surplus materials diverted from disposal and reused within the project or donated to community initiatives.
In addition, the project delivered long-term environmental enhancements through new planting, sustainable drainage features and biodiversity improvements, while supporting local environmental organisations and community-led projects that promote stewardship of the Water of Leith area.
The Dock @ Coalie Park
One of the key deliverables was The Dock @ Coalie Park, where Balfour Beatty supported the transformation of a neglected space along the Water of Leith into a community skatespot and hub. Support included professional advice, training space, toolbox talks, industry introductions and supply chain engagement. This led to £14,880.81 of plant and material support recorded through benefit-in-kind donations, while SCAPE Reinvest also donated towards the project cost.
The project also created direct employment outcomes, with all participants in the training-for-work programme securing employment by the halfway point of the project.
Environmental outcomes were strengthened through Water of Leith volunteering, where 40 volunteers supported river clearance, path maintenance, wildflower meadow improvements and blockage reduction. The project also supported local businesses and community organisations, including Leith Jazz & Blues Festival, PrintSponge and Graeme Brodie Blacksmith, ensuring local spend and community benefit remain rooted in Leith.
Why SCAPE Scotland?
What did the SCAPE Scotland framework bring to the project?
Using the SCAPE Scotland framework has supported early contractor engagement, collaboration and a clear route to delivering both construction outcomes and wider community value.
What were the benefits of using SCAPE Scotland?
The framework provided a structure for Balfour Beatty, City of Edinburgh Council and local partners to align project delivery with place-based social impact, helping ensure that value for money was not only measured through infrastructure delivery, but through the project’s contribution to local people, communities and the environment.
“Working with Eliza [Balfour Beatty] has been nothing short of transformative for the Edinburgh Wheels Project at Coalie Park. From the earliest conversations, Eliza brought an energy and clarity of purpose that inspired confidence and kept us focused, even when things got tough. Her support went far beyond the expected. She didn’t just cheer from the sidelines, she opened doors. Whether it was connecting us with essential suppliers, introducing us to key partners, or simply offering encouragement at exactly the right moments, Eliza was instrumental in helping us bring this project to life. The skatepark and community hub will become a thriving environment on the banks of the Water of Leith as a direct result of her commitment to meaningful social impact. We’re proud to have had her in our corner and grateful for her belief in what we were trying to achieve."
Colin Gilchrist
Edinburgh Wheels
Social value outcomes
This project has been submitted by Balfour Beatty as part of the collaborative Social Value in Construction Benchmarking Report. This report captures the latest insights into the regional and national trends in social value delivery; learn more here.
51 hours
of school and college engagement
27 hours
supporting young people into work
40 hours
of community volunteering
160 hours
supporting green infrastructure, biodiversity and clean green spaces
£746,351.00
Social Value generated
In collaboration with:
Meet the lead:
Rachel Park
Senior Framework Manager
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