Lost dispute doubles cost of replacing roundabout

THE BILL to replace one of the Capital's most notorious roundabouts more than doubled to £3.5 million after council chiefs lost a dispute with contractors.

Work to replace Seafield roundabout at Portobello with traffic lights had been expected to cost 1.7m and take five months to complete.

But figures obtained by the Evening News show the final bill came to more than double that after six months' worth of delays pushed up the cost of the project.

Following an independent adjudication into the dispute with the contractors, it was agreed the council must pick up the additional cost after delays caused by bad weather and a botched traffic management scheme.

Local councillor Ewan Aitken described the cost as "a scandal" and said it was an example of "complete budgetary incompetence" on the part of the council.

The adjudication process was similar to that currently being gone through by the council's tram firm, TIE, and its contractor.

Earlier this month it emerged tram bosses had been forced to pay out an extra 4.5m after losing a dispute about work on retaining walls near Murrayfield Stadium.

The overspend at Seafield is likely to raise questions about the overall budget of the tram project, with some areas of work understood to be running up to two years late.

The council today said the additional cost at Seafield would be met by "re-profiling" the transport department's capital investment programme.

Beset by problems from the start, the project was labelled a "farce" by Cllr Aitken, who said the council should be "ashamed" of the way it handled the scheme.

"I knew the final cost would be over 2 million, but I had no idea it would be this much," he said.

"It is an absolute scandal and the council should hang its head in shame. This is complete budgetary incompetence, as they effectively signed a blank cheque."

Originally expected to be completed by November 2008, the overhaul of the roundabout was dogged by a series of delays.

The project was held up by bad weather and poor planning, causing part of the scheme to be scrapped through fear of head-on collisions. It had been hoped that all five roads approaching the roundabout could remain open during the work, but the plans had to be ditched.

A damning council report later blamed poor planning for the delays and said officials had been "overly optimistic" with their completion dates. Marshall Poulton, the city's transport chief, later apologised for the delays, admitting his staff "got it wrong".

Local traders were among those hit hardest by the works, due to traffic diversions which took cars away from shops on Portobello High Street.

Transport convener Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, said: "I am dismayed at this cost overrun and I reiterate the apology given immediately following the completion of the project.

"The Lib Dem/SNP administration changed project management procedures across the council when I was finance convener. Unfortunately, this project began before those changes could take effect and the taxpayer is still paying for the failings that we had to address."