WORK on the Grassmarket revamp has fallen almost two months behind schedule, with archaeological finds and bad weather causing delays.

Bosses have now decided to close the cobbled section of the street – the plaza outside the pubs and shops – to traffic to speed up the work.

The closures will be carried out in two stages. The north-west section will be closed for around six weeks, then later the north-east section. The main road from West Port to the Cowgate will remain open throughout the project.

Shopkeepers say it would be a huge "morale boost" if at least half the project is completed before the busy summer season.

The £6 million refurbishment was originally due to be completed by the end of September, and the new plans may put this back on track, they hope.

Traders suggested the new road closure idea, rather than the current piecemeal approach. This will speed up the work, as workers will not have to move safety barriers around. Bill Cowan, owner of Costume Ha Ha and a member of the Grassmarket Traders' Association, said: "They're not going to get to the stage they thought they would by the time the Festival starts. The safety barriers have turned out to be a major snag. A lot of the effort is put into moving the safety barriers about. Work has fallen behind because of that."

He said a temporary tarmac road would be built across the closed areas to allow deliveries to get through to businesses.

"To see a bit of it finished would raise people's morale a huge amount," he added.

There will still be pedestrian access for all the shops.

Paul Duncan, manager of Mamma's pizza restaurant, said: "This was unanimous at our last meeting. Traffic will still be able to get in, but this will speed things up. At the moment they're trying to ensure all the businesses have passing footfall and there's as little disruption as possible.

"But now speed is of the essence. There have been so many unforeseen delays."

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City centre councillor Joanna Mowat, who chairs the Grassmarket Forum, said there had been a number of reasons for the delays. She said: "The weather hasn't been at its best and there have been delays because of that.

"They've found a lot of archaeological work, which is very interesting, but it's held things back. It's very difficult to predict exactly what you'll find. Moving barriers has also taken a lot of time.

"They always plan for a bit of slippage in a big project like this, but they've used it all up now.

"Everyone now just wants to get part of it finished. All the traders are fairly positive about this. This will be a boost to morale as much as anything."

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Her colleague, Councillor David Beckett, added: "There's an increasing frustration that it's dragging on for longer than expected.

"People who live there are putting up with a lot of noise and disruption. They are also concerned that there's a real health and safety risk with barriers getting knocked over."

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