St Andrew Square has reopened after extensive road and track works for the Edinburgh Trams project.
The completion of these works around the Square follows the full reopening of Princes Street at the end of 2012.
Road and track works between Shandwick Place and Haymarket Junction are scheduled for completion during the summer with York Place scheduled to complete by the end of the year.
Once road and track construction work is finished, further works to install overhead and underground cabling will be carried out.
Transport Convener Lesley Hinds said: “Good progress is now clearly visible across city centre and the removal of barriers and fences at St Andrew Square will be a welcome sight to traders, residents and visitors to the area. This is the first of four major city centre work sites to be completed in 2013, all of which are on course to be finished in line with the revised schedule by the end of the year.
“I’m confident that all on-street works and cable installation will be completed by the end of the year, meaning that we can start full line tram testing and driver training along the whole route soon after.
“2013 has been a very productive year so far for the project and I expect that to continue.”
The contract completion date for the project remains summer 2014.
The tram project team will report to council in September 2013 with an update on project timescales.
The project remains in line with the revised budget (£776m) approved by the council in September 2011, with work either ahead of schedule or in line with the revised timescale reported in December 2011.
