Woman, 47, dies in Edinburgh City Bypass crash; 22-year-old man arrested

The crash

Police were called to the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass near Clovenstone shortly before 9pm on Wednesday, 11 November 2026. A 47-year-old woman was struck by a black Citroen Berlingo on the westbound carriageway near the Baberton junction, and she died after the collision. The Scottish Ambulance Service said it received a call at 21:07 and sent an ambulance, a critical care paramedic, a special operations response team and a paramedic response unit to the scene. Sergeant Grant Hastie of Police Scotland addressed the victim's family in a statement issued after the crash:

“Our thoughts are with the family of the woman who died and her next of kin are aware.”

Arrest and appeal

Police arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with a road traffic offence, and enquiries into the full circumstances of the crash are continuing. Officers asked anyone with information, including dash-cam footage, to get in touch. Hastie also asked anyone who saw a woman in the area before the incident to come forward, saying they might hold information that could help the investigation. Members of the public can call Police Scotland on 101 and quote incident number 3879 of Wednesday, 11 November 2026. Early on Thursday, 12 November, it was not yet known how many vehicles had been involved or whether anyone else had been hurt.

Road closure and diversions

Both carriageways between the Dreghorn junction and Hermiston Gait were closed following the collision. In a further update at 4.30am on Thursday, police said the road remained closed and was expected to stay shut for a number of hours. Traffic Scotland put delays at about 30 minutes eastbound from M8 junction 3, and at about 88 minutes on the A720 westbound. Transport Scotland published diversion routes for westbound traffic that ran via Dreghorn Link, Redford Road and Colinton Road, then through Clovenstone and onto Calder Road before joining the M8 northbound towards Gogar roundabout.

Disruption across the city

Edinburgh Travel News, an information service run by the City of Edinburgh Council, warned of lengthy delays across west and south west Edinburgh on Thursday morning. It named Fairmilehead, Oxgangs, Colinton, Redford, Craiglockhart, Longstone, Gillespie, Clovenstone and Wester Hailes as badly affected, and said the A70 was queuing from Riccarton Mains Road to Gillespie crossroads. Lothian Buses said services were being delayed across its network, and its warning listed routes including the 2, 3, 4, 10, 16, 44 and X27.

Reopening

The eastbound carriageway reopened first. In an update at 2.15pm on Thursday, Traffic Scotland said the westbound carriageway remained closed. By 2.50pm the A720 had fully reopened in both directions between Hermiston and Dreghorn, and Traffic Scotland said:

“The A720 has fully reopened in both directions between Hermiston and Dreghorn. Congestion remains heavy on surrounding routes in Edinburgh.”

Edinburgh Travel News warned that drivers could still feel knock-on disruption through the evening rush hour, as the traffic backlog across the city cleared.