East Princes Street Gardens, where a new accessible path and landscaping are being created by NGS, and the Mound precinct were both scheduled to re-open earlier this month.

However the areas will now be out of bounds until the start of the Edinburgh Festival in August.

A refurbished Scottish café & restaurant, which is housed within the Princes Street Gardens level of the Scottish National Gallery, will also open its doors to customers at the same time.

The work in East Princes Street Gardens is part of a wider redevelopment project by NGS that will transform former office, storage and display spaces in the Scottish National Gallery into a new world-class set of galleries that, for the first time, will be entered directly from the adjacent East Princes Street Gardens. 

The new accessible path will greatly help those with mobility impairments, wheelchairs and prams. Without this new path, the east gardens would remain accessible only via steep gradients or the flight of stairs.

NGS said the creation of the path and the landscaping has been a “complex engineering feat” which has taken slightly longer than programmed.

The arts body said contractors have been working very hard to complete the works as close to the planned spring opening date as possible.

John Leighton, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “I want to extend a big thank you to the residents and visitors of Edinburgh during the construction works in East Princes Street Gardens. We apologise for any inconvenience and we appreciate you bearing with us whilst we make these transformative changes.

“As previously announced, the overall project is on schedule to be complete in early 2021. By then we will be ready to reveal an amazing new suite of galleries, bursting with light and colour with new views out into Princes Street Gardens. Previously only one in six visitors found their way to the dark and tucked away Scottish Galleries, so this will transform the presentation of the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art.”

After the summer the construction works are largely focused on the interior and grounds of the Scottish National Gallery. The public will have access into East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct as normal. To enable excavation works to the galleries directly beneath, the Playfair Steps and walkway, at the rear of the Scottish National Gallery, will continue to be closed for the duration of the building work.

The Edinburgh Marathon in May will still run through East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct as a route will be cleared for them to use.

As previously announced, 22 trees will be planted around the new accessible path as part of the construction works. These trees will be between 4.5 metres and 6.5 metres in height.