PERTH — With so much of the city now closed, coned or controlled by temporary traffic signals, tourism bosses have made a bold decision: if you can't beat the roadworks, sell tickets to them.

The newly launched Perth Cone Trail takes visitors on a two-hour walking tour of the city's most celebrated roadworks, including a road closure on York Place, an "intimate and atmospheric" closure on Caledonian Road and Exchange Lane, and the trail's undisputed highlight, the multiphase temporary signals at the junction of King's Place and King Street.

"People come from all over the world to see the King's Place lights," said trail guide Rhona Duncan, 52, wearing a hi-vis tabard and carrying a small orange flag. "Some of them stand there for the full cycle. It takes about nine minutes. There's a moment, right before the green, when the whole crowd goes silent. People have wept."

Highlights of the tour include a visit to the "Ancient Manhole" on Dundee Road, the Sewer Repair Experience on York Place, and an optional trip to the Broxden southbound slip road closure, described in the brochure as "for the true connoisseur".

At the end of the trail, visitors can buy souvenirs at the gift shop, including miniature traffic cones, a tea towel showing every current Perth road closure ("Collector's Edition — updated daily"), and a jigsaw of a pothole.

Japanese tourist Haruto Saito said the trail had been "the highlight of my trip to Scotland. Edinburgh Castle was very nice, but in Perth I saw a man in a van waiting at a red light for fourteen minutes, in total serenity. This is true Zen."

Local businesses have reported a boom. A café on South Street now sells a "Cone-ccino", an orange-striped latte that arrives in a temporary cup and is closed to the public halfway through.

Asked whether the trail would survive the end of the roadworks, VisitPerth officials laughed for some time before asking, "End?"