http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: "Princes St cycle lane slammed as a ‘crazy death trap' " en Wed, 13 May 2026 02:24:30 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387&page=2#post-79045 Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:50:28 +0000 wingpig 79045@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>There's nowt to warn anyone approaching from Lothian Road that tracks are imminent. The green bit isn't visible until you've turned the corner and probably crossed at east one track already. Perhaps they're relying on word-of-mouth rather than expensive signs. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387&page=2#post-78984 Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:38:04 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 78984@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Thing is, those tramline warnings come <em>after</em> you're already on the street and in amongst them - can't remember any signs warning you of the existence <em>before</em> you're in the lines. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387&page=2#post-78926 Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:18:40 +0000 steveo 78926@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I had cause to ride along Princes Street this morning, almost every over head wire support had a little sign reminding cyclists about the tram lines. Talk about over kill, one every third post would've been quite sufficient. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-78247 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:22:52 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 78247@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>To be totally honest <em>if</em> you're going to have trams <em>and</em> buses running on Princes Street (and I'd personally rather the buses there than on George Street or Queen Street) then you can't fit a separated, two-way cycle lane in without taking away pavement space.</p> <p>If you think that pavement space should be taken away, then fine, but I still maintain that they would be better served doing something dramatic and bold with George Street involving pedesrtianisation, even just for the middle two sections, and taking away parking in the middle, to be replaced by two-way cyclepaths.</p> <p>It's just not going to happen on Princes Street, and I think fixating on that one street and the daft markings, loses us the opportunity to make calls for something so so much better because it gets into councillors minds that we <em>want</em> to be on Princes Street when, quite frankly, if it's as stowed out with buses as it used to be <em>plus</em> trams, I'd rather switch back to George Street thank you very much (which I also avoided when it was rammed with buses itself).</p> <p>In fact, new thread coming up. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-78245 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 08:52:42 +0000 chdot 78245@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"It looks a bit odd because there are tram tracks in the way, but that it what it is for."</p> <p>True, but it strongly suggests that the 'safe' way to cycle from Princes Street to Shandwick Place is between the tram tracks. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-78244 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 08:46:23 +0000 fimm 78244@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I went past there in the bus the other day, and having seen the markings in context the penny has dropped.</p> <p>The "crazy cycing lane" is only on the bit of Princes Street between Lothian Road and the left turn to Charlotte Square. The markings are to show what kinds of vehicles are allowed to go straight on, onto the rest of Princes Street, while all the cars etc have to go left to Charlotte Square. I'm pretty sure that there were very similar road markings there before the tram tracks were put in.</p> <p>It looks a bit odd because there are tram tracks in the way, but that it what it is for. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77280 Sat, 07 Jul 2012 11:25:00 +0000 chdot 77280@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Word class cycling city"</p> <p>As in - all words, no class (or action). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77278 Sat, 07 Jul 2012 11:17:03 +0000 steveo 77278@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>That is frankly depressing... Word class cycling city... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77243 Sat, 07 Jul 2012 00:02:00 +0000 kaputnik 77243@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaputniq/sets/72157630332153678/map/">Trambles map photoset</a> now up. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77234 Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:32:17 +0000 Tom 77234@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Similar impression in Austria. We were staying in a castle. The walls of the modern extension were lined with modern replica halberds. In this country these would have been pressed tin. In Schloss Rosenegg they were assay marked. The only concession to safety (and sanity) was that the edges had not been sharpened. </p> <p>That's where I saw cyclists crossing Austria from Germany into Italy, "credit card touring" each morning. And I've had a hankering to try it ever since. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77128 Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:35:16 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 77128@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>We all know the problems Spain has at the moment, but when I was there last month the quality of the roads and the public spaces was remarkable.</p> <p>Virtually no bike lanes mind (Madrid). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77066 Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:19:49 +0000 crowriver 77066@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Tom, not really, it's just that like many European countries, they believe in sharing the wealth around a bit, and in investing in the public realm, infrastructure, etc. with good quality and high standards. Here we keep the wealth in the hands of a tiny few and let the public realm go hang if it can't turn a profit for private enterprise... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77060 Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:08:23 +0000 Tom 77060@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>tarmac jockey "This is the German solution." My impression of Germany was that it is a *much* richer country that Britain. Everything in the German streets that I visited was of better quality than here: gates, paths, pavements, fences, driveways. I don't think I was in an especially wealthy area (Lorsch). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77057 Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:37:17 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 77057@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Daftness reigns in the council/contractors in a similar 'Colinton/Colington' sign matter. Victoria's looking for voxpops to go with a pic in tomorrow's paper. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-77051 Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:26:57 +0000 chdot 77051@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"</p> <p>Victoria Raimes (@victoriaraimes)<br /> 05/07/2012 14:15<br /> Edinburgh folk who use Princes Street regularly: anyone willing to comment on an easy story ftor tomorrow's paper? Pls DM and/or RT. Thanks.</p> <p>"<br /> "<br /> Crime reporter, Edinburgh Evening News. I also cover investigations - always keen for the chat. Run @edinburghpaper</p> <p>"</p> <p><a href="mailto:Victoria.Raimes@scotsman.com">Victoria.Raimes@scotsman.com</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76808 Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:51:37 +0000 Dave 76808@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>If you know what service the bus was on, drop an email to lothian buses (you could probably even just tweet them) and they can check the cameras. The drivers do get a ticking off when they screw up, and they'll be especially sensitive to suggestions that their drivers are making a death trap worse? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76807 Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:21:48 +0000 tarmac jockey 76807@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Just cycled along Princes Street - what a waste of time. It is no more than a Public Transport corridor. Buses,Taxi's and Trams. By the time you are stopped at each set of lights you might as well get off the bike and walk, defeating the point of using the bike! I was being given the horn from a Lothian bus for stopping behind two other buses, dropping and picking up passengers, rather than travelling up the inside to get to the advanced cycling box. I think I will be avoiding this route from now on! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76713 Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:30:01 +0000 tarmac jockey 76713@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>This is the German solution. Took this photo last week while in Munich. - <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/revstar/7488385516/" title="Pavement, Bike Lane, Road, Pavement, Trams, Monument - Munich. by Clear Spot, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/7488385516_40d9b3023f.jpg" alt="Pavement, Bike Lane, Road, Pavement, Trams, Monument - Munich." /></a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76708 Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:30:26 +0000 DaveC 76708@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gdm, PMSL!!!! Cheers. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76702 Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:35:16 +0000 gdm 76702@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Following on from the Council's latest botched efforts, I thought this was rather amusing!</p> <p><a href="http://lcc.org.uk/articles/what-would-british-roads-look-like-if-we-treated-them-the-same-way-we-do-our-cycle-lanes" rel="nofollow">http://lcc.org.uk/articles/what-would-british-roads-look-like-if-we-treated-them-the-same-way-we-do-our-cycle-lanes</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76631 Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:15:35 +0000 alibali 76631@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Is the council's intention to cover the entire road network in the city - excepting West Approach Road - with bicycle symbols to let us know we are allowed to cycle there too?</em></p> <p>Ah, kaputnik, you are truly a "glass half full" kind of person.</p> <p>My somewhat more gloomy thought was more along the lines of "oh, so now we can only go where the cycle logo thing is.." </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76630 Sun, 01 Jul 2012 09:35:12 +0000 Kenny 76630@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Ha! I think kaputnik has hit the nail on the head there, because I was starting to think the council's comment bordered on vaguely valid. Silly me. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76624 Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:05:17 +0000 kaputnik 76624@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>A council spokesman said the new markings were not intended to create a cycle lane, merely make it clear that cycling was allowed</em></p> <p>Is the council's intention to cover the entire road network in the city - excepting West Approach Road - with bicycle symbols to let us know we are allowed to cycle there too? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76623 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:50:55 +0000 LaidBack 76623@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Of course the space between the tram tracks isn't a cycle lane, it's far too wide!" unverified CEC comment. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76615 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:05:37 +0000 Dave 76615@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Who would have thought. Apparently if I listen to the traffic and travel on Forth 1 while speeding along in the Astra, there's no issue, but if I'm on two wheels instead, my brain won't be able to cope and I'll cause a taxi driver to do an illegal u-turn without checking his mirrors.</p> <p>The world is so simple :) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76614 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:04:13 +0000 Its_Me_Knees 76614@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"A council spokesman said the new markings were not intended to create a cycle lane, merely make it clear that cycling was allowed."</p> <p>Feeble obfuscation by a council apparatchik... or just plain and simple bullsh*t. You decide. Either way it assumes an intended audience with a collective IQ of &lt;10. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76605 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:48:01 +0000 Kenny 76605@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I was intrigued to read the comments just now. Wish I hadn't. *sigh* </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76598 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:56:21 +0000 Uberuce 76598@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Nothing you've not seen umpteen times before. Almost spambot in predictability and reality-impairment.</p> <p>Dave, your troll-poking hatless'n'headphones plan worked. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76589 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:44:01 +0000 kaputnik 76589@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Deliberately avoiding reading the comments. Thankfully they spelled my surname wrong, so hopefully the anti-cycling hatemail and letter bombs will be returned to sender </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=7387#post-76586 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 16:51:56 +0000 recombodna 76586@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Oh oh they photographed you cycling the wrong way.......doh! </p>