http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: "Cities Without Highways" en Mon, 01 Jun 2026 04:34:01 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103133 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:27:48 +0000 AKen 103133@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Some of the urban 'highways' that were proposed for Edinburgh are truly horrifying. </p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixtiesedinburgh/6841017154/in/set-72157629596818447/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixtiesedinburgh/6841017154/in/set-72157629596818447/</a></p> <p>The elevated motorway cutting round the base of the castle rock is probably the worst.</p> <p>In its pre-dual carriageway days, Calder Road seems to have been quite pleasant. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103122 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:59:18 +0000 PS 103122@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I dunno - they're busy roads, I grant you, but my vision of an American-style highway is a thing on concrete stilts that you'd never even contemplate cycling on. Like the one they demolished to open up the San Francisco waterfront. Or like any bit of urban motorway in Glasgow. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103121 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:56:03 +0000 crowriver 103121@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Err, western A8 is pretty much a highway until it becomes St John's Road. A199 in Porty and eastward onto A1 definitely feels like a highway. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103114 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:40:26 +0000 chdot 103114@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Calder Road counts in my book"</p> <p>"only helping / encouraging people to get to the traffic jam a bit quicker)"</p> <p>IMAGINE removing the roundabouts, making one carriage into a bicycle highway. </p> <p>Well I'm sure most people <em>on here</em> have that sort of imagination...</p> <p>Then you could see which carriageway wore out quicker (ref breathing thread). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103111 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:24:20 +0000 PS 103111@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@K You're right. I forgot about that one. Although a lot of it is through dead ground between (ex-)tower blocks, so the general plan for the area excludes the stuff that makes cities work as a starting point. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103105 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:13:00 +0000 kaputnik 103105@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@PS The Calder Road counts in my book, even if it's not nearly as dreadful as the M8 plowing through centre of Glasgow, it's still just WRONG to have that cutting through the middle of a community (only to peter out into Gorgie Road, thereby only helping / encouraging people to get to the traffic jam a bit quicker) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103100 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:00:55 +0000 cc 103100@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Meanwhile in Glasgow they're actually building new urban motorways. Half a century behind the times. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103059 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:19:07 +0000 PS 103059@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I think Edinburgh is (thankfully) largely free of this North American definition of "highways". We've probably only got the Western Approach Road and the By-Pass/end of the A1, with perhaps a dishonourable mention for Telford Road and Queensferry Road from Crewe Toll westwards? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103032 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:56:50 +0000 cc 103032@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>David Byrne's book <em>Bicycle Diaries</em> has some interesting chapters about urban highways, how they blight neighbourhoods, and how those blighted neighbourhoods can revive and live again once the highway has been removed. Recommended. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103022 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:34:25 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 103022@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>You're missing the point, MODERNITY does not include livable cities! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9629#post-103020 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:27:15 +0000 chdot 103020@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"<br /> Why do highways have a bad effect on cities?</p> <p>While highways connect cities that are hundreds of miles apart and allow us to move people and goods across this vast country, many highways were built at the height of suburban development. They are not designed to bring people into cities so much as to allow people to drive past them. As a result, these highways often bisect neighborhoods, cut cities off from their waterfronts and obstruct the natural development that occurs along boulevards and streets. The land beside or under urban highways is often underdeveloped, creating no-go zones that are bad for the city’s economy, safety and appearance. Highways carry loud, polluting cars, and research has shown links between road pollution and asthma. The impervious highway surface creates stormwater runoff and heat-island effects, which are bad for a city’s resilience in climate change. And unlike other kinds of property, highways don’t generate tax revenue, preventing dozens of acres from being productively used. Simply put: highways are a blight on livable cities.</p> <p>"</p> <p><a href="http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/05/cities-without-highways-a-qa-with-ted-book-essayist-diana-lind" rel="nofollow">http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/05/cities-without-highways-a-qa-with-ted-book-essayist-diana-lind</a></p> <p>I'm sure Keith Brown understands... </p>