CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Potterrow Port - no cycling

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  1. cb
    Member

    Potterrow Port (underpass under Potterrow) has a cycling prohibited sign (bike in red circle) when entering southbound.

    Is this legal, or is it another throwback to pre-Land Reform days?
    Forgot to look, but are there any signs going in the other direction?
    There is an oddly positioned sign round the east side of Potterrow:

    http://goo.gl/maps/hJD3Q

    From further around the corner on Streetview it looks like it might be a no-bikes sign, but can't tell for sure. If it is, is it meant to be pointing at the steps?

    I pushed my bike through today, turned right after the tunnel, and didn't get back on until the Informatics building; pretty busy around Bristo Sq of course but Potterrow Port itself was empty.

    It could be a good cycling link I reckon. If those slopey walls are not structural it could be much wider.

    Might be better to route cyclists round the quieter east side of Potterrow and link up with Marshall Street.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. barnton-to-town
    Member

    Is the sign a stencilled-looking affair, red circle, white bike, red line across? If so, I know of two other places where they have been added - presumably by the council. One in Braehead at Barnton, at the end of a path (not specifically a cycle route, but not adjacent to any road, so must be legal to cycle on, and the other is when coming off the cycle path at Wester Coates.
    Both seem to be warning people off cycling on the pavement - and it looks like you are being warned off cycling the 3ft of pavement to reach the road as well!!!

    If that is the intention, then they'd better stop allowing people to park their car in their drives, as it must be just as illegal for them to use the pavement for access!

    *edit
    It's not even a valid highwat code sign, is it? No cycling is simplay an image of a bike on a white background within a red bordered circle. No additional red line required.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. stiltskin
    Member

    I don't think the stencilled signs are from the council. More likely from a local nutter....

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. cb
    Member

    This is a genuine sign.

    http://goo.gl/maps/5dwPc

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. NiallA
    Member

    cb, for what it's worth (only my opinion, ymmv etc) please don't cycle through there, as you'll then encounter (in either direction) the upslope paths with barriers down the middle. That's definitely a cyclist/ pedestrian conflict situation. The underpass isn't a good cycle route, I don't think - far better to walk.

    Further round, the university (I think) tries to enforce a no-cycling policy around Bristo Square, which can be really busy during the academic year, plus they also warned staff last year (I think) that the police were going to keep an eye out for people cycling along the pavement in Teviot Place between Bristo Square and MMW. All in all, I think that area needs a lot of care and progress as a pedestrian.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. cb
    Member

    NiallA, yes I agree, it's not a good cycle route - and that's why I walked.

    However I still think there is potential to create a route, if extra space could be clawed back from the sloped walls. Also would be best to go around the east side of Potterrow.

    But, TBH, I'm not around there much so not really familiar with pedestrian levels.

    And another but: George Sq is rubbish to cycle round; don't do it very often and by the next time I have convinced myself that the setts aren't /that/ bad.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    The underpass exists because of the post Second World War belief in the UK that cars were the brave new future and that this corner of Edinburgh needed a banked dual carriageway to allow higher speeds and no doubt connect up to a widened Buccleuch Street when these 'slums' were demolished.

    There is a plan for this all to be removed.

    In the meantime the whole of Potterow from Chapel Street to Teviot Place COULD have been the part of the QBC with the widest cycle lanes...

    The status quo is too hard for CEC to look past.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. cc
    Member

    @cb: a better plan would be to demolish that ridiculous road entirely.

    George Sq is rubbish to cycle round; don't do it

    Selectively quoted, but those are my feelings exactly! George Square is an obvious place for the University to fix to make it far more bike-friendly.

    The University has worked wonders at its King's Buildings campus recently, with lovely wide car-free paths nicely linked up for smooth, easy cycling right through the site. I've used it and it's a terrific improvement. They say it's important to do that kind of thing to give the students a good impression. After all, some of them are now paying £9000 per year.

    It's time the University improved the George Square area to a similar standard. At the moment it's a dangerous mess. The cobbles are abominable. (They could at least be relaid by someone who actually knows how to lay cobbles properly.) It's a big dumping ground for cars. It's a through route for motor traffic. It's full of HGVs and monster machinery in the summer to construct all the big commercial festival tents. It could be a tranquil escape from traffic and a smooth through route between the Meadows cycle paths and the University and the Quality Bike Corridor. Universities need tranquility, peace to think, bicycles; not roaring traffic.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. lionfish
    Member

    I work on GS, and yeah, the cobbles are impossible.

    I really think there should be a route from Bristo Place/George VI Bridge which goes 'straight on' at the junction with Teviot Place. Also I don't think cycling from Charles Street (next to Neuroscience/Informatics) to Teviot Place around the West side of the square is a problem (for pedestrians), as there's loads of space. The problem is there's an annoying fence blocking access to the road:
    http://goo.gl/maps/Fxb0R

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. NiallA
    Member

    Oh, God yes, George Square....

    I've just walked round P Port and Bristo Square (avoiding the BS abbreviation on that one!), and to answer earlier questions, the sign at the north side of Potterrow Port is a statutory round No Cycling sign on a post, although almost entirely covered in stickers and hidden by fences for the building work there. There's a similar sign at the top of the east side down ramp on the other side, but nothing on the west/ Bristo Square side. (Edit: Sorry - see you had mentioned that already, cb, although I'd say it clearly indicates no cycling on the down ramp.)

    Interestingly, there is a similar sign on the lamppost in the Google pic in lionfish's link (now, not when the Google pic was taken) with a blue Cyclist Dismount sign, pointing back down the front of the McEwan Hall (so where you would come from if cycling lionfish's Charles St to Teviot Place suggestion - agree that's certainly wide enough for shared usage). I'd never spotted that before, which may be because it's about 8 feet up, so not really in your eyeline! I presume it is there to try to stop people squeezing through to Teviot Place on the much narrower pavement section there.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. cc
    Member

    @lionfish agreed!
    The irritating thing is that the Uni is about to rebuild Bristo Square, but there's no sign of any pro-cycling change in their plans (which I remember seeing but can't find now, sorry).

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. lionfish
    Member

    @cc - oh, that's interesting! I thought the rebuild was on permanent hold. Maybe mobilising students and staff won't be too difficult - there's a lot who cycle (some are on this forum :)!

    I didn't realise there were plans/etc already - would be very interested to see them.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. minus six
    Member

    The Unmaking of Edinburgh has some interesting stuff on this monstrosity

    See also Photographs of the south side of Edinburgh for the old Potterow tenements

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. EddieD
    Member

    Re Bristo Square:-

    https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=MOJCPIEWLO000

    I've been having a play, and it looks like they're just carving out Bristo Square to remove the split level, and the entrance will be sufficiently to one side to allow continued festival use...

    Edit2. Ah, no it won't, they're planning a circular square...with quite a few new bike racks

    Oh yeah - if you're on Facebook, the group Lost Edinburgh has some incredible snaps before the Uni trashed George Square, that complement the NLS collection beautifully

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. Snowy
    Member

    I find it odd that George Square (and the remaining original buildings on its western/eastern sides) was not included in the World Heritage Site. The dividing line neatly avoids the square by going up MMW and along the north edge of the square.
    Makes even less sense when you see they've included the student centre at Potterow within the Heritage Site.

    see p24

    Posted 12 years ago #

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