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Leith Walk Project

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  1. jonty
    Member

  2. chdot
    Admin

    "

    Dear Stakeholder,

    Update 87 – Leith Programme Phase 5 (Brunswick Street to Montgomery Street) Advertising of Draft Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) and Redetermination Order (RSO)

    We would like to inform you that the draft TRO and RSO for the next phase of the Leith Programme, Brunswick Street to Montgomery Street, have now been formally advertised. The Orders have been advertised in accordance with statutory requirements and details are viewable on the Council’s website or in person at The City Chambers on the High Street. Please click here to see the details of the proposals contained in both draft Orders.

    TROs set out all restrictions on a road including where yellow lines, parking places, and bus lanes are to be located, while RSOs designate areas of the street as carriageway, footway or cycle path.

    As part of the ongoing Leith Programme, there are continuing plans to re-design pavements and cycling facilities and manage a variety of waiting and loading/unloading requirements along Leith Walk. To deliver these plans, various changes are now proposed for Leith Walk between Brunswick Street and Montgomery Street under these Orders, including:-

    A major upgrade to the signal-controlled junction at Annandale Street
    Provision of segregated cycling facilities in both directions on Leith Walk
    Alterations to parking and loading facilities on Leith Walk and Annandale Street
    Alterations to bus lane operating hours independent of the city wide peak period trial
    Introducing a prohibition on entry to Leith Walk from Montgomery Street
    Introducing a prohibition on right turns into Montgomery Street from Leith Walk, except for cyclists
    Storing communal domestic waste bins in dedicated bays

    The period for submitting comments and/or objections will run for four weeks from Friday 23 September to Sunday 23 October 2016 and full details of how to do this can be also be viewed using the link provided above. For your information, the Order reference numbers are TRO/16/58 and RSO/16/13.

    "

    Posted 8 years ago #
  3. mgj
    Member

    Any plans in there for parking enforcement? Put it out to tender and let a private company make a short term killing. Give them the power to lift and crush, with no '5 minute grace period'. What other offences get that? (I was murdering someone but stopped after 4m 30s so I should get off? ) Start with Domino's pizza drivers parking nose in.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  4. dougal
    Member

    4m 30s of obstruction is obviously consequence-free but after 5 minutes the danger kicks in. Clearly.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  5. jonty
    Member

    Maybe we should hire a van and park it in the middle of the road outside the parking bays at rush hour and see exactly how unenforceable the rules against causing an obstruction are.

    Maybe it's an advisory bit of road, because it's only got dotted lines.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  6. Klaxon
    Member

    New kerblines starting to appear


    https://i.imgur.com/pswFpxW

    Posted 8 years ago #
  7. jonty
    Member

    Visual confirmation that, for that section at least, the space is being taken away from the road not the pavement. Good.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  8. Klaxon
    Member

    The same is taking place on the other side that I didn't take a picture of.

    The plan for this and the next phase is pleasingly uniform in approach:

    First pavement (existing width)
    Then cycle lane (space gained from removing central reservation)
    Then parking + loading lane (bus lane at peaks)
    Then general traffic (wider than average)

    In the hypothetical tram upgrade, the parking spaces are all removed and changed to 100% loading and a central reservation is restored so the general traffic lane becomes narrower and shared with trams.

    https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/5432/design_proposals_for_leith_programme_phase_4

    Posted 8 years ago #
  9. cc
    Member

    The general traffic shared with trams? In the name of Hembrow, why?! Surely they could have a lane just for trams, so they don't get stuck in endless traffic jams? Otherwise they're fairly pointless.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  10. crowriver
    Member

    ---

    Dear Stakeholder,

    Leith Programme Stakeholder Update 88 – Pilrig Street Junction Upgrade and Temporary Traffic Management

    Pilrig Street Junction Upgrade
    Work is due to start on the upgrade to the Pilrig Street junction on 10 October 2016. The upgrade reflects the principles of the Scottish Government’s ‘Designing Streets’ guidance and the design principles for the Leith Programme as a whole that has promoted simplified road layouts which are more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists. The new design will include widened footways and a single stage crossing that will stop all traffic on all legs allowing pedestrians to cross more safely and more simply. It is anticipated that the upgrade works will take around 7 weeks to complete. To remind you, if you are interested, the designs showing the new junction can be viewed here.

    http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20182/regeneration/835/leith_programme

    Temporary Traffic Management Arrangements
    In order to install the newly designed junction as quickly as possible it will be necessary to put in place traffic management arrangements involving the temporary closure of Pilrig Street at the junction with Leith Walk for the duration of the upgrade works. The contractor will be carrying out a letter drop to inform local Pilrig Street residents of the closure and advance notification signs have been put in place to inform local residents of the closure and alert motorists to plan ahead for their journey through the area. Clearly signed diversions will be in place to indicate appropriate alternative routes for vehicle drivers. Local access to Pilrig Street and adjacent side streets is available from Broughton Road.

    We apologise for any temporary inconvenience this closure may cause during the progress of the works but please be assured that we will endeavour to get the junction upgrade completed as quickly as we can.

    ---

    Posted 8 years ago #
  11. Arellcat
    Moderator

    a single stage crossing that will stop all traffic on all legs allowing pedestrians to cross more safely and more simply.

    If not more quickly.

    Too many busy crossroads force pedestrians to wait for a full cycle of the junction signals before getting a green man. Why not after every half-cycle?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  12. ld
    Member

    Does anyone have any idea what they're doing on Elm Row between Montgomery St and top of London Road? As since the plans are to block the exit from Mont. St to Leith Walk, all traffic will be diverted up Elm Row. I presume they'll do something to make it access only?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  13. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Opps. Missed the point of the question.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  14. jonty
    Member

    I thought that. I think it is often used as a bit of a rat run towards London Road and I've seen nothing to counter that. I think that roundabout is actually properly part of the next phase so perhaps it's being dealt with later (although presumably they'd want to do the work together?)

    Posted 8 years ago #
  15. ld
    Member

    It's also not one way, which would cause cause chaos if there's lots of cars using it. Be interesting to see what they propose, because it's not really feasible to block off the London Road end - there's not enough room to turn due to parked cars

    Posted 8 years ago #
  16. Klaxon
    Member

    While not technically one way it is de-facto one way, very few try to turn in off the roundabout and the geometry is designed as if it were an exit only junction - the angles are pretty annoying to manoeuvre a vehicle round.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  17. jonty
    Member

    Yeah - I find that exit really weird, like someone forgot to put the signs up. It's only single-lane width as well which means a vehicle trying to turn off would surely cause a bit of chaos while it waited for traffic to exit?

    I assume most of the traffic coming out towards Montgomery Street has been parked/turned around.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  18. kaputnik
    Moderator

    The exit onto the roundabout can be pretty dangerous if you're coming from Picardy Place and aiming from London Road.

    It's hard to get out so when drivers see a cyclist they think gap and just launch themselves infront of you thinking they can sneak onto London Road (which involves crossing your path to get into the inside i.e. non bus-lane lane) without making you hit the brakes as you try and take one of the worst junctions in Edinburgh.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  19. Disco Dave
    Member

    From EdinburghTravelNews twitter feed...

    "PILRIG STREET - Works due to commence Monday 10th are currently postponed. More details TBC next week!"

    Posted 8 years ago #
  20. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Realised tonight that in certain parts of Leith Walk that have already been visited by the project faeries, there's both no bike racks and precious little street furniture to lock your bike to (and some of that is far too wide to take a D-lock).

    Posted 8 years ago #
  21. crowriver
    Member

    There are bike racks at the bottom end of Leith Walk, a big improvement over the situation before the works, as there were absolutely none previously. But the cycle parking has been placed in batches at the end of parking/loading bays. The inevitable result is that cars and vans reverse into them, meaning from a group of three 'Edinburgh' stands, one will be sacrificial, and leaning at a jaunty angle relative to the others...

    Someone on the design team should really have thought about that.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  22. wingpig
    Member

    Keep meaning to report the racks outside the Shrubhill Sainsbury, which were bolted to slabs which have become unset and have tipped up.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  23. Rob
    Member

    Do you think the council could be convinced to re-purpose the central dividers to trial segregation in the contested section? From what I've read in this thread, the trial without segregation isn't going too well.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  24. jonty
    Member

    Assuming they'd want to keep parking, I'm not sure it would be a particularly present route, and you'd have to move the existing parking out into the cycle lane which would rule out that as a choice.

    Of course, there's usually parking in it already, so perhaps it wouldn't be that bad.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  25. chdot
    Admin

    Was on LW yesterday and realised that current work seemed to be for renewing a water pipe - like the closure of Comiston Road.

    Traffic surviving in spite of closure of Brunswick Rd (ok it was a quiet Sunday).

    No doubt it's all coordinated to be reinstated with new cycle infrastructure...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  26. crowriver
    Member

    Aye the utilities work seems to be taking longer than planned. And yes, civilisation has not collapsed due to the closure of Brunswick Road...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  27. Stickman
    Member

    http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/traders-slate-leith-walk-plans-1-4255688

    Traders will go bust if they haven't got loading directly outside their shops! Communities will die! It's madness!

    Posted 8 years ago #
  28. Klaxon
    Member

    Terribly sad to see Tattie Shaw's quoted in this article. Might need to have a chat next time I'm in. The plans show virtually 100% loading (or parking, which can be used to load) between the two junctions.

    The traders in this block have been used to zero enforcement for what is is, six years now? Everyone who drives to work there parks against the kerb meaning deliveries all double park in what used to be the bus lane until the tram works.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  29. chdot
    Admin

    "Might need to have a chat next time I'm in."

    Good thing to do.

    Apart from 'this scheme will (might) bring more business', I suspect they are overreacting about the "force them to walk at least 100 metres down the road to pick up and bring back delivered stock".

    I am also (reasonably) sure that LH/CEC will do their best to facilitate traders and their (genuine) loading needs.

    LH traders have good reasons to be concerned after the shambolic 'utilities relocation' that was done prematurely (still) for the tram.

    Some shops did go out of business.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  30. jonty
    Member

    I don't quite understand what the problem is. Don't Elm Row traders load from Elm Row, which isn't affected (apart from at one end) by the latest TRO?

    Posted 8 years ago #

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