CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

NEPN, Craigleith Junction upgrade. Have your say

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  1. It's a bare-faced lie that they knew nothing about the pea gravel issue - I wrote to them early in May and got a response from Paul Matthews about it on the 19th May, where he stated that they were:

    "currently reviewing the trench design with the aim of mitigating the problem of loose gravel spreading over the path. In the meantime I have reported the issue to our maintenance team who will arrange for the area to be swept."

    I've never seen any evidence of sweeping up since the 19th May either. Has anyone?

    Posted 9 years ago #
  2. chdot
    Admin

    Well there are different depts. and local teams at CEC.

    BUT...

    Posted 9 years ago #
  3. Just noticed that tk has posted his responses from the council in another thread and exactly the same wording has been used about the gravel!

    Posted 9 years ago #
  4. LivM
    Member

    @gowgowuk - no reply from the West team yet...
    @threefromleith - never seen any evidence of sweeping - if it's been done during the day then the gravel has spread out again by home-time.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  5. tk
    Member

    That's exactly why I started a thread for council replies - so we can see how long we get the same boilerplate...

    Posted 9 years ago #
  6. tk
    Member

    I was hoping to find that this hazard had caught the 4 teenagers using the path as a racetrack on a stolen moped but unfortunately not. And if a bicycle can get through a chicane then so could they

    Posted 9 years ago #
  7. DaveC
    Member

    Contractors ? were applying sand over some adhesive lastnight on the way home. Just the North half of the non slip surface. Hopefully they'll put more on the south side today?

    Posted 9 years ago #
  8. wingpig
    Member

  9. DaveC
    Member

    Cheers, I did have a brief search for somthing new but figured it might be best to point it out in the Craigleith thread.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  10. When I went over it tonight they appear to have dumped a thick covering of loose 'sand' over it. At least I'm hoping it's extra loose sand and not a covering that's failed to adhere to the newly-laid surface!

    Posted 9 years ago #
  11. DaveC
    Member

    Both sides now coated in sand surface.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  12. wingpig
    Member

    Did feel very mushy yesterday.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  13. Still felt a little 'mushy' coming in from the Groathill Road South entrance this morning, and parts looked darker as though the stuff underneath was still wet.

    They could do with popping back and sweeping the loose 'sand' away though, and clearing away the stray covering of pea-gravel at the same time.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  14. LivM
    Member

    The formerly loose brick on the Roseburn arm of the junction was completely missing this evening as I came past.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  15. What fantastic workmanship! They've already had to relay the coloured surface, the pea-gravel has been spread across the path and now the brickwork has started disappearing. Money well spent *cough*

    Posted 9 years ago #
  16. le_soigneur
    Member

    A bit of guerrilla gardening in the dark last night sorted out the sightline weeds.

    Have the North Team ever left the verges this late, trying to get away with a single cut? #budgetCuts

    The pea gravel & missing brick(s ;-) might be sorted by a guerrilla bag of postfix?

    Posted 9 years ago #
  17. chdot
    Admin

    "Have the North Team ever left the verges this late"

    Was looking at the new 'path view' this morning and noticed that the verges seemed a bit lush.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  18. Rosie
    Member

    What does "NEPN" stand for? I call this NCN1.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  19. chdot
    Admin

    North Edinburgh Path Network.

    Generally the old railway lines and WoL path from Roseburn to Leith.

    So not just NCN.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  20. Rosie
    Member

    Thanks for that.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  21. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Myself and 2 other cyclists drafted a cooncil mower all the way from Boswall to just before the red bridge this morning, couldn't get past as he was driving down the middle of the path and had a fairly wide cutting blade on the front, and had his ear defenders on so couldn't hear bells. He eventually did a shoulder check and waved us past.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  22. I noticed this morning that someone has found the missing brick and popped it back into its hole. Still loose and sticking up 1/2" higher than the other bricks, so I suspect someone will remove it again soon.

    (Has anyone reported the missing or loose brick to the council, btw?)

    Posted 9 years ago #
  23. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I think the brick has been put in the "wrong way" i.e. thinner side up hence it is standing proud. Assume it might need the hole cleared and a bit of malleting to get it to go in the right way.

    Would never have happened if the bricks had been grouted in rather than just relying on gravity.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  24. Kenny
    Member

    I suspect this is going to be a contentious post.

    I've ridden through the "new" Craigleith junction twice daily for a number of weeks now, and I think the changes have worked. And by "worked", you have to first know (or assume) the intended aim.

    I suspect the aim was to reduce conflict and/or prevent or lower the number of accidents. If that wasn't the aim, then the rest of this post is void.

    Whenever I come to the junction, pretty much everyone now gives way to each other. The people going north/south all slow down and give way, whereas the people going east/west, who have right of way, tend to also give way too, thereby meaning I've had scenarios where everyone is being too polite and no-one is moving. For all of 2 seconds, and then we carry on our way with a chuckle.

    I've not seen anyone fly north/south at a speed where they couldn't stop if there was someone going east/west.

    Are there any down sides? Well of course. The bricks are mildly annoying. In so much as they irritate me 3 seconds before I get to them, and then 3 seconds after I've gone over them I've forgotten about them again.

    Is the inconvenience of bumping over the bricks justified by the lack of danger at the junction? I'd say yes.

    So, all in all, I think it's been a success. And no, I'm not trolling.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  25. stiltskin
    Member

    They could have achieved the same effect but without using the bricks.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  26. HankChief
    Member

    My difficulty with the bricks is that on the Roseburn leg they are positioned in a dark gloomy spot equal distance between the streetlights. It has caught me out when I've gone along there half asleep in the dark.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  27. Dave
    Member

    I guess my main beef with it is that I can think of many better ways to spend untold thousands of pounds (even strictly limiting yourself to pedestrian safety, or whatever). It would probably buy a street's worth of speed bumps on a bad rat run for instance.

    As an actual thing, now that it's obvious that the bricks don't stick out 2" from the ground as it first appeared (at least until the first ones get pulled out and chucked around by local youth), I don't really care. I'm riding on 23mm tyres at the moment and don't have to slow down at all with no ill effect on the bike, so whatever.

    The pea gravel is a bit annoying but not if you're riding straight through.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  28. kaputnik
    Moderator

    The junction changes aren't the end of the world. There are rougher bits on the path than the rumble strips (the infilled trench for the lamp column at the foot of the slope up to Ravelston Dykes is an example).

    I agree entirely with Dave though that it just seems like such a waste of money when there are other things crying out to be done which really might improve safety and reduce path conflict.

    Cutting back the vegetation further to give a better view in all directions at the junction would help also.

    Posted 9 years ago #
  29. chdot
    Admin

    "Cutting back the vegetation further to give a better view in all directions at the junction would help also."

    I thought the vegetation had been cut back - and some removed altogether.

    There is a 'balance' between 'poor sightlines' and 'so good it might encourage speeding'.

    (Not saying CEC has got it right and nothing needs doing - don't know.)

    Posted 9 years ago #
  30. neddie
    Member

    +1 Dave:

    my main beef with it is that I can think of many better ways to spend untold thousands of pounds (even strictly limiting yourself to pedestrian safety, or whatever). It would probably buy a street's worth of speed bumps on a bad rat run for instance.

    Posted 9 years ago #

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