CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Prince St Pinch Point - Strategy?

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  1. gibbo
    Member

    Today I cycled along Princes St for the first time in months.

    I was headed east and almost got sideswiped by a bus at the pinch point.

    (If you don't know which bit I mean, there's a photo here: http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9679&page=11)

    Coming up to the previous set of lights, I was in the right (side) lane - the left lane was occupied by 2 buses, one after the other.

    In front of me - thus preventing access to the ASL - was a taxi (for once, not in the ASL, just preventing access).

    When the lights changed, the taxi sped off, I followed it. But, when I arrived at the pinch point, I was even with the mid-point of the front bus.

    As it passed the pinch point, its back end moved further and further to the right, pushing me ever rightwards across the road until I finally had to swerve and brake.

    What should I have done?

    The only way I could have avoided going into the pinch point alongside a bus would have been to wait for both buses (and any other buses that caught up with them at the lights) to pass, then for me to cycle through it.

    Is that the strategy you guys use?

    Anyone else had similar experiences at that point?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. Coxy
    Member

    I always approach in the left hand lane - and keep in with the traffic if I have to.

    Approaching the tram tracks from the left gives a good angle to cross them - AS LONG AS NO-ONE IS DRIVING UP YOUR A**E! But there is a good bail-out on the left hand side if necessary.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. sg37409
    Member

    If your in the LH lane at the lights before the pinch-point, your in the wrong land according to the road markings.

    The road markings are crap, buses are in the LH lane to drop off people, and will go straight on.

    I stay in LH lane and filter into the traffic on the inside at the pinchpoint. Normally for me its pretty much stationary at this point anyhow. I try to get space for me to cross the lines at a decent angle (about halfway thru the pinchpoint), its a worry if someone is driving up your ar** though.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Colonies_Chris
    Member

    Yes, on Sunday a car pushed past at the pinch point just as I was jigging left to take the tramlines at a safe angle. I now think the only safe way is to cross the left tramline at the first opportunity - then you're in the middle of the lane and no impatient idiot could imagine it's safe to pass.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. gibbo
    Member

    I think my future strategy is to not cycle along Princes St.

    From your comments (all 3 of you), it doesn't appear to have been rubbish cycling by me, but a result of really bad placement of the pinch point given the left lane is often filled with lines of buses.

    I reckon I'd have been fine if I had been in the ASL when the lights changed - or been in the left lane - but how do you ensure that'll be the case?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. DaveC
    Member

    Gibbo, you have not said where you are cycling to. If you are heading for London Road or Leith Walk, you could go left at St David St South, over St Andrew Sq, then left off St David St North onto Queen street and then progress onto York Place and then down onto London Road. This unfortunately leaves you with THAT roundabout at the foot of Elm Row, but keeps you off the Tram tracks*

    * Yes tram tracks on York Place but you keep left and avoid them.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. Coxy
    Member

    I'm afraid that PS is one of those places where it's really tempting to try and filter, and 90% of the time it's fine. But when it goes wrong, filtering on PS can really leave you up S C without a paddle.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. gibbo
    Member

    Hi Dave,

    I was headed to Meadowbank, so straight along Princes St and up Regent Road.

    The Princes St trip was a detour - quite a detour as I was in the Southside (so had to go west via Grassmarket & King's Stables Road to get to the bottom of Lothian Rd) - just to see what it was now like to go along Princes St.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. Klaxon
    Member

    The pinch point could be narrowed by the width of a cycle lane all the way thru the junction, giving a much nicer angle to cross the tracks as well.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Bhachgen
    Member

    But of course once the tram is running there will no longer be a continuous line of buses all the way up the LH lane of Princes Street...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. PS
    Member

    Once the tram is running, the purpose of the pinch point will become pretty clear - you wouldn't want to get caught up on the inside of a left-turning tram and TfE won't want you scratching the left side of their nice new trams with your car/van/bike.

    I'm not sure what else the road design could do here, given the needs to protect road users from the tram and to allow a lane to turn right onto Waverley Bridge. A dedicated cycle lane throgh the pinch, perhaps? Although that would end up swamped with peds most of the time and you'd need to be sure cyclists useing it would observe the traffic lights at South St David St.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. gibbo
    Member

    But of course once the tram is running there will no longer be a continuous line of buses all the way up the LH lane of Princes Street...

    Fair point. I'll try cycling along it again next year.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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