As these were mentioned on the Leith Links discussion I thought this letter may be of interest. In the wet weather I'd been finding the tactiles on the Meadows particularly slippy and found the back wheel had slid out - particularly when cornering on the West End towards the crossing. I don't like the things in general with skinny slick tyres but at least Edinburgh don't install the long lengths as recommended in the guidance on their use.
Here is the response I got from the council
"NORTH MEADOW WALK – TACTILE PAVING
Thank you for your e-mail of 31 March 2014 with your comments and concerns on the above subject.
The tactile paving has been installed to assist visually impaired pedestrians and is in accordance with national guidance. The reduction of cyclists’ speeds was not an intention of the paving although it can help to highlight the transition to unsegregated areas shared with pedestrians where more consideration is needed.
We have reviewed the location you raised concerns about and we consider that the tactile paving at the western end of North Meadow Walk (where this joins the path to the signalised cycle/pedestrian crossing of Melville Drive) could potentially be an issue for cyclists. The problem appears to result from cyclists crossing the paving at an angle as they exit the link path to the signalised crossing.
We shall review the options to improve this situation - it is likely this will involve increasing the distance between the tactile paving and the path spur. This will allow cyclists to straighten up their bikes before crossing the paving. We plan to have any improvements completed by late summer. Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.
I hope that you find our response helpful."
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