CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
"The last I've heard from CEC is that they have plans for the A8 cycle path but no money (this year).
How comprehensive those plans are and when they'll get the money is unknown.
Perhaps we should write a list of the current issues so they know what sort of job is required. .."
As a priority the junction with Gogarstone Road is completely blind to cyclists, cars come along it at speed to join the slip road.
The exit onto the south side of the cyclepath from the RBS bridge has high walls on both sides. It is physically impossible to see far enough onto the cyclepath to join it safely. (Personally I just yell as I turn in.)
The new junction into the tram station is impossible to negotiate safely (hankchief passim) if the traffic is busy on the Gogar roundabout
Thanks for setting up the thread chdot.
It may need a study tour to get a few pictures to add colour. I would normally apologise in advance of such a long post but I think it is required to really get across the issues with it.
Anyone spot anything I missed.
Starting at the Casino and heading out (West) I have this list (most of which I've advised the council on previously)
1. Crossing of Turnhouse Road, should be protected by a yellow box junction marking. Currently queuing traffic often block the route across the road. Streetview
On the streetview you can also see the desire line on the left hand side to cut off the corner onto the path. Should be tarmac'ed
I'd also say that the lovely cherry trees need trimming a bit - when they are wet they hang down over the path and you need a considerable duck to avoid them.
On the next section there is the old & large 'sorry for delay' roadwork sign that has been left for the last year or so. Whenever they come to cut the grass they put into the cycle path.
2a. Tram entrance on North side of Gogar Roundabout is hard to cross safely as vehicles don't indicate and you have an unnecessarily wide gap to cross See other thread
2b. A720 entrance (South side of Gogar Roundabout) is very difficult to cross safely with fast moving vehicles.
Previous thread
3. Old concrete entrance for tram depot work hasn't been removed. It is quite a bump to get over.
Streetview
4. Entrance to Castle Gogar. Give way signs on the cycle path set far back from the end of the path where you have no visibility of approaching vehicles. No signage for vehicles coming through the narrow gateway that they are about to cross a cyclepath.
5. RBS Gogarburn bridge. About to become very busy with pedestrians coming to & from the tram stop to RBS - bridge itself isn't particularly wide so expect delays while navigating pedestrians.
Would also say that changing from the North side to the South side of the A8 is quite fiddly & involves an elevation change and tight corners, which adds time without westward progress. A continuous path on the Northside would save considerable time.
6. Path on south side to the West of RBS is usually littered with twigs/sticks & leaves. Should be cleared more regularly.
7. Gogarstone Road entrance. As Stiltskin says above, a really horrid junction. Totally set up for vehicles to take it quickly, with very poor visibility and vehicles looking in the wrong direction to see you. It's also difficult to cross quickly as it is narrow making it hard to manoeuvre round on an ordinary bike let alone anything unusual.
8. Gogarstone Road down slip road to Airport Roundabout. The path is narrow and poor surface. Often has pedestrians walking between the Park & Ride and RBS.
9. Aiport Roundabout. Fiddly to navigate - paths not very wide and poor visibility through the underpass. The crossing of the Westerly slip road on the South side can be hairy as it is usually busy and vehicles don't always indicate.
The crossing of the Westerlly slip on the North side is in 2 parts and requires careful manouvering. Although half of it is light controlled. Streetview
Again the transfer from South to North is fiddly and slow.
Should also note that the path heading up the North East slip should have a sign saying it will end at the side of busy 70mph dual carriageway and you'll have to take your life into your hands if you try to cross it.
10. Ingliston Road Entrance. Poor visibility when heading West of traffic coming up Ingliston Road. The alignment of the dropped kerbs aren't great either. Streetview
11. Northside path by the Highland Showground. very narrow in places (including by this bus stop) Tree roots coming through has made the surface very bumpy.
12. Halyards Road Junction. Poor sight lines again. Streetview approaching from Halyards Road
13. Ratho Station. Path is very narrow in places - made worse on bin day by bins places and varying distances from the kerb.
You are also in conflict with pedestrians waiting at this bus stop.
14. Lochend Road Junction. Probably the best junction and that is saying something. Still not a great set up.
And finally:
15. Anti disability bollard on the pedestrian bridge over the A9 at Newbridge.
"would normally apologise in advance"
No point in apologising for such detail!
I should say that on a daily basis I get quizzed by my colleagues on why other cyclists use that road and (heaven forbid) cause them to slow down and change lanes.
If you can find 15 points in a 3.5 mile cycle path which either increase the time taken or the risk to you, you can understand why some choose to use the road.
This route could provide a good flat route not only to the airport but also for the populations of Broxburn & Kirkliston to commute the 5 or 6 miles to Gyle.
I'd say that I agree with Stiltskin in that Gogarstone road is the worse. I forgot the streetview above, so here it is
Gogarstone Road corner is dreadful, with a wide sweeping access corner that gives high-speed access to an otherwise blind corner. Given there's a feed-in lane there's even less reason for that wide corner as vehicles aren't slowing in 40mph (ha! right! more like 60!) traffic to make the turn.
Actually, I don't know why it's allowed to open onto the A8 both ways, for the precious few houses up that road, it's not much of a vehicular detour to come via Gogarburn or Ratho Station.
"Should also note that the path heading up the North East slip should have a sign saying it will end at the side of busy 70mph dual carriageway and you'll have to take your life into your hands if you try to cross it."
You mean the magic disappearing bus lane when heading back up from the airport roundabouts to go east?
@Wingpig - it's both the bus lane and the path alongside it that run out at the top of the hill - despite looking quite promising as you set off.
Streetview - bottom of sliproad
You can get caught out thinking that the good path will get you back to town, when in reality it is just to a lonely bus stop.
Great list @hankchief, the only thing I'd add would be markings to the pavementshared use path to make everyone aware that it is shared use and not just the council meeting a quota by putting up 5 little blue circles on lampposts.
"it's both the bus lane and the path alongside it that run out at the top of the hill - despite looking quite promising as you set off." - and the reason I started cycling on the road
Thanks, HankCheif, you saved me a job there! When I was cycling home on Friday I made a mental note to do a list just like yours. I don't think I have much to add other than to say the worst bit of surface is where there are no houses at Ratho Station, where it is really unacceptably bad, and that literally cycling through bus stops - so much so that you have to worry about head clearance - is a lunatic's idea of a cycle lane.
Another thing is in a couple of places there are signs you need to ride under, the poles for which significantly narrow the path.
I'm also a dreamer so I'd set my sights higher - I want full seperation from pedestrians the whole length, and I want a path wide enough for bikes to pass.
I've moaned about this to Spokes and the council before, but it feels like a waste of time.
But £3 billion to dual the whole length of the A9. Yeah, that's the priority.
@calmac oh I forgot about the road sign poles in the middle of the path, they are a classic!
last night as I was waiting to cross the slip road to the P&R I saw 2 cyclists start up the slip road on the cycle path. You know, the one the leads to nowhere! I waved them to stop and told them that they had to cross under the road then cycle up the other side then recross at the RBS bridge. The cyclists were foreign and didn't look massively competent on bikes and would have ended up at the side of the A8 eastbound in rush hour. The parting comment from the tourist "but there is no sign to say that the path stops" sums it all up.
I'd also say that the lovely cherry trees need trimming a bit - when they are wet they hang down over the path and you need a considerable duck to avoid them.
I've been trying to get these cut back for a while, without success.
Tonight I saw some Saicapack suits by their cars, so I approached them to see whether they could raise it within their company.
I lucked out and happened upon the plant manager who said he would get it done.
[grump]
Trees not yet cut back and today my safety flag snapped going under them.
This is also the spot that I came off back in the Spring, trying to avoid the low hanging branches and hitting a patch of leaf mulch too fast.
[/grump]
(To be fair I knew it what it was like and took the corner too fast)
Think it may be time for some guerilla gardening.
What CEC thinks of this thread -
"
Thanks - that's really useful. We'll use it to check our plans to date and see if we need to add anything else in. Then we'll circulate the plans for comment, hopefully by the end of the year.
"
3 cheers for Saicapack plant manager...
The cherry trees have been cut back (/up) so no more ducking required.
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