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.
http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/city-cycle-network-will-cost-tens-of-millions-1-3645801
"A JOINED-UP cycle network for the Capital could be achieved within ten years, but will cost “tens of millions” of pounds following years of under-investment, a senior city transport figure has said."
Peanuts.
There is one already; sadly too many cars are allowed to use it too.
They say 'ten of millions' like that's an unfeasible amount of money. But they spent hundreds of millions on one line for tram.
Eight years ago there was money around; now there isnt. Eight years ago, the opposition forced the minority SNP government to spend the bulk of its capital programme on a single white elephant. What might a 'joined up network' look like; full duplication of the road network? With Edinburgh's history, that budget would be spent on paint. Until the council shows any interest in making the infrastructure it has invested in work (eg through funding police traffic wardens on Leith Walk), why would we let them spend more of our money?
What's he planning to do,gold plate it. Why is it Edinburgh is so incomplete when it comes to infrastructure projects?
"why would we let them spend more of our money?"
I share your concern/scepticism.
However
I think there has been some change over those eight years.
There seems to be a degree of acceptance of the *idea* of a cycle network.
Since PoP got going there's a much better understanding of the point/need of/for more segregation.
Of course there are still those who think that extending the tram (with money from developers allowed to get more of their own ways??) is the 'best' thing for this world class cycling city.
Its the moronic 'commuters and leisure/family groups have the same interests' guff that gets me, as if speed differences between vehicle groups are not the major issue on the roads. Roseburn to Leith cycle path might be fine; its not my route though so I've no idea of demand from either group, but when my girls were younger I'd not have wanted them to share a cycle path with commuters doing 20 mph any more than with car drivers, and I'd avoid a family friendly route if I was in a hurry/commuting.
So, that's capital expenditure on cycling infrastructure of around £1m-£2m per year over the next 10 years. Which is what the Council is committed to doing. I actually think this is pretty positive. Why shout this guy down? How will that benefit cyclists in Edinburgh. If politicians never see any political benefit in cycling investment, then I'm sure they could find another, more grateful, home for this cash.
Things are moving in the right direction for cyclists in Edinburgh - plans are in place for some pretty decent projects over the next couple of years (e.g. Meadows-Union Canal, Meadows-Innocent). Could things be better? Yes, but they could also be much worse - see rest of Scotland for details.
mgj - you are massively over-estimating the scale of expenditure on the tram project. The Scottish Government provided £500m for the tram project over a period of about six years (less than £100m per year). The Scottish Government has an annual capital budget of around £3bn. Scottish Government investment in the tram is actually pretty modest compared with the Queensferry Crossing, M74 extension, A9 dualling, A96 dualling, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and so on.
@Morningsider, obviously have to be a little careful with what I say from inside, but while there is indeed a large capital budget, what I meant to say was that the trams took up most of the 'discretionary element' of the capital available to the first SNP administration (ie what was left over when depreciation, repairs, already committed projects was taken out of it). The bulk of the remainder was spent removing the tolls from the Skye and Forth crossings IIRC.
mgj - not entirely sure about that. The Scottish Government had already cancelled the Edinburgh and Glasgow Airport rail links. These were committed projects (land purchase had already taken place) which off the top of my head had a combined budget of around £600m. The £500m for the trams was also a committed budget. You are correct that there is generally little play in the transport budget - capital projects are costly and take years to deliver and expenditure on trunk road maintenance, rail and bus services is effectively a given, as no-one has the stomach to close rail lines or touch the sainted national concessionary travel scheme.
Lets be honest here though - regardless of what projects were cancelled - none of this cash was destined for cycling projects.
Morningsider; true then, and even more true now. Then, it was all about the opposition forcing the minority government to spend its money on unpopular projects in order to get its budget through (although maybe a mass bike network would have been as unpopular...) now the only chance that central government cash will go to cycling on this scale is if it is the only way to get kids to nursery.
"City cycle network ‘will save the NHS hundreds of millions’"
FTFY
the proposed cycling highway between the Roseburn path and Leith
Erm, I cycle down a cycle / shared use path that already exists from Roseburn to Leith every working day. Why do we need another one? Can't we spend money on a cycle path where one doesn't currently exist?
Similar proposal in Fife for cycle network was reported as saving millions. £3.52 for every pound spent on the network. That was this week too.
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