Anyone know which address to use to submit a letter to the editor? I'm up for a rebuttal I think
Thanks Dave
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Roseburn to Leith consultation begins (and the debate continues!) CCWEL
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Posted 8 years ago #
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Or you could ask if they want an option piece
Posted 8 years ago # -
option piece
Is that a Freudian slip. Opinion piece?
Posted 8 years ago # -
Just unread typing.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Actual data showing floating bus stops aren't causing any problems in Cambridge:
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/4827/floating_bus_stop_report.pdf
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/floating-bus-stops-making-cyclists-
The report shows that the "interactions" they observed amounted to "pedestrian waited on island for cycle to pass" and "pedestrian didn't look when crossing cycle lane, cyclist made gentle braking and safely diverted behind pedestrian"
Yet another bit of data for people to ignore.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@Stickman http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/floating-bus-stops-making-cyclists-12074281
Posted 8 years ago # -
Front page of today's EEN says that developers want to knock down the ice rink and build either a hotel or housing.
If it goes ahead then the case for extending the segregate route along Corstorphine Road gets even stronger.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
Its plans – which would border the Water of Leith – include a luxury hotel, serviced apartments and flats, as well as a care home and the “relocation and improvement” of the nearby doctors surgery.
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Presumably the one on Riversdale Crescent.
Presumably to widen the road and (perhaps) create a new bridge - or use the existing (currently pedestrian/bike only) one as part of a one way system?
Does that mean CEC doesn't own that end of the Park or 'would be expected to sell'??
Posted 8 years ago # -
"It is understood much of the land Murrayfield 2020 want to build on is owned by the SRU, while the ice rink and curling club own the plots their buildings stand on."
"Miller Developments also has an option on the SRU land, and would need to be consulted before any construction went ahead."
Karmic revenge on the Pied Piper of Riversdale?
Posted 8 years ago # -
And of course with the land value for all concerned being raised massively by the flood defences installed with public funds...
Posted 8 years ago # -
So now the taxpayer has funded £7m of flood prevention, some private developers can now profit from that.
Edit - LOL, Muran got there first.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Isn't that why we pay our taxes? To help line the pockets of rapacious developers? I thought everyone knew that... #BritainOpenForBusiness
Posted 8 years ago # -
If this goes ahead I would need to be reminded why Land Value Tax isn't a good or practicable idea.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@CllrNickCook
Productive, constructive meeting on West-East Cycle Track tonight with @LAHinds @nigelbagshaw @adamrmcvey + stakeholders.Focus on Roseburn!
Posted 8 years ago # -
I was a bit slow on the uptake but the contents of my letter to the editor:
I was concerned to read in Pete Gregson's recent letter the claim that "protected cycle tracks are not leading to predicted increases in cycling".
This is a factual error.
Data shows segregated routes along main roads in the UK, like the A8 cycle track along Roseburn Terrace, will lead to an immediate increase of at least 60% more cycle journeys.
Ironically it is only where routes are diverted down back streets that cycle journeys do not increase. This is the white elephant "option B" that Mr Gregson desperately advocates.
Perhaps an eye test is in order for the Roseburn Vision?
No similar scheme in the UK has ever succeeded and "option B" would be an expensive waste of funds at a time when the public purse is under unprecedented pressure. Nothing at all should be spent in Roseburn if the city isn't prepared to take the A8 cycle track along the actual A8.
Your humble servant etc.
Not sure when / if they'd carry it.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Good letter!
I have decided we need a more catchy name for this cycle path. Let's take London's lead and go with superhighway.
So, the West Edinburgh Cycle Superhighway. A cycle superhighway would clearly go along main arterial roads and it should be made clear that this superhighway would connect the new homes at Gogar to the Gyle, Corstorphine, Murrayfield, Roseburn and town. Our elected officials need to realise that this is for journeys short and long along this main arterial road.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Hyperbikeway. Go big or go home.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Joking aside, we need something that conveys the strategic importance of this route.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Sounds good. Route 1 doesn't seem to have spurred them on to work out it's importance and Cycling Superhighways are something people will have heard off.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Superhighway is fine - more importantly, you need a catchy derogatory name for the alternative - to be used at every possible opportunity.
Posted 8 years ago # -
you need a catchy derogatory name for the alternative
The Slug Road? The Tourist Route? The Rat Run?
Posted 8 years ago # -
The Gregson Gutter.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Had some time between kiddy activities this morning, so thought we'd try the Cafe in Roseburn set back from the A8, just over the old bridge.
Unfortunately it was rammed so we headed on, past empty cafes on the main road and down to the Broadwalk cafe...
Just sone anecdata for you
Posted 8 years ago # -
@HankChief: it is a cracking little cafe.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
And he is already tipped as a future Scottish Lib Dem leader.
"
Posted 8 years ago # -
The Community Council notice board has an advert for the absurd "cycle survey".
Also, a new comment from the Roseburn Vision Group. Someone isn't happy they weren't asked on to the stakeholder group.
PETITION UPDATEBad News on Cycle Track
Peter Gregson
Edinburgh, United Kingdom15 OCT 2016 — Hi All,
I’m sorry to say that things are not going well. The Council is set on wasting £9M on a track that will fail to do much beyond increase congestion and remove parking.
At the Murrayfield Community Council (MCC) meeting on Tuesday night Cllr Balfour revealed that the decision will be taken before Xmas by a panel of 5 Cllrs- the Transport spokespeople from each Party. That will be Cllr Hinds (Labour, in favour); Cllr McVey (SNP, in favour); Cllr Bagshaw (Green, in favour). The other two (Cllr Alldridge, LibDem and Nick Cook, Tory) will be outvoted whatever they say. The cycling officers know this and are pursuing Option A.There have been 3 Stakeholders meetings now, none of which are considering the fundamentals- that there is already a good route NCR1 and if this design is fundamentally suitable. The Stakeholders Groups are packed in favour of cycling campaigners and officers; the trader and MCC reps are generally swamped. The walkabout in Roseburn included a local rep from the few that want it but everyone from the Roseburn Vision was excluded. The traders at both Roseburn and Haymarket valiantly demonstrated their opposition (see photo below) and Haymarket businesses even mustered a group letter signed by 20 shops asking for me to be included, but the Cllrs just ignored it. The cycling officers preface every speech to Cllrs by saying the reason that cyclists won’t cycle in Edinburgh is because they feel unsafe and a protected track will get a big increase. This is not generally the case- the Scotsman recently stated that Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee have each built numerous cycle routes - both on and off road - over the past 20 years, but the numbers using them on a daily basis remain stubbornly low.
A few of us think that this fundamental assumption needs to be challenged. We’ve put together a survey “Why Bike?” which we want everybody to complete. Councillors have been convinced by project consultants on the East-West cycle track who predict an increase of approximately 90% in cycle use in the corridor served by the route, amounting to a 16% increase in overall cycle use in the city if it was delivered. This nonsense is based on a survey carried out by Sustrans of 1,100 people in Edinburgh and Cllr Hinds just sent me copy of it. It’s called Bike Life Edinburgh.
There are 1000 members in Spokes who already cycle on a daily basis who no doubt filled it in. The survey concludes that what is needed for the city are protected cycle tracks.I hope that you will complete this survey, no matter how unlikely you are to ever get onto two wheels. Because cycling in Edinburgh is hard work, with many hills and bad weather and any number of cycle tracks will never change that. Cycling is good for the environment, but there are plenty of better measures the Council could be taking.
A few of us (residents and traders) think there are several things we can do between now and Xmas. The first is this survey- I hope to get at least 1,000 people to complete it- it will be held online at Survey Monkey and in paper form at the local shops. We need that to conclude by early December and I need to fundraise either £150 or £400 to cover the cost (£50 for a 2-month Survey Monkey subscription, needed for more than 100 signatures- good for up to 1,000; if we get a lot more it will cost £300 for an annual fee). The cost includes getting flyers and posters printed for the shops. I’ll be sending out the crowdfunding link in a couple of days.
The other thing we need to do is get Cllr Ross to make good on his offer to cone off the street to the level of the track and see what the impact is on congestion, parking and trade- ideally over a week. It will be gridlock and mayhem, but I believe desperate measures are called for, if we are to protect our streets and shops. And he needs to get it done well before the Councillors make their decision, for only then can they make a true assessment of the impact of this scheme.
Posted 8 years ago # -
He's starting to sound like Trump now: clearly not going to accept the result if it doesn't go the way he wants.
"A few if us..." sums it up. A few NIMBYs holding up the whole thing, refusing to back down...
Posted 8 years ago # -
So this is a 'cyclist' now arguing that cycling isn't really possible in Edinburgh. Proof that what you say matters less than how loud you shout. As crowriver says: It is all very Trump-esque. Depressing
Posted 8 years ago # -
In case his lies about the Bike Life survey gain any traction, here is the methodology of how the Survey was conducted:
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/sites/default/files/bike_life_data_sources_and_methodologies.pdf
Posted 8 years ago # -
So still banging on about NCR1?
I wish it was as easy to herd Spokes members as that!
The baddest hills in central Edinburgh are through the Newtown, as in the Inverleith Row to Dundas thread. Least cliff face route is Broughton Street/Leith Street, which would be quite okay except for being so busy. Otherwise the hills aren't much of a problem even for slugs like me. It's getting a decent route up them that's the hassle eg to get up to Fountainbridge level if you could go up Morrison Street that would be a doddle compared to the short nasty hill in Dewar Place.
Posted 8 years ago #
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