Letter published in the EEN on 21st from K***N**S****. Misleading again.
Dear sir,
I hugely enjoyed reading your excellent feature on the opposition to the Council’s plans for a cycle track from Roseburn to Haymarket.
However, I must take issue with two statements from Cllr Leslie Hinds.
1. She wants to encourage people who are less confident when cycling. Her off-road cycle lane on Wester Coates will require such nervous types to negotiate LRT buses 12, 26 and 31, the Glasgow Megabus, and the First Group 38 - as these 12 ton behemoths weave in and out of their path in order to deposit passengers at every bus-stop into town. As a cyclist myself, I’d be advising my kids to live longer by taking the NCR1 by Balbirnie
2. Clr Hinds tells us that the Council has carried out traffic modelling to ensure pedestrian safety and minimal congestion. But her cycling officers e-mailed me last Friday to confirm that no such modelling had been done. All that has been published to justify the scheme is the “preliminary justification report” submitted to Councillors in December 2014. It mentions The words “retail” or “cafe” do not feature. Neither do the words “traffic modelling”. The “Economic Case” it details rests on the research that cyclists will gain £18M in health benefits from the cycle track, for a measly £6.3M spend. So there is a cost/benefit ratio of 3. On this crazed logic our city fathers were persuaded to agree to get the detailed drawings done. The money has now been earmarked and Council will approve, on Thursday a 9% uplift on the cycling capital budget. The cycling officers have a blank cheque book before them and are wedded to their dream of cycle tracks on arterial routes.
But the cash would be better spent fixing the black spots around the city that cause cyclists to be maimed on a regular basis. For example, junction at Russell Road/ Roseburn St/Roseburn Terrace needs fixing. I saw a cyclist seriously injured outside the Roseburn Bar there. Also, every morning I negotiate my bike across Roseburn Street when crossing from Roseburn Place to Russell Road – like many cyclists who come from the west of the city via Roseburn Park - on my way down Russell Road into town. A dedicated bike crossing here would cost £100,000 here and would be money well spent.
Furthermore, Russell road would benefit from a cycle lane to take cyclists safely to NCR1 (and thence to Haymarket)- and to the cycle lanes running north from here, along the old railway lines, to Granton and Newhaven. A cycle lane here would mean I wouldn’t be tempted to avoid the bin lorries by cycling on the enormous pavement (as HeyHeyHey gleefully pointed out in your comments string yesterday).
As a cyclist myself, I have no problem with cycle lanes in the right places. But Roseburn Terrace is never going to be wide enough to support the Council’s vision. The city Cycling officers need to improve what’s there (and fix potholes) before embarking on grandiose schemes such as Amsterdam’s. When I walked about that place last year I was nearly knocked down several times. By cyclists.
Yours sincerely
P**** G******
http://www.k********.co.uk
Cyclist of 48 years experience and Spokes Member
posts
