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.
Does anyone actually believe that Peter Gregson is a cyclist in any meaningful sense? He may have cycled but I don't believe for one moment that he is a regular cycler or that he uses the back route from Roseburn to Haymarket.
It would be naïve to think he isn't monitoring this thread - hello Peter.
Well, he claimed to be a Spokes member so presumably they would be in a position to refute that if it were untrue.
"He was actually pretty diplomatic and avoided saying whether he supported or rejected, haha. What an excellent policitican ;)"
Last time I looked he was Lesley's deputy, so he ought to be a bit more enthusiastic!!!
What did he actually say?
By speaking to him at the Roseburn consultation event I did get the impression he was a regular rider, but very much of the high-vis, helmet, on-road kinda guy. Which is totally cool, if that's how he prefers to ride his bike, but as I said in an earlier post is not the way that everyone needs to cycle.
I do object to his idea of cycling when he insists everyone sticks to his line of thinking. He doesn't need to like riding on segregated infrastructure but there are plenty people who do want to.
I had a similar perspective from a randomer on Facebook. The whole "I won't use it and I'm perfectly happy with the status quo so I object to my taxes paying for it" line was pretty prevalent. Ugh.
@chdot He said: "The consultation is still open so hopefully it’ll manage to flush out some of the issues and then we can design a scheme to take concerns on board."
I mean, he's right and his response is fair in a certain sense. So kudos to his diplomacy. What makes it amusing is my dissertation email to him and a one sentence response. Brevity is the soul of wit and all that. I should take a leaf from Shakespeare's book.
@Claire:
It's better than the response I got from Frank Ross which just said "received".
very much of the high-vis, helmet, on-road kinda guy
...except when he cycles on the pavement because he doesn't want to mix with bin lorries...
@stickman Haha, brilliant. Usually Karen Kiel is pretty responsive, I've emailed her before and she's come back to me. But radio silence this time round. Hmm.
Oh, for goodness sake. He cycles on pavements to avoid bin lorries but objects to segregation?
I got a good response from Karen Keil, saying she was pleased to see such a strong expression of support and that the issues I was mentioning (all the positives we've discussed) don't just benefit those on the route but in all of west Edinburgh. I took that as her supporting the scheme.
I have added the political group and the ward for each of the members on the Transport Committee.
It seems to me that most of the members of the Committee should have a very personal interest in terms of their own ward. Those representing Drum Brae/Gyle, Leith, Inverleith, City Centre would benefit greatly from good East/West cycling infrastructure which encourages more people to active travel, therefore reducing congestion, pollution, and danger to children in their local areas. This would let those who really do need to drive, such as tradesmen and businesses to get about without the frustration of unnecessary traffic jams.
17 members – 6 Labour, 5 SNP, 3 Conservative, 2 Green, 1 SLD
Councillor Lesley Hinds (Convener)
Labour Inverleith
Councillor Adam McVey (Vice-Convener)
SNP Leith
Councillor Robert Aldridge
Lib Democrat Drum Brae/Gyle
Councillor Nigel Bagshaw
Scot Green Inverleith
Councillor Chas Booth
Scot Green Leith
Councillor Gavin Barrie
SNP Inverleith
Councillor Steve Cardownie
SNP Forth
Councillor Nick Cook
Conservative Liberton/Gilmerton
Councillor Marion Donaldson
Labour Leith Walk
Councillor Karen Doran
Labour City Centre
Councillor Nick Gardner
Labour Leith Walk
Councillor Bill Henderson
SNP Pentland Hills
Councillor Allan Jackson
Conservative Forth
Councillor Karen Keil
Labour Drum Brae/Gyle
Councillor Mark McInnes
Conservative Meadows/Morningside
Councillor Burns (ex officio)
Labour Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart
Councillor Sandy Howat (ex officio)
SNP Meadows/Morningside
@claire & others still to respond:
The campaigners behind "mini-Holland" in London put this together:
https://wfcycling.wordpress.com/mini-holland/
It's got loads of good points to include.
"
During the trial, many businesses were very nervous about the effect of the closures on their footfall. Nearly all businesses now back the road closures, particularly since they were modified to allow loading/unloading times. A tiny few (along with a mall number of residents) hate the scheme still; but frankly, this seems to have little to do with legitimate concerns.
"
I found and completed my scribbled-on-printouts response, to augment the electric one sent in last week.
My Mum tells me from the people-who-do-lunch Corstorphine grapevine that Café Vigo is already in the provess of moving to St. John's Road anyway?! Which, if true, would kind of nullify the "this will kill my business" attitude.
Perhaps some of our resident Roseburnites or Corstorphians could confirm?
Presumably the high quantity of traffic and pollution make St John's Road some kind of mecca for café owners.
@kaputnik
Not heard that, but the excellent cafe on Station Road is currently up for sale. Perhaps that is the source of the rumour?
(Not Roseburn)
"
He said the new store would present a challenge to existing shops and argued the reporter had underestimated the amount of extra traffic it would generate. Councillors on the city’s development management committee turned down the application in July after objectors argued the new store – which will be 223 per cent bigger than the existing shop – would force the closure of the other food retailers nearby, draining the village of vitality.
Kilpatrick Property Group Ltd then appealed against the decision, arguing the existing building was not viable as retail premises and without the proposed extension the unit would be left standing empty.
Giving her decision, the planning reporter, Frances McChlery, said the planning process could not intervene in commercial competition between individual shops in an area.
"
"
Yesterday, shopkeepers from Roseburn to Haymarket put up posters in their windows protesting against the track. But a rival petition supporting the controversial scheme has also attracted hundreds of signatures.
"
http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/roseburn-leith-walk-cycle-route-row-heats-up-1-4012897
"...30 businesses have also put their name to an open letter to the city’s transport leader, Leslie Hinds, calling on her to ditch the scheme."
I can't find this open letter - anyone seen it?
Don't those click-monkeys ever give it a rest? I think it's been said before, but JP must be a really negative place to work. And mentioning the C-word simply seems to give one free rein to write more "rage" and "controversy" stories....
I'm always glad when someone else reads the story so I don't have to.
From the other petition:
"THIS PETITION WILL END ON THE 31st JANUARY. This is when the Council's "consultation" ends. The signatures will be presented to Cllr Hinds, Transport Convener, on Wed 3rd Feb at 3pm. Show your support by coming to the City Chambers to be in the press photo!"
Has anyone seen how the hard copies are being presented? If they are misleading (i.e. "Sign the petition to save this shop") then it shouldn't really matter how many people sign it.
"Local P**** G******, who is leading the charge against the proposals, said: “Rather than spending £1 million getting a cycle track on the main road, the cash would be better spent fixing the black spots around the city that cause cyclists to be maimed on a regular basis.”
He obviously remembers Jasper Carrott's stand-up piece about selling fire insurance:
The main object when selling fire insurance was to scare the hell out of the householder. I found that 'maimed' is a very powerful word. It's so permanent. If you break a leg it eventually gets better, but if it's maimed you're stuck with it for life.
Has anyone else noticed that the parking/loading bays in Roseburn have been remarkably vacant in the mornings/evenings this week?
Call it paranoia but I have a suspicion this may be a concerted effort to not undermine arguments about sustaining the existing two-lane layout (parking normally renders the inner lane useless - accessible only immediately before the traffic lights). Has someone started controlling parking here, or are shops deterring customers from parking prior to the consultation closing? Or am I going mad? :D
I've noticed it as well but thought I was being paranoid.
Surely the council would see through such a transparent ruse?
Out of interest, could any tech wizzes do a scrape of Strava data to give an indication of how much the A8 is used at the moment?
@ivangrozni - not mad, but probably just confirmation bias...
Robert
"Call it paranoia but I have a suspicion..."
"FREE EXTRA ROLL FILLING with every purchase if you park round the corner during January, or send someone out for your stuff whilst you drive round the block"
Out of interest, could any tech wizzes do a scrape of Strava data to give an indication of how much the A8 is used at the moment
Ooh, now that's an idea (which is technically beyond me). Also (if it's possible), Russell Road, Roseburn Park and then Roseburn section of NEPN highlighting the importance of a safe, through route making connections here.
"which is technically beyond me"
I'm sure that's not true, but there are people on here good at producing pretty maps from Strava data.
If much of that parking was actually the shopkeepers, not customers, hen it would be easy for them to 'magically' keep it clear. We know that in other areas of town, these spaces are frequently used by the owners. Council should have good usage data.
If these actual parking/loading spaces, then I'd assume it were them. I'd like to think they were less likely to be clogging the bus lane with illegal stopping, but who knows....
"Out of interest, could any tech wizzes do a scrape of Strava data to give an indication of how much the A8 is used at the moment?"
That is only likely to capture a particular kind of cyclist: i.e.. the kind that uploads everything to Strava. It will miss out the majority who do not.
Agreed, but I think it would stil be useful and would put to bed the whole "6 cyclists an hour" nonsense.
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