Here is Paul Edie's response to the consultation. It's interesting just how much he has got wrong, both in respect of the proposed cycle lanes and also the 20mph restrictions. His "elegant solution" feels like he's got his red pen out and scrawled an idea on a map without thinking about design guidance, best practice, conflicts with pedestrians etc.
"In principle I support the concept of segregated cycleways but I have some serious concerns about the detail of the Roseburn end of the proposal.
I pride myself as being a constructive person and as such I will put forward an alternative which I believe will alleviate many of the concerns that I and many local residents have.
I am concerned that this consultation has been polarised. I don’t believe that this must be a take it or leave it. I also believe that we can have a compromise that suits everyone’s interests
I fully understand the desire to run a route through the city centre and to make that as direct as possible. I also appreciate that the coexistence of Bus, bicycle, tram care an pedestrian involves a very delicate balancing act of competing interests many of whom are not the passengers, drivers, cyclists etc in question. These interests are important though and to dismiss them glibly when they can be accommodate would be a mistake.
Consultation
I have, like many others, felt that the consultation could have been done better. My colleagues have expressed their concerns at mail drops of leaflets going astray etc. I would say that the consultation materials were not of good quality with the legends colour etc in the leaflets I have seen being confusing and confused. It has made it difficult for even informed people to get a grasp of what is a being proposed.
The Current proposals
The current proposals begin to get problematic when they get to the Wester Coates area and worsen when they get beyond the Roseburn Bridge.
The proposals have a cycle lane that is very wide and removes the bus lane to accommodate that. I have been told that this is to allow cyclists who want to overtake.
Removing the bus lane would be a very retrograde step. This is perhaps the busiest, and is certainly one of the busiest bur routes into the city. With 25% of the capitals workforce travelling in from the west many do so by public transport.
I supported the administrations move to limit the times for bus lanes to rush hours as a benefit to local small business and because at other times there is rarely any congestion preventing the free flow of buses.
I cannot support removing a bus lane on this busiest of routes. The principle of the transport policy in Edinburgh has been to put the interests of the many i.e. public transport passengers, first and foremost.
I recall David Begg saying that the amount of road space used by passengers versus cars needed to change. On this route bus passengers are the most important road users in my opinion. I have taken the opportunity to observe for myself the traffic flows here and there are not as many cyclists using this route compared to for example Gorgie Road.
I appreciate, and support, the idea to expand those numbers by a segregated lane but I don’t believe that even if you tripled the numbers there would be the necessity of effectively a four lane cycleway. This is especially true when you appreciate the tidal flow of traffic along the A8 including bicycle traffic. There is a one way cycle lanes at present and I believe that we can have a two way two lane cycle way that would still give ample space for overtaking especially as much of the route is on a 20mph zone. I don’t believe we need a four lane cycleway especially at the expense of a bus lane on a busy route.
I also have concerns about the lane when it hits Roseburn. Running a local businesses there is a difficult situation at the best of times. There are many empty units there and I have been concerned at some people who support the proposals as they stand are very dismissive of the needs of small traders.
Running the lane along the North side of Roseburn Terrace would cause problems with loading and unloading. Many of these businesses rely on goods being dropped off and picked up and any changes here to the operation out with rush hour could see many shops going to the wall.
I also have concerns about the routing of the lane along by Murrayfield Ave. That is a complex junction and I feel that this would not be safe.
Alternative proposals
My alternative proposal would be to run the route along the south side of Wester Coates. There is space for a narrower two lane bikeway maintaining both bus lanes. I would then like to see this taken off at the alleyway behind Tescos and joined to the National cycle route on Russell Road.
If this were to have a raised table to direct the bikes across Russell Road and ideally signals introduced this would solve a lot of the problems with traffic in Russell Road and give priority for bikes at one stroke.
I think this is an elegant solution. It would remove all of the concerns about the viability of small shops there, shops that several thousand local residents rely on. Roseburn is a very densely populated part of the city and as someone who does not own as car I can tell you easy access to local shops is very important to them. It would also remove at a stroke much of the aggravation which will see the current proposals locked in a war of attrition during the statutory phase of any TRO process.
If this is for any reason not possible then again a narrower two way lane along the north could be considered again maintaining bus lanes in both directions and routed down Roseburn Street joining the route there. This would also alleviate much of the concerns raised by many residents and local businesses.
Paul Edie
Councillor Corstorphine and Murrayfield"
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