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.
"I was just trying to think about the bigger picture - it's easy to forget how far things have come on."
Well yes.
If I was in any way responsible for QBiC I would hope (after all this time) I would have quietly made sure it was a bit better.
But it's just a monument to the doctrine of 'something is better than nothing' PLUS standard CEC lack-of-joined-up-thinking/action'.
Sadly the involvement of elected representatives seldom helps...
QBiC isn't perfect but like many other areas of the city could be improved by simply enforcing the rules which are in place. Although I agree it would probably have been better to spend the money elsewhere.
I've emailed my councillors again, Thanking Councillor Keil for support and encouraging Councillor Aldridge to read the evidence and vote for Option A. He seems to be one of those who is on the fence at the moment.
Got the same reply from Gavin Barrie (SNP) as @algo got from Adam McVey,
" Dear ih
Thanks for getting in touch.
The SNP group will be supporting the East-West cycling project to enhance the public realm, improve conditions for cyclists and address longstanding issues (such as the Russell Road/Roseburn Street junction).
While the final decision on this will be taken at the Transport Committee on the 30th of August, we have taken on board many comments that have been communicated by the local community and organisations and hope you’ll be satisfied that these concerns and aspirations have been adequately addressed.
Kind regards,
on behalf of Cllr Gavin Barrie"
They're definitely all voting B in the SNP. I thought committee votes weren't whipped.
Not whipped? This is the SNP....
That is the one I received too. Think only thing that would shift the SNP bloc or one of them would be SUSTRANS committing to their funding before Tuesday.
Lot of work to do with SNP to shift them to being cycle friendly.?
Perhaps it might help to point out that 11.8% of Edinburgh residents aged 16+ cycle to work. Assuming most of these have a partner, then at least 20% of eligible voters are either cyclists or partners of cyclists. That is 20% of Edinburgh voters with an immediate interest in improving cyclist safety. Not even considering those who might like to cycle, parents etc.
Emailed all councillors on Transport committee. For unknown reason the ones to Nick Cook (Conservative) and Bill Henderson (SNP) seemed not to like the standard email address on the council website. Has anyone else managed to email them successfully?
I got no reply from them but the email didn't bounce
Lot of work to do with SNP to shift them to being cycle friendly?
I have sworn not to sleep until Keith Brown is seen riding a bakfiets to work.
Quite pleased with my paragraph rubbishing Option B à la Morningsider;
Option B is a farce. It tries to hide this crucial travel link out of the way in meandering backstreets. Chosing it will make Edinburgh look luddite and car-centric like 1970's Glasgow. Everyone hates Option B, including the Roseburn locals, so there's nothing to be gained in voting for it.
IWRATS you have now moved into the Rainer fassbinder territory. You know when he said he would sleep?
You know when he said he would sleep?
When the last minister of the kirk was strangled with the last copy of the Sunday Post?
@ih I emailed Bill from my home address but I am not sure he received my email, though he sent me one to my work address after we had a nice chat in a Victorian monolith in the city of Edinburgh.
I feel the Sustrans money would need to be on the table before SNP go for option a and I think Sustrans need to be bold to get this through otherwise they will head west and fund the more bold options Glasgow are going for rather than timid and car obsessed Edinburgh.
It is very cat and mouse and I do not get Sustrans I thought they were supposed to promote cycling routes?
@iwrats
Tom Nairn will sleep when he is dead.
Yep, another source says SNP will be voting en masse for Option B.
Conservatives (presumably) scrap whole thing or Option B.
Labour + Green Option A.
Does that mean it all comes down to Robert Aldridge?
I tried this approach with Frank Ross in a very polite letter. Don't think it will work but it helped me.
" I am aware, from following the issue, that you are unlikely to vote for Option A, so if I may, I will make this point:
Do not think that you can somehow find an acceptable compromise with Option B. It will not work, and it will set back the progress of active travel for years. If that is what you want, then vote against the whole scheme; don't imagine that you are triangulating the views of the public, by supporting an option that stands no chance of encouraging more people to select healthier and more civic ways of getting around our city. I can understand at a superficial level, your concern for local businesses, but you should know by now because you have been sent the information, that study after study in this country and abroad, has shown that good quality infrastructure which enhances the environment and makes it more attractive to visitors will only benefit the business life of a community. The idea that cycling facilities inhibit business is an utter fallacy."
Robert Aldridge is the sole LibDem on the TEC is in interesting position.
His only LD colleague is Paul Edie from Murrayfield who initially was against the plans for some very dubious reasons and was looking to find a compromise (Tesco Alley anyone).
I've not heard or seen from him for a while and not since he said he was standing down next May.
The LD MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has made a big play on pollution and traffic in West Edinburgh and has been supportive of the main road route from the start and has sent a nice decline to my invite tweet saying he's with us.
I hope he is able to see the right way to vote...
Yeah - we need some sort of pledge from the Lib Dems to support Option A. That should sort it out...
Conservative manifesto was calling for a segregated route east west and north south in every city - so surely they should all be on board? Not often you can get one of your key manifesto promises just done for you by your opponents ...
@sallyhinch: it was "As an overarching aim, we should work towards..." a segregated cycle route in each city. Not the strongest of commitment there.
The Conservatives will be taking the opportunity to pitch themselves against Labour and the SNP by pursuing "sensible" policies of filling in potholes rather than fluffy things like bike lanes. I fully expect them to vote against the entire scheme.
Emailed all councillors on Transport committee. For unknown reason the ones to Nick Cook (Conservative) and Bill Henderson (SNP) seemed not to like the standard email address on the council website. Has anyone else managed to email them successfully?
Nick Cook replied to me saying that he is supportive of the route "in principle", but was also waiting to get the formal reports before making final decisions.
For SNP support we should remind them of this. Has to be Option A surely as this is most European option?
@HumzaYousaf Humza Yousaf Retweeted Sustrans Scotland
Delighted announce Glasgow will receive £3.25m of @scotgov funding to create safe cycle route in Glasgow's Southside
Mind you I haven't looked at the Glasgow plans so can't say if we are comparing like for like
A few thoughts on Monday...
Please do decorate your bikes/you - there are 40 pennants to hand out but more fun if people do their own.
Prize for best dressed!
Please blog/tweet/Facebook etc using #OptionA and feel free to ride and tweet about the East portion of the route on your way to Charlotte Square.
On the ride itself, please obey all traffic signals and don't worry if we get broken into smaller chunks - if people are dressed up it should be obvious we are together - we plan to regroup on West Coates before riding into Roseburn.
Once through Roseburn (sticking on Roseburn Terrace) we'll turn right and right and congregate by the old bridge at Murrayfield Place. Not planning any speeches, so you will be free to head off when you want, but why not try some shopping in Roseburn itself while you are there.
I expect lots of entries into Spokes' shopping competition and I'll give a prize for the person who can buy the biggest thing. ;-)
In the meantime make sure you and your friends/family have written to your Cllrs.
Been accused of "cycling censorship" on account of trying to keep the fb event purely organisational.... the irony hurts.
Adam McVey has sent a few tweets this morning saying the SNP group supports the EW link. Doesn't say if it's A or B though...
Well that's 2 identical bland replies I've had from Adam McVey.
From their narrowly focused viewpoint, the SNP group have played this quite well. From now on, they will trumpet, you will never stop hearing, how they supported the East West cycle track. I for one, will not forget their duplicity.
If Labour and Green all vote option A, and SNP and Conservative all vote option B then it all hinges on Robert Aldridge - I'm writing to remind him of what Alex Cole-Hamilton said in his manifesto.
However - if the Conservatives vote against the whole plan then does that actually strengthen the position for option A? I'm not sure how the voting works...
Looking at the committee report, it looks like a straight choice between option a and option b. If this is the case then the Tories could just abstain if they wanted to be seen to oppose the lot. This would be ideal, as Labour and the Greens could carry the vote for option A.
If the Tories do vote in favour of option B, then we need the Lib Dem vote. The Lib Dems were strongly in favour of cycling in their 2012 manifesto (never hurts to remind them):
Any chance of not all members turning up?
As above...
Adam McVey @adamrmcvey 2h2 hours ago
The @EdinburghSNP council group will support East-West cycle link. Crucial to provide active travel alternative to people in West of City.
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