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.
Sounds familiar this, from Bearsway meeting: "It’s just a pity that a number of seemingly expert local residents aren’t willing to listen, as they have already made up their minds on the issue regardless of the evidence and careful planning.”
@Stickman, make sure you send those invites recorded delivery, otherwise there will be claims no invitation was received (when the receiver was probably the bin)...
@crowriver: I was following the Twitter updates on last night's meeting. Evidence that the changes hadn't worsened congestion, that emergency services had no concerns and that modelling suggests future plans wouldn't worsen congestion were again met with muttering and laughter from parts of the audience.
On a positive note, there appeared to be far more people speaking up in favour of the plans.
"The drone from traffic on the parallel Quai des Celestins, higher up the river bank, suggests traffic there is moving along at a respectable pace – confounding those doomsayers who suggested the controversial scheme to pedestrianise two miles of city centre highway would bring neighbouring roads to a standstill."
"The idea of building a motorway right in the heart of the city might have seemed a good one in the 60s … but as is often the case, yesterday’s solutions are today’s problems."
Glasgow took the approach that, like violence, if building motorways through your city centre doesn't solve the problem then you're not building enough of them.
Thing with gay Paris is that there's no reason to drive into or through the city centre other than in the wee small hours at all other than deliveries. Public transport is ubiquitous, fast, integrated and reasonably priced.
Some folk are reluctant to use the trains due the preponderance of people with non-white skin amongst the banlieusards but I suspect they're exposing themselves to much greater risk by driving their automobiles.
What if someone important like hillary clinton has to drive at Diana speed
Hey look, an email back from Paul Edie:
Quote:
Thank you for your email.
Firstly can I apologise for the delay in getting back to you. I have received a lot of correspondence on this issue as you can imagine and it has taken a little more time than I had anticipated to reply to everyone who has contacted me.
The Transport Committee looked at the cycle route report last week and have agreed that plans for the cycle route will progress. The Committee also decided that the Roseburn section of the proposals and the re-siting of the taxi rank at Haymarket will be discussed further at a Working Group which will involve stakeholders to iron out the last remaining issues surrounding which of the proposed routes to take.
This is a route of around two miles and it seems that only the last 100 yards or so are now in any way contentious.
For the record I believe that with some refining the second option routing the cycle way along Roseburn Place is best placed to balance the competing interests of local business, of bus passengers and cyclists.[my bold]
I look forward the outstanding issues being resolved in the near future.
Unquote.
What a disappointment. Hardly unexpected.
"routing the cycle way along Roseburn Place is best placed to balance the competing interests of local business, of bus passengers and cyclists."
Such balance depends on actually how you weight the so-called "competing interests".
I think it's clear that the 'interests' of the traders have been given unwarranted prominence. There seems to be an assumption by Cllr Edie that their views and suggestions about 'delays to buses' are all true - either in relation to current situation (inc illegal parking) or what is planned.
I wonder if he has considered the people who currently don't cycle but would like to or those who would benefit from less traffic and pollution.
Is there any news on the composition of the Stakeholder Group, and who will represent the stakeholders, and when it might start sitting? It's all supposed to be decided by Christmas!
Quite clear that Cllr Edie (and others) haven't read the transport modelling report which categorically states that there will be no significant impact on journeys along the A8 (ie buses).
Is it really too much to expect Councillor reads the reports on probably the most contentious issue in his ward? I've not been impressed by him at all, particularly following a very dismissive condescending reply he gave my wife. Sooner he is gone the better.
Edit: have just emailed him to ask if he has read the modelling report and whether he recognises it says there will be little impact on buses.
@LivD - I got an identical letter.
the second option
He can't even say the words "option B"
Because we all know something "B" is inferior to something "A"
"I think it's clear that the 'interests' of the traders have been given unwarranted prominence."
You mean exactly the same as with the Foot of Leith Walk? There was a traders' revolt there too, and look what we ended up with: double parking in a nice painted door-zone lane. At least the surface is nice and smooth and there are zebra crossings to slow the traffic down...
Re: Roseburn, I think "the cycle lobby" should be pushing to end the route before it reaches Roseburn. That would be preferable to the half hearted, fearty mess that is Option B.
3DCakes continuing their flouting of parking restrictions again; parked in the greenway during rush hour. At least they weren't on the pavement this time.
Balerno does not have the same traffic as roseburn so the analogy is not analogous. However, the Main Street was pedestrianised by blocking the top of the road and rerouting traffic on a slight detour. This was done decades ago. There were rumblings about shops going out of business but this is actually down to the high rent the landlord charges and indeed would be willing to sit with empty shops until he achieves his price. Most people walk to the shops on the Main Street though there are two car parks on either side of the Main Street they are never that busy.
Anyway, yesterday the Fietsclub Balerno stall at the market had a six year old cycling on the street on the electric bike, all ages in between, including an MP (she is getting an electric bike now she says) a 65 year old man who had not been on a bike since he was fifteen (massive smile on his coupon coming down the hill) and a seventy plus chap who walks with the aid of a stick giving it a go (though he has his own electric bike he made himself which he thinks heavier than the one we had, so it must weigh three tonnes). This chap's wife also had a shot, quote from her 'it ate the hill'. We also had prizes donated by EBC for best folding of a Brompton won by lad from Harmeny School, and the EBC smoothie bike which the Aforementioned MP also had a go on, I sang Smooth Operator by Sade at this point. We also had a road bike on rollers. We raised some money for Qhubeka and our stall was still busy at 13.00 hrs when the market was closing.
My point is that controlling where cars go (restricting their access etc) makes for a better community. The shops are not affected by the change to traffic , regardless of what people who wish to whip up hysteria say (shops struggle for their rent but that is down to landlords, out of town shopping, Internet).
Ach, you all know this anyway. But i had twelve bikes in my garage last night (road bike summer, road bike winter, commuter, hack for shopping, bikes of the other residents of the household, a funny wee triang tricycle for a four year old in 1950, a Brompton, a smoothie bike and an electric bike). Could be a record?
Oh, to have a garage...
Yes a luxury of the suburbs
there are two car parks on either side of the Main Street they are never that busy
I sometimes stop there to eat items I have bought in the Co-op. Last time it was empty when I sat down but filled immediately with cars. One insisted on backing in in front of me and leaving the engine running so that I was monoxidated as I snacked. I think they were school-runners. Better still if schoolkinder use feets and fiets to return home after study?
Ah, that is the third car park. I was against that as there is one other side of bottom Scotmid and indeed the other one at top Scotmid. Yes for Balerno has two ScotmidScotmid, top mid and bot mid.
Anyway the argument was for disabled but as IWRATS indicates is drop off for nursery, or Cubs, dguides etc. The old school was an annexe of the new school but is now council nursery, playgroup and private nursery all in one early years centre.
As with any school run, if all the parents concerned with road safety of kids walking to school stopped driving and walked or facilitated their kids walking to school then there would be no cars, everybody would be fitter, people would get to work quicker as they were not doing the school run etc. It is a corker of a connundrum.
I was wondering about parking enforcement on Roseburn Terrace - mostly out of curiosity, but also to provide a baseline for future reference - so asked the council. Reply:
I can confirm that a total of 172 visits were carried out to Roseburn Terrace since 12 August 2016 and that a total of 12 parking tickets were issued as a result.
12 tickets in 172 visits, that is about 1 ticket every 14 visits. Given that every time you go to Roseburn while restrictions apply, there is always at least one vehicle stopped illegally, why is the success rate (of issuing tickets) so low?
Not sure about Roseburn, but I was told the following about Ratcliffe Terrace (which has a comparable ticketing rate):
Parking Attendants can only issue instant tickets to vehicles parked on double yellow lines with two kerb markings or to vehicles parked on Ratcliffe Terrace during the rush hour prohibitions on waiting and loading. However, between 9.30am and 4pm, an observation period needs to be given to vehicles to establish whether loading is taking place (yellow lines) or whether parking time is being purchased (parking bays). If a vehicle is removed and then re-parked then the observation period must being again.
About 6 visits a day.
Really??
So basically no tickets issued because the culprits keep an eye out for the wardens. Has there ever been consideration of plain clothes enforcement?
Enforcement by CCTV is legal in parts of the country (I'm not sure what makes it so) with obvious advantages of being both discrete and providing recorded evidence when the inevitable 'I was loading (my bacon roll)' appeal comes in
@Frenchy Two points on the explanation you were offered:
1. If they timed their visits for the rush periods, they would almost always be able to issue an instant ticket;
2. They appear to be accepting that the Loading rules will hardly ever be enforced considering the excuses they are prepared to overlook. Loading has to be continuous (there's caselaw on that) so I struggle to understand why they can't do better in enforcing the rules.
The south side is a Greenway which means No Stopping during its operating hours (rush hour AM and PM). It should be a clear ticket - no need for observation.
People are now bored of my ongoing tweet chain of illegal parking in the evening rush hour almost every single day.
12 tickets is a joke. These restrictions are being ignored.
Out of interest, what would happen if a dozen people on bikes were to stop in a row at the kerb to prevent illegal parking?
I thought someone had done an FOI on parking/ loading tickets over the winter and there were something like 37 parking & loading tickets over the 6 months.
I can't find it just now though.
Err, I think we have proven what we already knew? The shopkeepers like the loading bays as they can park outside without paying and when a warden comes round they can move their cars to avoid getting a ticket. Hence the vituperative joining in the campaign. Now it could be their businesses would go bust if they had to pay parking? The chap in Buna who stayed open that morning we cycled there cycles to his work himself so he is less bothered. The cafe endorses white van man parking illegally. White van man fickle and uses a cafe only if he can park his van right outside.
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts