Good luck getting drivers to stick to 40 even when the limit is imposed.
I cycle that route daily and currently very few stick to the limit on the current section that is at 40.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
A8 route - Consulation
(161 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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Drivers' actual speeds is less of an issue than the speed that the road features are being designed for.
You can't have a Toucan Crossing or short slip roads if the official speed limit is 70mph. At 40mph you can.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Perhaps if the police did meaningful speed checks things would improve.
The last I heard they will still boasting about catching less than a handful of drivers when they had a speed trap in place. They don't seem to understand that using marked vehicles is never going to be an effective deterrent.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Seems an ideal spot for average speed cameras.
And yes, when I drive along there at the speed limit I’m overtaken by lots of cars. Heading east when I take the right-hand lane for the underpass there’s always someone tailgating who will then attempt to get past in the underpass itself. All to get to the Maybury lights a few seconds quicker.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Average speed cameras are the answer. How much does it cost to get them installed? Seems like the only serious way to enforce it.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@HankChief
Thanks for the info. Chivvying councillors has been suggested (as always)!So should see improvements in speed/side roads but not immediately.
Posted 5 years ago # -
The average speed cameras covering a 1-mile section of Old Dalkeith Road cost £113,000. They have been fantastically successful:
"Since ASC went live on Old Dalkeith Road there are on average only 2 offences recorded per day. This is a significant improvement in driver behaviour, considering 3 in every 5 vehicles were speeding prior to the installation of ASC."
Posted 5 years ago # -
"less than 40% of the 15,000 vehicles a day which use the road were adhering to the speed limit"
Over 60% law breakers - staggering!
Posted 5 years ago # -
I hope drink-driving is not as common as speeding, but this reminded me of something - has anyone seen the #jointhepact adverts on trams? The idea seems to be that people make a pact to not drink and drive... Is the fact that it's illegal not enough of an incentive??
Posted 5 years ago # -
Permanent 40mph now in effect:
https://twitter.com/edinburgh_cc/status/1116394169033986049?s=21
“You may have noticed temporary 40mph signage on Glasgow Road. Please note that a new permanent 40mph speed limit now in force.
Permanent signage will replace temporary signage in the coming weeks.”Posted 5 years ago # -
@stickman. Good work on that thread
Posted 5 years ago # -
Good news. The council have added a serious amount of white paint to the Gogarstone Rd junction to (optically) tighten the radii for turning traffic.
This is a good thing as it was a horrible junction to try to cross with cars taking the corners at speed and not looking out for you.
Apparently it isn't going down so well IN Ratho as they now can't enter the A8 onto Airport slip road without first having to give way to lane 1 traffic (something they used to do without much of glance for crossing pedestrians & cyclists).
Posted 5 years ago # -
Why are the good people of Ratho rat-running down the completely unsuitable Freelands Rd and Gogarstone Rd to the A8?
Oh, I see Cala have built a car-dependant cauliflower-burb off to the East of Ratho, with barely a footpath in sight.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Every silver lining has a cloud @HankChief. They have also put solid white hatching all the way down the inside lane of the airport slip road, narrowing this to a single lane.
a: It's gonna be fun as the traffic backs up onto the A8
b: More importantly: I have been happily commuting down the inside lane to take the airport roundabout for the past 15 years. So either I'm going to have to cycle down the hatched areas = certain road rage, or take my chances of going in the single narrow lane along with the cars vacating the DC. :-(
Gogarstone Road crossing = good, but I have no idea why they felt the need to alter the entire slip road.Posted 5 years ago # -
So either I'm going to have to cycle down the hatched areas = certain road rage, or take my chances of going in the single narrow lane along with the cars vacating the DC.
Is there not a shared use path there that can be used?
Posted 5 years ago # -
There is, but using it means that I have to cross three of the exits from the roundabout & then rejoin the airport access road, which is both slower & more dangerous than using the roundabout itself.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@EdinburghCycleCam - A8 path is not fit for use at anything marginally over walking pace.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Looks like they have also hatched out the southern slip roads (down & up) to one lane only.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Some of the comments from Ratho CC could alternatively be framed as “people are driving too fast and too close to the car in front”
Posted 5 years ago # -
This evening, I spotted a cyclist traveling east on the A8 dual carriageway itself, heading towards Newbridge by Ratho Station. He was in the “fast” lane and still traveling faster than the motorised traffic. This tells you everything you need to know about how pish the actual cycleway is near there
Posted 5 years ago # -
This is getting quite of lot of heat from local drivers complaining that it has made it more dangerous.
Be good for those that know it - & how bad it was - to get involved in giving the changes some support.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I found myself waiting at the Gogarstone Road bus stop last night and in the 10 minutes or so that I was there I would say around half of the drivers using this junction just drove over the hatched markings. If you happen to be crossing on foot or bike when someone driving in that manner is using the junction I'd say it's just as bad as it's always been. I'll carry on being very cautious here.
It's a shame as I really want to be completely supportive of the changes. I've been looking forward to the improvements here but at the moment I'm hoping that this is just a temporary arrangement until something is put in that can't just be driven over.
Posted 5 years ago # -
"I'm hoping that this is just a temporary arrangement until something is put in that can't just be driven over"
It is...
That's why it's so important that we feed our experiences so that the Council recognise the need to make a longer term solution that does make it safer.
Posted 5 years ago # -
To be honest I suspect the junction is a lot more dangerous for cars & will continue to be so until they slow the cars down to 40mph. (Speed camera?). I do think the junction was appalling for bikes, but it shows that doing these things in a half baked way isn’ t a good idea.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I've tried to summarise the issues in a Twitter thread.
Please join in...
Posted 5 years ago # -
Hi, Ratho local here...
I use the junction daily cycling in and out of Corstophine (and have had several close calls there), and also as a driver. Changes to the east side of the junction are good and I think drivers turning left need to adapt to braking earlier and approach at the new speed limit! No problems at all for me in the 3 or 4 times I've used it. The west side is a far more complex situation and clearly not enough thought has gone into it from a drivers point of view.
I think what has rubbed people up is the lack of a proper consultation o residents or at least that the studies carried out before the actual consultation a few years back, din't identify he number of people who used the junction whether to access the airport, the park and ride or as a way into the west side of town.
Most the routes in and out of the village are pretty poor, getting to Newbridge involves the tight "Piggery Bends" then at rush hour it can take up to 10 mins to get through Newbridge itself and round the roundabout. The Gogarstone route wasn't so much a rat run as the established main route and I don't think that was really appreciated. Also bear in mind we don't even have a direct bus to the city centre so many folk use the P&R.
As above half baked seems to sum it up pretty well and as much as it has improved it for cyclists, for the majority of users it is currently more dangerous or forces illegal manouvers which are potentially even moe dangerous to other users.Posted 5 years ago # -
Thanks @Saltotom. Useful insight.
I wonder how much Ratho has grown since the 2015 consultation (& any change in bus routes).
I also ponder if the RBS lights can be tweaked to create more space for exiting traffic (although this may just encourage people on the main road to floor it into the space it as well).
Posted 5 years ago # -
A Whole new Cala development has gone in at the top of the village which from memory is about 120 homes plus completion of the Cala Moorings which has probably added another 10 or so houses since 2015.
I think the population as a whole is pushing 2.5k to 3k now.
Its bigger than you think!Posted 5 years ago # -
I occasionally commute at rush hour & did so this morning. The junction is clearly safer for cyclists & was much easier to get across. But frankly I wouldn’t fancy trying to get out onto the A8 in a car. It needs much more than paint. Either close the road/ install traffic lights or do something creative with speed bumps which forces cars to slow & give way to bikes before using the slip road to join the carriageway.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Ratho primary was small in 2015. Four more classes added in a groovy pod since then I think
Posted 5 years ago #
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