I have just been standing on North Bridge waiting for a bus and the northmost stop southbound has a large tarmac "ye'll have had yer tea" patch which is about 3" lower than the rest of the road. The bridge was shaking very alarmingly every time a bus went over this. Just how much of a pounding can this bridge really take? What would happen if North Bridge were to close?
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
North Bridge - Is Edinburgeddon nigh?
(19 posts)-
Posted 8 years ago #
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What would happen if North Bridge were to close?
Muwahahhahahahahaha!
Very good question in fact. Only other crossings of the "Nor Loch" valley are Waverley Bridge or the Mound. Rerouting everything up either of those would be fun. You can't send them up Market/New Street, as many an SMT / Eastern Scottish double decker driver found out to their cost when they ignored the huge "No right turn for double deckers!" signs painted by the exits from the old bus depot.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"What would happen if North Bridge were to close?"
Apart from CHAOS, we'd probably find out how much of a pummelling the cobbobbles of Cockburn Street could take from northbound traffic before they start to slump. The signal timings at the top of Waverley Bridge would need a bit of adjustment, perhaps. Southbound non-double-decker traffic (from Leith Walk) could be punted round Calton Road/New Street/Canongate/High Street. Buses going east along Princes Street which usually turn up the bridges could choose between Waterloo Place/Regent Road/Abbeyhill/etc. or Waverley Bridge/Market Street.
It might persuade people whose destination was the city centre off the bus for the last half-mile or so of their journey, like a few people did during the trambles (when they eventually tired of spending an hour staring out of the window on Picardy Place). There'd probably be a bit of spill onto Kerr-Howe/Dundas/Easter/Lochend/Restalrig from people able to zoom out a bit from their internal map.
Maybe it would finally cause a few bus routes to be permanently skirted around the centre.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Muwahahhahahahahaha!
Loving the sympathy for the Poor Beleaguered Driver there! :-D
I would love for it to be taken as a proper opportunity to get more people cycling. I would like to see the Waverley Bridge route completely closed to private motorists but open to buses. Depending on how badly the bridge was damaged, cyclists and pedestrians would continue along it. One lane of Leith Street and other approach roads to it could be coned off for cyclists to use so that people who don't currently cycle would feel safe getting to it.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Doesn't it already get temporarily shut for festive winter light switch-on gawping, or do they keep the east side open for traffic?
Might there be some disruption to use of the station beneath if the bridge was found to be slightly duff, at least whilst temporary working platforms were erected?
Posted 8 years ago # -
When North Bridge has been closed in the past due to people attempting to jump off the bridge, I think the buses have been sent via Abbey Hill. Only time the bridge is closed outside that is for New year fireworks (think open for Festival Fireworks).
If it was a permanent closure I'd guess buses diverted down The Mound, all other traffic down Pleasance and Abbey Hill. I also guess LRT have plans in place should a route like that close.
Waverly Bridge - How much traffic using the bridge is private cars, vans, lorrys - versus the rest (bus, black taxi, private hire, council vehicles etc)? I'd say about 50/50. If a decent drop-off point could be arranged for the station, and an alternative point for the airport bus, I think the street could be closed without much impact.
North Bridge I reported in November. Never had a reply. The road was planed about October last year when the North Bridge / Princes street junction was patched. Looks like they had time to plane It but not resurface (or ran out of money)
Lesley Hinds has said the Northbridge / Princes street junction will be resurfaced "this year" so presume the work has been delayed till then.
Capture by Paul fae Fountainbridge, on Flickr
Posted 8 years ago # -
"and an alternative point for the airport bus"
Plenty of space up Market Street, though the tour buses might have to shift back a little. If there were some restrictions on the number of identical types of tour bus allowed to simultaneously loiter on Waverley Bridge there'd be a bit more room. Could passengers interchanging between the train and a bus not be temporarily reclassified as cargo so that they could be loaded and unloaded at the bottom of the north ramp?
Posted 8 years ago # -
Surely plenty of space could be found on St. Andrew or Charlotte Squares for the tour buses to loiter; it might even be a better position!
Posted 8 years ago # -
The airport buses leave from Waverly bridge (as far as I know) to provide a convenient interchange with the trains. Think of people coming from North Berwick type way. St Andrews Square is nearly as convenient but quite an uphill walk (although the new escalators may help). Plenty of room for the buses on St Andrews Square, along with the tour buses. Folk coming in from Fife will be able to interchange with the tram at the new gyle station in order to reach the airport. Not sure what's happening with the Dalmany Chord for traffic from the west.
On the tour buses - screw them. Old buses clogging up the city with pollution, slowing normal busses down through the town etc etc. But yes, plenty of room on St Andrew Square. They left from there during the Waverly bridge works.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"The airport buses leave from Waverly bridge (as far as I know) to provide a convenient interchange with the trains."
That's probably the idea, but it's quite a compromise. People from trains have to trundle up narrow ramps (no escalators), people from local buses down narrow busy pavements from Princes Str or North Bridge.
Edinburgh doesn't really do proper interchanges, does it?
Other cities might have thought about creating a bus interchange on top of Waverley Market, or (if the static doesn't work) close Princes St at Waverley steps to through traffic and turn it into a proper bus interchange where all buses stop in parallel bus bays.
And of course have integrated ticketing and proper bus interchanges in several other key locations so that fewer buses have to be routed through Princes St.
Posted 8 years ago # -
If they closed North Bridge they could take the opportunity to get tram lines laid up the middle to get a head start on a line to the Royal Infirmary. 8-)
;-)Posted 8 years ago # -
I always thought the best place for an interchange would be the old Waverly station goods yard. Still plenty of room to create one.
Wasn't the new bus station supposed to be semi temporary until a new interchange could be built?
I'm also sure the original plans for the tram were to have a stop between south St David Street and South St Andrew Street (where C&A used to be).
Anyway, back to original thread - the large hole is still there as of this afternoon
Posted 8 years ago # -
Item 7.6 - Road, Footway and Bridges Investment - Capital Programme for 2016/17 – Reports, 457.27 KB
Page 32
Proposed Bridges Budget Allocation & Programme
April 2016 – March 2017North Bridge
Staff costs and investigatory works for refurbishment of structure.
£600,000(the doc also lists the streets that are due to be resurfaced and surface dressed in the next year)
Posted 8 years ago # -
I've noticed that patch on NB - it's a bit of a mystery. It's a neat rectangle, not a pothole. It looks as though there was some intention to fill in the whole area up to the level of the rest of the road, but then they wandered off and forgot about it.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Turning into a very expensive repair. Even at the March costing, it was 3 years' Active Travel budget, I think (though most of that is supplied by Sustrans? the active travel budget I mean)
Posted 2 years ago # -
They need to build a second bridge next to it. To take strain of the traffic as we need to have as much traffic as possible getting over the Nor Loch. Otherwise Edinburgh will end up like Buda and Pest.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tram and bike only…
Posted 2 years ago # -
I do wonder how much the repair bill is inflated by having the UK's 5th busiest train station outside London underneath
Posted 2 years ago #
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