CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Another request to Historic Scotland about Holyrood Park

(11 posts)
  • Started 7 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from chdot

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  1. Dear Sirs, I am writing to ask if two signs can be erected in Holyrood Park.

    They would both be on the Duddingston Low Road, just south east of the roundabout connecting Holyrood Park Road and Queen's Drive, one for each direction.

    The initial curve of the road is somewhere I have been overtaken numerous times while on a bike, despite the corner being completely blind, and on many occasions have found myself with a panicked driver alongside me who suddenly realises there is traffic coming in the opposite direction.

    The path on this section is not shared use, so I have to use the road. Going downhill (heading south east) I will easily ride between 25 and 30mph (the limit is 30mph as I'm sure you are aware), and yet still be overtaken. Heading uphill is obviously slower, but this just means you are exposed on this dangerous stretch of road for longer.

    I would be grateful if you could erect signs indicating that drivers should not overtake on the blind bend (similar to signs at, for example, Musselburgh which warn drivers not to overtake at central reservations which narrow the road).

    At present I feel that the park is simply not safe to cycle through, given also the lack of enforcement of the 20mph limit where it applies, and there having been incidents in the past involving vulnerable users. This is despite a decade and more of commuting by bike in Edinburgh, but for now the park is viewed as an arterial road for cars, and I will be taking alternative routes for my daily commute.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  2. SRD
    Moderator

    excellent. cc spokes and living streets and whoever else signed their letter.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  3. neddie
    Member

    "This is a sign."

    "Please notice this notice."

    It's a park. A park doesn't need more signs. A park doesn't need more visual clutter.

    A park also doesn't need rat-running commuting traffic passing through it's heart.

    Get rid of the traffic, get rid of the signs.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  4. "Get rid of the traffic, get rid of the signs."

    We've tried that, it didn't work, it'll never happen.

    Second best choice, try to make it just a smidgen safer.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  5. SRD
    Moderator

    they'll just make the path shared use....

    Posted 7 years ago #
  6. I also doubt a sign will do much, but the letter is still very good as it keeps reminding the park authorities that the situation is dangerous and something must be done to address it...

    If signs are too much clutter, perhaps the park should be restricted to drivers who passed some kind of test and know that the highwaycode tells them not to overtake where you can't see?

    Posted 7 years ago #
  7. "... perhaps the park should be restricted to drivers who passed some kind of test and know that the highwaycode tells them not to overtake where you can't see?"

    That'll never catch on...

    "they'll just make the path shared use"

    I wondered about that, so pondered making a point about my speed being unsuitable for a shared path. But I think overall it's as SM says, it just keeps it in the forefront of the mind that the park might not be safe (as I doubt they'd put up signs, and we know how effective the 20mph signs are). Of course HS know the park isn't safe to cycle in, that's why at Christmas every year when they close it they make a point of saying people can take kids out on their new present bikes 'safely'.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  8. crowriver
    Member

    I was riding in the park today just before and just after 6pm, both on road and on path, having arrived there via London Road, Abbeyhill, Croft An Righ. I was struck by just how much traffic there was using the park as a rat run: more busy than London Road!

    Surely that cannot be right. It's supposed to be a park, not the Edinburgh urban ring road.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  9. kaputnik
    Moderator

    The Park is quite obviously the urban superhighway between Dalkeith Road and London Road (beyond Meadowbank).

    Google estimates at Rush Hour, it would take ~20 minutes from the Commonwealth to Jock's Lodge avoiding the park entirely, or 5-8 minutes through the Park.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  10. Mandopicker101
    Member

    A taxi driver once told me a story about traffic in the Park (so it must be true...).

    Apparently late one night he was driving from the southside over towards the Porty area and decided to run through the park as it was the quickest route. Just as he got towards Duddingston village, he found two orange barriers across the road, the type used by utilities during ground-breaking works. Hanging on the barriers was a sign: 'ROAD CLOSED'. No obvious sign of roadworks prompted the cabbie to radio base and ask them to check. Nope, the road was perfectly fine - they had a list of the main roadworks. So cabbie pushes the barriers apart and then drives off.

    Subsequently he learnt that several of the residents, some rather well-connected folks, had sought to close the road at nights via an action in court. Having a rat run on the doorstep of your rather expensive house was evidently not ideal, particularly as it spoilt the otherwise rural aesthetic of the village's setting. At which the cabbie scornfully laughed - 'Should've maybe thought of that before moving there - you wouldn't get someone trying to close Ferry Road at night...but maybe they're not friends with enough lawyers...'.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  11. chdot
    Admin


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