CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
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Driver lane discipline on the old bridge, and presumably the new one, always was poor.
A queue of cars and vans could always be observed at 60ish mph nose to tail in the right hand lane, 'passing' mostly thin air in the left hand lane, aside from a lorry going at 56 once a while.
The speed limit, at least when it was 50 rather than 40, was irrelevant. Occupancy would be about 10% 'slow lane' 90% 'fast lane'
The M8 is much the same.
Rode over the ghostly FRB this morning- was spooky, but I could get used to it. Was really quite atmospheric. Was very tempted to ride on the main carriageway, but resisted...
Inverkeithing was gridlocked, with a tailback of 1 mile from the motorway junction at Ferrytoll. The 1 way temporary traffic lights under the rail bridge adding to the delays.
How long will it be before they are "upgrading" the junctions at each end of the bridge to allow all traffic* across both bridges, to "ease congestion"?
*Except I guess they will keep HGVs off the old bridge
How long will it be before they are "upgrading" the junctions at each end of the bridge to allow all traffic* across both bridges, to "ease congestion"?
All they will be doing is shifting the pinch point. Traffic will not flow any faster...
a tailback of 1 mile from the motorway junction at Ferrytoll
That's a classic example of induced demand if ever there was one. "I want to be first over the bridge! No, me first! Me too!"
All they will be doing is shifting the pinch point. Traffic will not flow any faster...
I know. But not in the minds of the likes of Keif Broon and his gang.
"I want to be first over the bridge! No, me first! Me too!"
Grandma cat was first, surely?
grandma cat by Ed, on Flickr
See: Richard Scary's What Do People Do All Day? - Building a Road
My colleague who comes in from Fife says that they have not finished the on and off ramps properly yet...
there was a lorry breakdown on the new bridge this morning, about 7:30-ish
that didn't take long, eh
@fimm, there is a lot not finished - it still looks like a building site. Think it will be quite a while before it is and hence the 40mph speed limits for the next 2 months.
https://twitter.com/TheForthBridges/status/902858172075036672
"CYCLISTS: please don't attempt to cycle on the FRB carriageway - the joints and parapets are not suitable for bikes. Use the east footpath!"
I resisted the temptation to take to the invitingly empty main carriageway this morning and regretted it as soon as I had to stop to allow contractors to empty their van across the narrowest part of the cycle path. They did apologise before guiding me past.
Empty bridge quite eerie and a bit reminiscent of the opening scenes of 28 Day Later.
It was certainly a strange but enjoyable experience riding over the bridge this morning.
The main thing that struck me that was that it makes no sense to have such a massive bit of infrastructure that I assume costs millions a year barely being used. I hate to say it, but maybe it would be better if it was opened to more forms of traffic. What is the alternative? Close it?
The new crossing isn't yet a motorway, hence the speed restrictions.
Nobody is officially saying this at the moment, but I suspect that it will in fact be open to all 'Non-motorway traffic', which in effect means anyone who wants to use it (and doesn't mind potentially waiting at a set of traffic lights in order to do so). Otherwise, mopeds, learner drivers, tractors etc would have no way of crossing the Forth without going up to Kincardine. So I would suggest that we enjoy the two days of silence and emptiness while we can.
@cb
I was baffled by that line in the article. The new crossing has the same number of lanes as the old one after all, and even if people will be able to drive at 70 on the bridge, they are just as likely to have to queue to get onto it as they are now - perhaps more so, given that a 70mph road has a lower capacity than a 40mph one. I can only assume they are referring to the reduced possibilty of breakdowns and accidents blocking lanes, given that the QC has hard shoulders (deemed more important than bike/ped lanes).
Apparently some cyclists had got on to the main carriageway of the old bridge?!
@panyagua
Will it be quicker to drive into Edinburgh over the new bridge? If it's not, I suspect a lot of traffic might continue to use the old bridge.
Britain’s newest road bridge, suspended by 23,000 miles of cables over the Firth of Forth, has opened with motorists facing long delays.
"Build it and they will come."
@BurntOut
I suspect the new bridge will be quicker, because I imagine the new slip road between the re-routed M90 and FRB will be closed except on rare occasions when all traffic is diverted onto FRB (for example due to big pile up on QC). That means access to the FRB will be via the light-controlled Ferrytoll 'gyratory'. I'm not sure what they have planned for the southern end, but perhaps there will be some form of control there too so that only buses/taxis will be able to sail through on their dedicated lane.
I may be completely wrong of course - and there are bound to be motorists who think a rat run over the FRB will save them time...
https://www.theforthbridges.org/plan-your-journey/planned-roadworks/
The FRB will be shut to pedestrians & cyclists on Monday. You'll need to be ferried across in the van...
One of my collgeaues filmed a breakdown on the Bridge this morning:
From G -
"
At first, motorists will be limited to travelling at 40mph or 50mph. In four to six weeks it will rise to 70mph. After decades of 40mph speed controls on its sister bridge, Transport Scotland wants drivers to get used to its higher speeds gradually.
"
??
That really made me laugh too.
I think it is to prevent drivers travelling at 70 while others gawp/take selfies/eat breakfast/do makeup/text
* delete as appropriate
There's reports of tailbacks as far north as Halbeath this afternoon. I guess the demand has already been induced and it's not even officially open yet.
"...After decades of 40mph speed controls on its sister bridge..."
?? indeed. I don't remember exactly when it was introduced but it's a lot closer to months than decades.
There's reports of tailbacks as far north as Halbeath this afternoon. I guess the demand has already been induced and it's not even officially open yet.
It would be funny if it hadn't blown n* times the budget needed to sort out Active travel in Scotland.
* where n is a very large number
To be fair, I'm not aware any of its backers was claiming that the QC was about increasing capacity, despite what the Guardian article linked above might say. I think we can ascribe today's induced demand to the novelty effect - loads of extra people who wouldn't normally drive over wanting to be among the first. Today and tomorrow are exceptional. Let's see what happens when things settle down in a month or two.
As a cyclist and bus user, I for one am quite looking forward to a much quieter FRB - until someone decides that we "need" its capacity to meet the induced demand, if that's what transpires.
As a cyclist and bus user, I for one am quite looking forward to a much quieter FRB - until someone decides that we "need" its capacity to meet the induced demand, if that's what transpires.
It really was great this morning. However, my main worry is that some bright spark decides that they can make savings by shutting the FRB as it is too expensive to maintain...
I saw a leaflet which has since vanished from the internet which insisted the main carriageway of the old bridge would only be open to public transport, small motorbikes/mopeds, and non-motorway farm traffic (by prior consent!) There's already a bus lane leading up to the roundabout at the south end and a "buses and taxis only" sign leading off the A90 which gives weight to this, and I think projections of the bridge's remaining lifetime rely on it. Presumably anything else will be fined, although without the threat of points it's easy to see it becoming more of a toll road for the wealthy.
All the plans I've seen suggest the direct slip road will totally go away and all access to the old bridge, for buses and excused cars, will be via the Ferrytoll roundabout, but I may be wrong.
From my observations, the exact location of the bottleneck has always been the "hump" of the FRB - everything seems to flow smoothly after that. I wonder where the new bottleneck will be.
Barring some disaster, so much has been invested in the FRB that I doubt it will be abandoned for some time - at least until the bill for keeping it up exceeds the bill for building a new walkway on either of the other two bridges.
"some bright spark decides that they can make savings"
I don't think they will need to be that bright...
The cost per user on the FRB is going to become eye wateringly expensive on Monday.
I wouldn't be surprised if that long awaited ped/cyclist counter appeared on the bridge pretty soon to give them the data...
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