CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
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RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Here in NW Edinburgh, there are a lot of roads that have been relaid recently.
These road have signs about how there's no road markings.
I rode along one of these today - Craigcrook Road - and the surface is very uneven. Lumps, bumps and troughs all the way.
So my question is: is this how it's going to be? Or are these surfaces some sort of undercoat that will later be flattened and a smooth surface put on top?
@gibbo
Think might be.
Johnsburn Road in blerno had similar rubbish finish Same sort of stay cover as racy dykes. Covers all the motors parked up in dust.
Lang Whang though between blerno and Carnwath has proper new Tarmac but also some yellow sprayed paint that lasts one winter.
Not sure what the point of the spray on stuff is.
Blackford Ave has been like this for past 3+ weeks. There are loose chippings signs and no markings. The rough surface completely disguises underlying potholes and uneven surface. There's been no sign of any work being done.
It's left to bed in while folk drive over it - they left Glenogle for a few weks, then came back and painted it.
This is how they do the roads in Orkney every spring. (Everyone still drives at 60 despite the various 20mph / skid risk signs). Not sure the surface lasts well unless you re-do it fairly often - pretty sure the main road from Kirkwall to the aiport is done at least every second year.
I've noticed some line painting here and there, which suggests the uneven surface is here to stay.
Is it one of those "cheap now, expensive in the long run" surfaces?
@gibbo - the road is a mess. I messaged Alex Cole-Hamilton and the council but my concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
This is known as "surface dressing", used to help extend the life of "tired" old roads. Details:
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/9668/surface_dressing_information_leaflet
From the above;
Surface dressing information leaflet (PDF - 59.53 KB)
Surface Dressing is a preventative treatment that provides added protection to the carriageway surface, sealing it from the ingress of water while also enhancing skid resistance.
Kind of at odds with the "skid risk" warning signs all over the place on those dressed roads!!
Surface dressing is a pain for cyclists. East Lothian and the Borders use it a lot on country roads. Once my back wheel ground to a halt on a freshly dressed lane - tar covered stones between the wheel and frame.
It's pretty unacceptable to use it to cover roads in bad condition without repairing the potholes first - as they've done in Blackford Ave.
@dougal
Is it one of those "cheap now, expensive in the long run" surfaces?
Funny, my previous post was going to have a sentence about "buy cheap, buy twice" but I left it out.
The council pdf is laugh a minute.
"Roads that are in relatively good condition will be treated with this preventative maintenance treatment"
I think they mean,
"Roads that are in relatively good condition, plus Craigcrook Road, will be treated with this preventative maintenance treatment"
I thought that this stuff had effectively been made illegal. It's certainly been a fair while since I last saw it used. Probably coming back into use because it's cheap, not because it's effective. It's particularly useless when the existing road surface is breaking up rather than just being worn.
(The "skid risk" is because the surface is loose until the stones bed in to the bitumen.)
Glenogle Road is beginning to fall apart already. There are a few small holes appearing which will soon become large ones.
Total waste of money
You will find for 6 months to a year after the new top dressing has been applied that the first metre or so out from the gutter (or the parked car line) i.e. the bit that people think cyclist should be restricted to is now home to a coating of the loose gravel chips pinged out by passing vehicles.
Braepark Road has had a surface dressing, a distinct improvement on the previous minefield
"Braepark Road has had a surface dressing, a distinct improvement on the previous minefield"
Did they do anything about the potholes first?
Most potholes had been filled with tarmac turning them into molehills, bit like a negative of potholes
These are really beginning to bug me. Was cycling north along the length of East Fettes Avenue and it was like being on a roller coaster.
I have written to eastenvironment and asked that the hazardous loose gravel is swept up at the edge of Holyrood Park Road. I've also highlighted the major trip hazard in Magdalene Glen as a result of the missing bricks on the cycle path by the unfenced play park.
Let's hope both are rectified soon.
Cheers
Colin
The truly shocking road out of Balerno up to the Free Company Pork Restaurant (veggie meals also available but set menu for all and trestle tables- doing very well) at Cockdurno Farm has been fixed with the spray on surface. Pretty good just now until the right turn that takes you to Buteland / track to Listonshiels. This road is good Tarmac. At the listonshiels junction you can veer left if you have a mountain bike and go over to carlops on track (though still be carrying it a fair bit on the way down).
Or do what I did - retrace back tot he cockdurno road and go straight on up. The respirated road here is already a river. The burn has always used the road as its riverbed. Still better than it was. Go right up to the gas tanks, turn left and wheech along the rig road. Turn right at the end, cycle round to thriepmuir car park, continue towards beech avenue and bavelaw castle. Spot 12 Pochards on the water meadow. Go up beech avenue at the top turn right then take the gravel road signposted Nine Mile Burn and cycle all the way to plateau before west kip. This track is so good a shopmobility vehicle could get up it. Walkers a little peeved but my tricross was very happy. Two i was chatting to are now going to destroy the next baited raptor trap they find. THey were heading over the kips.
I went back down then round to Harlaw and down the main road (also recently fixed), so whole of Balerno now has new surfaces, even the road up to the Kips. I might drag my mild hangover/cold out there now.
Happy boxing day
That was a blast though mobbed on way back down at harlaw. Found a pair of Trekmates brand walking gloves they are under a stone on the dyke at the gate to the high moor if you lost them.
Brighton Place has reopened in Portobello after a year of having the setts relaid. Plenty of new puddles forming suggests draining and overall quality might not be what it could be. Lorries and buses passing down the road are unlikely to do it many favours.
Within an hour of it reopening there was a row of cars down both sides. Was a bit sad to see it first, but it does slow traffic down and enforces the 20mph limit unwittingly. At night when the commuters have gone home and the road is generally clear, 20mph is rarely observed
I was surprised they didn't add double yellows to at least one side. The new cycle friendly sets aren't much use if there's cars on them. Can't be too much fun for the buses either...
It does seem strange alright, maybe it's a deliberate traffic calming measure (probably be objections to yellow lines).
Incidentally the council were really diligent at giving parking tickets when there was temporary parking restrictions in place during the road works
probably be objections to yellow lines
I'd have thought it would be easier to go from Construction -> No Parking instead of adding them later (e.g. Construction -> Parking -> No Parking) since people would already have adjusted to not being able to park there
Totally, but the end of the construction was rushed to hit the deadline to re-open the road so maybe they didn't have the time to do it.
Although the cycle lane part of the road was never intended to be in use (just future-proofing, and maybe an excuse to dip into the active travel budget), maybe the thinking was you don't need yellow lines on a cycle lane ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ThisIsEdinburgh.
How high does sea have to rise to flood this...
I think the parking residents had set their alarm clocks for the end of the re-build so were all waiting to park near their houses having been forced to park around the corner.
The confirmation bias on this august and lovely forum is strong.
People have to park on the street outside their house.
Shopkeepers have to park right outside their shops.
People going to the shop have to park right outside the shop.
These are three rights
Questioning them is just nuts.
Walking somewhere
Parking around the corner
Catching a bus/train/tram that does not go exactly where you want to go
These actions are pure madness.
Cycling, do not get me started.
“Cycling, do not get me started.”
Never too late to start cycling.
I’m sure someone on this “lovely forum” can lend u 1...
You can even ride to your front door, no need to leave on street.
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