The works have been cleared for Christmas/New Year so Haymarket Terrace is fully open in both directions.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Sewer Replacement - Haymarket Terrace eastbound to close
(99 posts)-
Posted 6 years ago #
-
Awful incident.
If the BBC news report that "number 26 Lothian bus hit her as it turned into Lansdowne Crescent" is to believed it is difficult to see how this isn't a breach of highway code rule 170 "•watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way".
Posted 6 years ago # -
@Luath
And the junction was marked as a zebra crossing for the duration of the tram works - the tactiles and metal studs are still there, I believe - misleading to say the least.
Posted 6 years ago # -
That part of Rule 170 must be one of the most widely ignored in the whole opus. It doesn't help that there is no clear explanation as to what "crossing the road" means. Rule 195 about zebra crossing is much clearer: "you MUST give way when a pedestrian has moved onto a crossing".
The other day I saw two schoolgirls trying to cross Oxgangs Road, just west of the staggered junction with Caiystane View and Swanston Avenue. They had crossed from the north footway to the centre of the road and were standing in the hash-marked area in the middle of the carriageway. To my mind, that meant that they were in the process of crossing the road - they clearly intended to complete their crossing to gain the south footway but there was a continuous stream of westbound traffic preventing them from doing so. When a gap in the traffic did appear, it was immediately filled by a car that had been waiting to turn right out of Caiystane View. I believe that the driver of the right-turning car had violated Rule 170 (as I expressed to him as he drove past me) since the girls were quite obviously crossing the road into which he was turning.
Posted 6 years ago # -
At the risk of hypothesising after an incident. It's quite possible that the pedestrian was glued to her phone and stepped in front of bus. I don't think we either can or should be trying to ascertain blame without all the facts.
Posted 6 years ago # -
There was a bored policeman standing at the end of the roadworks at Magdala today. I wonder if he was there to stop lawless speeding cyclists from cycling on the pavement?
Posted 6 years ago # -
Well, since I was nearly hit this morning by a #26 driver who was staring at his phone, I'm happy to jump to conclusions.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Surveyor Charles Smith, 69, owns a flat in the West End and said: “I’m a cyclist myself but if they want to use the roads they should have to take a test. They should have a bell as well. I’ve got a bell and I hate it when people go past without one.”
Let's not forget that many of these same residents and business owners opposed a safe cycle track.
Posted 6 years ago # -
“I’m a cyclist myself"; then "they".
Aye, right.
Translation: "I've an old bike in the loft/shed that I never use because I drive everywhere. But I want to be able to get on the high moral ground with my opinion so I'll declare I'm a 'cyclist' (spit) then I'm beyond reproach."
That said, it is bloody annoying when a Captain Commuter type whizzes by on the footway without a a ting on a bell or seemingly much regard for pedestrians. Not a common occurrence, mind. Blokes in civvies on full-sus MTBs are more common on most footways, but they do tend to be riding quite slowly, and mostly stop to let folk on foot pass.
Posted 6 years ago # -
In other news:
Police more than happy to come and fine cyclists.
But get them to fine pavement parkers... Oh no, that's someone else's job
Posted 6 years ago # -
For once, Cllr Macinnes mantra of "balance" is actually something I agree with in this particular context. Good on Cllr Miller for raising issue of intimidating road conditions too.
Posted 6 years ago # -
"Let's not forget that many of these same residents and business owners opposed a safe cycle track."
I suspect future cycle track plans and present complaints are not entirely unconnected. Probably wise not to give them ammunition?
Posted 6 years ago # -
“balance”
“
Transport convener Lesley Macinnes believes it is important that cyclists and motorists feel they are being treated equally.“
But what does she MEAN in practice/this context.
She can’t mean “I think people should be able to drive anywhere they can cycle” or “no more cycle only infrastructure”
So??
Posted 6 years ago # -
I assume she thinks she means ‘everyone should obey the law’.
Which is fine but clearly not happening, so it’s back to ‘I see cyclists breaking the law ALL THE TIME’.
Posted 6 years ago # -
The photos in the article show two cyclists cycling on the footway of Haymarket Terrace, just east of Coates Gardens. This bit of Haymarket Terrace is a core path, and cycling on the footway is therefore legal, as long as it is done "responsibly".
Posted 6 years ago # -
What Cllr Macinnes said is:
““As the transport convener I would never condone cycling on the pavements but I do understand and recognise a lot of what Cllr Miller is saying and it’s about providing conditions.
One of the issues that we’ve got within the active travel community is that there’s a perception that cycling offences are taken slightly more seriously than some of the car problems – for example around parking issues where cycle lanes have been blocked, pavement parking etc.”
She added: “If there was a way in which as a police service you would be able to indicate quite clearly that there is equal weight given to the problems caused by each community to the other, I think that would be very helpful in some form.
“It is about demonstrating a degree of balance in the treatment of those different groups and there is an issue about inconsiderate driving in this city which has to be taken care of publicly.”
Posted 6 years ago # -
This bit of Haymarket Terrace is a core path, and cycling on the footway is therefore legal, as long as it is done "responsibly".
Hm, not sure about that. Presumably the legal prohibition on cycling on footways unless designated "shared use" overrules the access legislation.
You can find a map of Edinburgh's core paths network here: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/63/edinburgh_s_core_path_plan
Not convinced PC Copper would approve of me cycling on footway down Easter Road or Royal Mile, regardless of them being "core paths".
Posted 6 years ago # -
Hm, not sure about that. Presumably the legal prohibition on cycling on footways unless designated "shared use" overrules the access legislation.
Quoting the council's access officer:
"Section 7(1) of the [Land Reform (Scotland) Act] states that the restriction on access rights described above does not apply where land has been designated as a “core path” under the provisions of the LRSA. This means that cyclists are able to cycle on a footpath, or even a footway, designated as a core path without committing an offence. However, it is important to remember that access rights must be exercised responsibly and cyclists should consider cycling on the carriageway (i.e. road) even if the associated footway has been designated as a core path."
Posted 6 years ago # -
No mention of the Home Office advice to allow careful pavement cycling to avoid dangerous roads/junctions. Surely Haymarket qualifies?
Posted 6 years ago # -
Going home from my mums in Corstorphine yesterday via Wester Coates. Dismounted, and wheeled my bike along the pavement to Haymarket. Took me a couple of minutes. Who are these people to whom taking that time is worth disrupting other peoples day and making them afraid to use the pavement? But, why is that sewage work taking so long? Never seems to be any progress.
Posted 6 years ago # -
The document that @crowriver linked to specifically says that even though not all paths are suitable for all users, it's up to the user to decide whether to use it or not, in a responsible way. So if an old duffer like me is cycling on a core path pavement slowly and pinging my bell at every butterfly floating by, that could be construed as responsible use. But if a boy/girl racer is pelting along and terrorising the locals, presumably that might not be responsible use.
Posted 6 years ago # -
It's got some way to go to beat some of the other classic closures such as Whitehouse Loan, many many months of complete road closure just to re-surface a single footpath.
I do wonder in paranoid fashion if some of these 'maintenance' closures are surreptitiously used by CEC to test hypotheses of the impact of certain closures on traffic flow.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I don't think CEC has any control over this one, it's totally Scottish Water is it not? I assume completely replacing big sewers underneath a quite old city is A Bit Complicated, Actually.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Was horrendous there all the way to corstorphine at 3.45pm this afternoon
Posted 6 years ago # -
No mention of the Home Office advice to allow careful pavement cycling " Well assoication with the word home office may be a negative at moment but I always take their advice at haymarket such a poor design of junction
Posted 6 years ago # -
"Although there was “light at the end of the tunnel” delays mean planned cycle path works won’t happen until next year"
Posted 6 years ago # -
Although there was “light at the end of the tunnel”
They probably want to get that fixed before sending sewage down it.
Posted 6 years ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.
posts
