CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
wingpig they've almost finished resurfacing the Gardner's Crescent-proximal section of Fountainbridge. There's a nice red car park down the side of it now, too
Good - all going to plan then!
Been through a few times now. I wait further debates about joining canal path by 'ignoring' red lights and cycling round back of Cargo or drifting across centre of junction while green person is on.
POTHOLE UPDATE...
A team were patching potholes on George IV yesterday
"Road closed after pothole causes punctures to car tyres"
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Road-closed-after-pothole-causes.6691758.jp
"Looks like it is a shared telephone reporting line type system. The 0800232323 number looks common between a number of Councils across the UK"
I presume calls aren't sent to a single central call centre(?)
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RALF - Freephone 0800 37 36 35
- covering Glasgow City Council and South Lanarkshire Council areas.
CLARENCE - Freephone 0800 23 23 23
- covering East Dunbartonshire Council, Falkirk Council, West Lothian Council, Stirling Council areas.
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http://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15673
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Wiltshire’s Customer Lighting And Roads Enquiry Centre service for reporting road, lighting defects and other hazards including flooding and drainage issues.
Tel: 0800 23 23 23
Email: clarence@wiltshire.gov.uk
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http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/civilemergencies/floodinganddrainage/floodingwho.htm
etc.
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Social work and education may suffer due to potholes
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cyclists are suffering due to potholes
"Drivers see red as Scotland is named No1 for potholes"
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Drivers-see-red-as-Scotland.6696263.jp
"EDINBURGH was today named as having the worst roads in Scotland in an AA report."
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Capital39s-roads-are-39worst-in.6696680.jp
I've a few more to report from the previous couple of days' trundlings, along with a traffic light which appears to be set to ignore bicycles. There's a massive trench on East Fettes Avenue which could be a particularly fun-filled encounter for a narrow-wheeled car.
The AA survey is too unscientific to be really meaningful, as it relied on members of the AA volunteering to walk a local route of their own choosing for around 60 minutes, noting down 12 different types of road and footway defects.
Just 1,912 people took part across the UK - meaning Edinburgh roads were probably only looked at by a handful of people.
The Scotsman is right that Scotland is ranked worst for potholes, but they have chosen not to report that Scotland was ranked 5th out of 10 UK regions for the overall state of its roads.
Also worth pointing out that "Edinburgh" is the EH postcode region - which is effectively the whole of the Lothians and not just Edinburgh.
You can find the AA report at:
http://www.theaa.com/public_affairs/streetwatch/aa-streetwatch1-full-report.pdf
The most detailed survey of road condition is carried out by the Society of Chief Office of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS). Results of this survey are available at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/12/17120002/64
This is broken down by local authority area - Edinburgh not the worst.
Not sure if this has actually been mentioned on CCE.
This is the CEC online form for "reporting a problem with a road, pavement or drain".
Might just be my imagination, but the state of the roads seems much worse this morning than last week. The surface of Morningside Road is properly disintegrating in parts.
There is a pothole of grand canyon sized proportions on the lane heading into town near Peckhams at Bruntsfield - I saw two cars get punctures on this when I walked past on Saturday. It has been patched since - but the patch has broken up, scattering gravel all over the road. I'm seriously thinking of switching to my mountain bike for the rest of the week. Is it just my route to work or are things getting worse all over?
Things are definitely getting worse all over, the road surfaces are a real disgrace. It does not surprise me in the least that Edinburgh comes top of the list for some of the worst roads, not probably just in Scotland but the whole of the UK, and I think this is not a new accolade by any means. I am sure a number of years ago insurance companies published a list of the cars requiring most repairs due to poor roads, and Edinburgh came top of that list, and the situation has not improved as far as I can tell. Aside from all of the grit which stubbornly is hanging on, the roads are now littered with gravel and stones from patched up potholes that have broken down again.
Morningsider, I went past your hole at Peckhams earlier this evening, got a good look as I drifted slowly up to a changing light and it looks like all the gravel (didn't seem to be any tarmac in there to bind it) had been excavated out of it already by the buses and dragged down the road right into cycle-position central.
Yup, one of the two tunnels to the other side of the planet in Dalry/Gorgie junction has opened up once more like a yawning gate into the very hell of tarmac.
"The increased cash for Edinburgh sees the Capital City Supplement rise from £3.5m to £3.9m. Ms MacDonald, who first secured the special fund two years ago, said she believed at least part of it could go towards repairing roads following the severe weather."
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Tram-cash-diverted-to-colleges.6715262.jp
The mirror that Laidback fitted to my handlebar is fab for checking the traffic before diverting around potholes!
Yes... sure you give your co-pilot warnings as you weave round. Bumps are always more sudden for the 'stoker'.
On 'bents a deep pothole can remove a foot from pedals if you're not clipped in (or have front suspension).
Sure ruggtomcat will be watching for that. If you see a pothole you can at least prepare for it go round it. Some though are hidden underwater.
and some are hidden behind speed cushions...
Yeah might swap the pedals on the fuego, but as I made a hash of the last set I think i might ask a bike mechanic to help.
I think you're safe enough with the broad BMX style pedals just now. At least you can get foot down quick.
One week of riding is really early days although it sounds like you've done a few miles on it.
Bring it by the shop if you need to sort anything.
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“You see all the potholes in this lousy road? This should be a four-lane highway. Gadhafi spent hardly a dinar on this part of the country.”
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There's an absolute crater on my commute. I keep meaning to record it, but I'm usually doing about 30mph when I see it and remember. It's more of a sinkhole than a pothole, actually.
I'm worried that I might have exaggerated one on Abbeyhill that I Clarenced at the weekend and that it'll subsequently not believe me. I've only seen the hole from the other side of the road since and it doesn't look nearly as big as it did every day last week when I almost went over it.
Councils get extra £100m to fix winter damage
But only in England, and only because the DfT saved enough money earlier in the year, according to ITN/Yahoo.
Scotland and Wales are spending £15m each on mending roads and buying salt, and Ireland £9m.
The AA estimates, apparently, that £2.3 billion is needed to properly repair Scotland's roads. That's only the price of one wee bridge, isn't it?
I heard Edmund King (AA President) on R4 yesterday (there's a Listen To link in the BBC article Arellcat linked to.
He made two references to cycling: once when commenting on a pothole he sees on his Sunday morning cycle ride and again when mentioning that cyclists (amoungst other road users) have claimed compensation for hitting potholes.
Careful if you're heading south along Restalrig Road. What was a series of narrow gaps along a seam in the road has now been transformed into a raised welt of unsealed asphalt, placed right in the middle of what remains of the lane during the re-keeping work.
"Extra £2m for fixing potholes derided as mere sticking plaster"
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Extra-2m-for-fixing-potholes.6730124.jp
Apologies for resurrecting a very old thread but on a quick search it seemed the most appropriate.
Does anyone have recent experience of making claims to CEC for damage caused by potholes? I was brought down by one at the east end of Princes Street this morning(eastbound, just before the lights immediately across from the Balmoral). (I have pictures but have never quite worked out how to upload pics to the site)
Scrapes and bruises for me but some (fairly minor, to be honest) damage to bike and, more significantly from a cost point of view, big rip in waterproof jacket.
I've found the 'report a pothole' page on the CEC website and will use that but it doesn't (probably understandably) give any indication that it's a route to look for compensation. Is there a more appropriate route I should be using?
@Stredin I've not needed to claim, but late last year I tweeted CEC about potholes outside meadowbank and Princes street by Waverly Mall.
The Meadowbank one was fixed with a temp repair twice, the third time a proper fix - all within 6 weeks or so. The Princes St ones were ignored. That may help you claim?
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