CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Picardy Place lanes taking shape

(524 posts)
  • Started 4 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from CycleAlex

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  1. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    Think Puffins have been vastly oversold. Stupidly long wait times (presumably cos new installs hence "traffic flow" prioritised). So a lot of people chance it hence second flaw - that whole thing where the Puffin cancels itself if the pedestrian crosses before the red light - doesn't work, at least not reliably. I get stopped by an empty Puffin (relatively new) on Fountainbridge around 50% of journeys.

    Good piece on other flaws here:

    https://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/the-problem-with-puffin-crossings/

    Posted 1 year ago #

  2. jonty
    Member

    Think most or all of those things are basically down to the configuration of each crossing rather than the crossing type itself. I agree that I don't really like nearside signals, especially when farside ones still seem to be the norm at junctions, although AIUI it is still up to the discretion of the installing authority whether they are used. The norms for configuring crossings do seem a bit odd across Edinburgh and the UK - is there still that thing where it's considered bad to stop flowing traffic because it might ignore the light??

    Sounds like there might be a sensor fault with the Fountainbridge one? I think an equipment failure would result in very long red times for road traffic regardless of whether anyone is crossing. Otherwise it might be a configuration thing - I imagine this stuff is set once and forgotten a lot of the time, and there's been so many roadworks etc along that stretch who knows what sort of 'temporary' changes may have become permanent (or what damage has been done to equipment.)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  3. neddie
    Member

    I imagine this stuff is set once and forgotten a lot of the time

    I imagine that they get tinkered with quite a bit on the whims of community councils, random drivers and random councillors. Then there will be some kind of default setting, inevitably prioritising cars, that gets reverted to every time the lights crash and need rebooted, or any time any "maintenance" is carried out.

    Anecdotally, I think I've observed this kind of "regression to mean" with Marchmont Rd lights and the Kings Theatre junction.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  4. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    "very long red times for road traffic regardless of whether anyone is crossing"

    There are, in my view. It's only in 6 months or so and has been similar all that time. Possible it's been malfunctioning from the start I guess - I doubt CEC has any effective quality control on anything active travel related

    This crossing also resulted in part of the SfP segregated lane being removed (GSV here). The twatwaffles have now painted in two car lanes for car-ists to avoid right-turning traffic, regardless of how this conflicts with the now-truncated bike lane - I nearly got cleaned off by a pr*ck in a Yaris zooming to a red light one night last week. Is a councillor the best way of making a non-Twitter complaint?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  5. Frenchy
    Member

    Is a councillor the best way of making a non-Twitter complaint?

    Probably. David Key is the obvious candidate (although I don't know anything about the Labour councillor).

    Could you please copy in Spokes if you do so (spokes[at]spokes.org.uk)?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Final public realm designs for Picardy Place:

    “

    https://twitter.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1653436251079417858

    Posted 1 year ago #

  7. neddie
    Member

    I see they’ve put some bollards in. I wonder who’ll be the first to use it as a car park?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  8. Yodhrin
    Member

    It looks quite nice doesn't it. Shame it's in the middle of a f***ing gyratory. And yeah the big gap just below the top left corner with no bollards means some berk will park on there constantly no doubt.

    And a whole...eight cycle parking spaces. Wow. So active travel. Much utility.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  9. Morningsider
    Member

    What happened to the much vaunted event space?

    Why does the main "accessible" pedestrian route have a statue plonked right in the middle of it, taking up about 50% of it's width?

    Not entirely sure the design is great for personal safety, particularly in the dark - areas are screened by trees and shrubs, quick access/egress is prevented by busy multi-lane roads. I reckon many people will choose to go around it, rather than across it in the dark.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  10. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Why does the main "accessible" pedestrian route have a statue plonked right in the middle of it, taking up about 50% of its width?

    Because This Is Edinburgh™ and Edinburgh is trying to make Picardy Place into Hyde Park Corner, except that when it comes to active travel, Hyde Park Corner actually works.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  11. CycleAlex
    Member

    Surely it would make more sense to have the “Primary pedestrian route” to follow the desire line along the north? One less crossing of the cycleway too.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  12. neddie
    Member

    All natural pedestrian desire lines have been completely obliterated by the signalised pedestrian crossings of 3 lanes of deadly motor traffic.

    Want to go direct in a straight line from the Omni to the mini Tescos? Forget it

    Car Brain Council

    Posted 1 year ago #

  13. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Picardy Place island is now open! The newly-created space includes pedestrian and cycling routes, seating and, of course, Sherlock We'll be carrying out planting during the planting season in October to add trees and shrubs

    “

    https://twitter.com/edinburgh_cc/status/1706653992279740620

    Posted 7 months ago #

  14. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    The Sheffield stands where you'll have to plant one wheel in a flower bed to use them are a nice touch. Somehow symbolic of the whole project.

    Posted 7 months ago #

  15. Arellcat
    Moderator

    They're not cycle parking stands, it's where you park your shopping trolley on the long trek to one's New Town home from the Iceland at the top of Easter Road.

    Posted 7 months ago #

  16. Morningsider
    Member

    @Arellcat - a useful facility, as you need to change to a trolley from the nearby Tesco. Iceland trolleys can't make it up the the handy flight of three steps in the middle of the island.

    Posted 7 months ago #

  17. steveo
    Member

    Oh god, that's depressing. How much money has been spent on place-making the busiest traffic thuroghfare inside the bypass. Who do they expect to sit there.

    Posted 7 months ago #

  18. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/edinburghs-elm-row-branded-a-missed-opportunity-by-locals-after-return-of-parking-bays-4351439

    Posted 7 months ago #

  19. jonty
    Member

    Saw that this morning and was absolutely flabbergasted an article with that tone and content would end up in the EEN. Perhaps things are changing a little bit. Maybe the council should 'listen to local voices' and take the initiative to trial weekend pedestrianisation or something.

    Posted 7 months ago #

  20. chdot
    Admin

    Couldn’t quite bring myself to explore the new ‘facility’ at PPl yesterday.

    Well it was raining and I had a train to catch.

    Took a detour to try the new bike lane at Elm Row -

    Posted 7 months ago #

  21. chdot
    Admin

    “

    What will be done to sort this?

    Biggest issue is the downhill lane by the bus stop on Leith Walk

    On Elm Row the narrow bike lane has branches BELOW head height!

    Vehicles likely to overhang more than in photo

    PLENTY space for decent width laneS and some parking

    “

    https://twitter.com/cyclingedin/status/1708401404354670934

    Posted 7 months ago #

  22. chdot
    Admin

    Just found consultation answers from 6 years ago when I was looking for something else.

    223 pages so I won’t be reading many.

    “

    I can not see how any of the ideas floated, other than the Sustrans one, are getting serious consideration.

    the gyratory proposed is a throwback to the 70s, around Europe these are being removed, yet CEC seem wedded to the car and bow down to it at all times.

    please whatever you do, let it pass the "yes, I would like my 12 year old child cycle though it" test.

    “

    https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/picardy-place/results/picardyplaceconsultationfeedbackpublicationversion3.pdf

    Posted 5 months ago #

  23. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.broughtonspurtle.org.uk/news/more-thoughts-picardy

    Posted 5 months ago #

  24. gembo
    Member

    The pothole heading out of the Gyratory down Broughton Street is so long now there is nowhere to go. Take care.

    Posted 5 months ago #

  25. chdot
    Admin

    “

    PICARDY PLACE.—Of course, alternative arrangements are possible. This from ZONE Architects in 2017: https://www.broughtonspurtle.org.uk/news/time-t-picardy-place

    “

    https://twitter.com/thespurtle/status/1736007803410551094

    Posted 5 months ago #

  26. neddie
    Member

    The beepy people were all beeping at each other on the Picardy motorway this afternoon. Such strange behaviour

    Posted 5 months ago #

  27. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Picardy Place. Covered in cycle lanes that nobody much uses. But some dude found it useful to go up the actual steps.

    .”

    Thread

    https://twitter.com/overlandertheb1/status/1737516659349352646

    Posted 5 months ago #

  28. chdot
    Admin

    “

    So far, discussions have ignored the most obvious solution. Reopen the left turn into London Road from Leith Walk and the right turn for the same journey in reverse. Blocking this route has forced all that traffic around Picardy Place adding congestion on the very same traffic lanes that buses use to get from Leith Street to Leith Walk.

    “

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/time-for-a-u-turn-on-leith-walk-traffic-rule-iain-whyte-4476420

    Posted 4 months ago #

  29. neddie
    Member

    The most obvious solution is to have never designed the junction around an 1800 space car park in the first place. Pandering to cars got us in this mess, further pandering will only make it worse

    Posted 4 months ago #

  30. Yodhrin
    Member

    Not only that but he's being dumb anyway, I thought the whole point of banning those turns in the first place was that traffic modelling showed it would overall be *even slower* for cars due to the additional light phases needed in the context of the tram than waiting to go around.

    Clearly hoping to leverage the fact the average citizen doesn't bother reading up on projects in that much detail(probably to the benefit of their sanity) and "common sense innit" thinking to keep pushing his petrosexual agenda.

    Posted 4 months ago #

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