And his default seems to be only one hand on the wheel (in common with 99% of drivers in fairness)
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Scottish Govmt announces £10m for pop up cycle/walking lanes
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Posted 4 years ago #
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When I tried driving I was petrified and kept both hands on wheel. Also radio off. I remain scared as front seat passenger but am needed as do have good knowledge of streets of edinburgh though sometimes my routes end at bollards where only bikes can get through
Posted 4 years ago # -
@jonty et.al.
They were working on the Comiston Road lanes yesterday. Took some heart from the fact that although there were many cars parked in the "mandatory" (so cars should not enter) lane, others were parked outbound of this which is what I think the white triangular hatching at the start of a section is supposed to signify.
Unfortunately it was reduced to one lane for all southbound traffic yesterday - I did get a cheery wave from the Skoda driver behind me (who kept well back throughout) when I eased over in to Riselaw Crescent to let the traffic past - not knowing how much longer the single lane continued for and being a bit (a lot!) out of condition!!!
It also now seems to be a thirty limit southbound - was in the car the other day and most seemed to be observing this. Cue Mr. Must get in front Passat who was up the exhaust of the car in front, straddling in to the mandatory bike lane continually and diving up the inside at the Fairmilehead traffic lights from a long way back (majority of drivers keeping out of the extended bus lane until solid line ended)....
Posted 4 years ago # -
It's a mistake to believe that driving instructors are there to ensure quality of driving. They are not. They are there to enable as many people as possible to drive.
Having a licence is no longer seen as a privilege, but a right.
Incompetent drivers are not eliminated from the system because of a test that you can sit an infinite number of times until you pass, and never sit again for the rest of your life.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@twinspark: It also now seems to be a thirty limit southbound
That's in line with the pre-lockdown plan to remove most 40mph limits within the bypass. I don't reckon it's going to make much difference to most drivers on that road. My own experience in the months prior to March this year was that most folks never got anywhere close to the 40mph limit on Comiston Road. There was always the odd one or two, though, like your Mr MGIF yesterday.
People who wanted to really get a move on would use Braid Road to avoid the slower drivers - because no-one ever used the northbound bus lane outside of its operating hours, and the inside lane southbound was usually parked up with residents' cars at least as far as Riselaw Crescent - and do so at ~40mph, even after it became a 20mph limit.
During the evening peak the average speed for southbound motor vehicles was always in single figures anyway, of course.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@twinspark: Took some heart from the fact that although there were many cars parked in the "mandatory" (so cars should not enter) lane, others were parked outbound of this which is what I think the white triangular hatching at the start of a section is supposed to signify.
There is actually a disabled parking space marked 'outboard' of the cycle lane as you approach Comiston Springs Avenue northbound. So yes, I'd agree that that is how they are supposed to be used.
I'd be interested to know which CoE councillors or MSPs live in the vicinity of the rather puzzlingly located gaps in the double yellow lines (cynical, moi?) As has been pointed out above, the cycle lane is marked with a solid line and therefore should not be entered by motor vehicles - so how is it legal for drivers to park next to the kerb anywhere along its length? Maybe it's because the road is just wide enough to accomodate two cycle lanes, two traffic lanes and a few parked vehicles in those locations. But I'm not convinced.
If kerbs are due to be installed to segregate the cycle lane that sounds good. OTOH when did a kerb ever deter a driver determined to park right outside their destination address?
@twinspark again: Comiston Road is a 30mph limit in both directions between the Greenbank Crescent/Braidburn Terrace lights and the Fairmilehead crossroads. South of Fairmilehead it's the same old 40mph limit that rarely seems to be breached (southbound at least) until you get to the horrible Old Pentland Road/Seafield Moor Road junction - an ideal place to start putting your foot down, of course...
Posted 4 years ago # -
@ejstubbs - As far as I can see on the plans (maps are on the Spokes website), the only gaps in double yellow lines where there is a mandatory cycle lane are where there are parking bays or some other parking restriction (bus stops, pedestrian crossings).
They might have had to leave gaps whilst people were still parked there legally?
Posted 4 years ago # -
@Frenchy: Interesting, thanks.
There's no indication on the maps linked from the Spokes web site of the parking bays south of Comiston Springs Avenue (including a disabled bay) which I'm 90% sure I cycled past this evening (GoPro would confirm). And there certainly aren't any parking bays shown north of the Caiystane Crescent junction, where at the moment there is a gap in the double yellows. Could the plans have been amended since the versions linked by Spokes were published?
One aspect I'm not too keen on as it stands right now is approaching Fairmilehead crossroads from the south. There used to be two straight on lanes, with the left hand lane also for left-turning traffic. Now that the cycle lane starts immediately beyond the junction, the arrow on the left-hand lane has been changed to just a left turn arrow. I know those arrows aren't mandatory but the implication is that everyone wanting to go straight on should be in lane two. IMO it makes much more sense for bikes to go straight on from the left-hand lane (like I chose to do this evening) but some drivers might not see it that way - worst case, possibly creating a risk of left hooks?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Every northbound cyclist uses the left-hand lane at the crossroads, and no doubt will continue to do so. I will be among them. Taking the offside northbound lane is less helpful because of the number of vehicles, and the frequent queues.
My preference will be to adopt right-of-primary for the avoidance of doubt. I may be passing that way tomorrow so will have a look. Thing is, the design speed of the cycle lane northbound is rather less than the sort of speed I am likely to achieve going down the hill, so in the event I may continue to 'be a car'. The torpedo will nudge 50mph going past Braidburn Park if ridden sufficiently enthusiastically.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Some slightly more up to date plans from one of the local Cllrs:
https://drscottarthur.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/com-12727-1200-01-rev3.pdf
https://drscottarthur.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/com-12727-1200-02-rev3.pdf
https://drscottarthur.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/com-12727-1200-03-rev3.pdf
https://drscottarthur.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/com-12727-1200-04-rev3.pdfPerhaps overkill but an "AND CYCLES" could be added below the left turn arrow, similar to where a bus lane continues?
Posted 4 years ago # -
@CycleAlex: Thanks for those links. Bit sad that we have to rely on 'leaks' rather than the council making them readily available on their web site. I certainly couldn't find any such detailed information on the Spaces for People section of their web site. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.
Those plans do show the parking bays south of Comiston Springs Avenue. They don't show any north of Caiystane Crescent, though, so I'm puzzled why there's no double yellows there at the moment - or maybe the plans have been amended again since rev 3.
From that plan it looks like they've given up on the idea to move the southbound bus stop between Buckstone Gardens and Buckstone Road further north. I know there was a lot of push-back on that idea. OTOH the road markings in that area now do suggest that bus stop is going to be floating, which the plans don't show.
I'm fully in favour of keeping the pedestrian crossing areas free of predatory cetaceans. I assume, though, that "orcas" is actually road planners jargon for the black and white plastic kerb thingys intended to enforce/encourage segregation of the cycle lanes. Are these more resistant to tampering than the wands they've used on Old Dalkeith Road? (I somehow suspect that they won't be much of a deterrent to the obstructive parking habits of some of Her Majesty's Corps of Domestic Builders and Household Maintenance Contractors anyway.)
Posted 4 years ago # -
@ejstubbs @arellcat
Yes, at the Fairmilehead crossroads heading North I take a very strong Primary now in the left hand lane.
I still hate turning right into Oxgangs Road when heading South in both the car and on the bike due to the fact there is no right turn filter and straight on traffic heading north is now exclusively in the middle lane and pretty much hidden by any traffic turning right until the last moment, when they "suddenly appear" - I find I have to look way down the road and memorise the last car that's visible in the distance and wait for it to pass through the crossing to have any confidence that it is safe to go.....
Posted 4 years ago # -
Don’t think I’ve ever turned right there, but recognise the danger issue from the amount of road space and the gradient up to the crossroads.
If only there was an alternative to (motor) traffic flow...
Posted 4 years ago # -
I somehow suspect that they won't be much of a deterrent to the obstructive parking habits of some of Her Majesty's Corps of Domestic Builders and Household Maintenance Contractors anyway.
I encountered them this afternoon, just down from Caiystane Crescent. I will have to check my video but I think there were five or six cars and vans parked on the DYL and fully in the cycle lane, or on the DYL, partly in the cycle lane and with two wheels up on the footway/verge.
Coming south later on, in the fancy bike lane that is between the footway and the parked cars, Riselaw-ish, a driver casually walked across to his car, which was parked pointing downhill, opened the driver's side door fully and rummaged around for ages. I very nearly had nowhere to go and he didn't give a [rule 2] about my trajectory. Being doored is now a double hazard, whether you ride in the bike lane or in the main carriageway.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Posted 4 years ago #
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Populists gonna populist. That goes for the questioner & respondee.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Saw big Rurigdh out with his trundle wheel south of morn8ngside yesterday pm. Gave h8m a cheer
Though unfortunately it came out Rory. That’s not his name (ting tings reference)
Posted 4 years ago # -
@arellcat: I think there were five or six cars and vans parked on the DYL and fully in the cycle lane, or on the DYL, partly in the cycle lane and with two wheels up on the footway/verge.
There was a hatchback and a builder's van half on the footway and half on the bike lane there, on the DYLs, when I passed by about 15:45 yesterday.
Any value in reporting this blatant disregard for the new parking restrictions* on that CEC Twitter account (can't remember it's name) you reckon?
* Though having two wheels on the pavement makes you immune to DYLs, as any fule
noseems to believe.Posted 4 years ago # -
@edinhelp?
Posted 4 years ago # -
“
The bay on Pentland Terrace in Comiston, part of the busy A702 road, is several feet from the pavement with a cycle lane in between.
“
Posted 4 years ago # -
I wonder if that new disabled bay is the result of an "interfering local councillor"?
Posted 4 years ago # -
“ ... is the result of ... “
Quite probably, but someone at CEC should have realised this wasn’t a smart idea!
Posted 4 years ago # -
It's a disabled bay in what will be a row of parking bays. There looks to be plenty of space to me. Disabled bays are painted wide enough that the car door can be opened and not extend past the bay, and that van can clearly get past without entering the bay, and looks to have a few feet to move further toward the centre of the road if the driver needed to.
It might not look great when it's not finished, but I'm not seeing any real problems here.
It's not any worse than this, is it?
EDIT: Another similar example, apparently working without issues.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Except that (2nd link) shows 4 cars parking on (fading) bike lane - inc one in disabled bay).
Posted 4 years ago # -
It might not look great when it's not finished, but I'm not seeing any real problems here.
My home economics teacher said something which has always stuck with me.
fools and bairns should never see a thing half done
I'm context we as a class were making something but I've found it applies to everything.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Living Streets reverting to Living Streets type:
https://twitter.com/dvrh9/status/1304356016323284993?s=21
This is insane; and undermines repeated assurances about how important accessibility is for @Edinburgh_CC. Also shows to me a mindset of designers who think that cycling must have absolute priority.
No, it shows the mindset that parking must have priority and that everything else has to fit in around that.
The bad cycle lane design arises because a proper reallocation of road space away from vehicles is politically unacceptable.
Posted 4 years ago # -
If it's where I think it is, I seem to recall the vehicle the bay is designated for, loads through the boot door?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Incredible that so much fuss is being generated over the idea that parking bays need to go by the sides of roads?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Will they be marking the outside of the parking bays?
Posted 4 years ago # -
“bad cycle lane design arises because a proper reallocation of road space away from vehicles is politically unacceptable“
True.
Posted 4 years ago #
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