CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Turning right onto Princes St?

(14 posts)
  • Started 1 year ago by Arellcat
  • Latest reply from the canuck
  • This topic is not resolved

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  1. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I have a meeting in the Scot Gov's St Andrew's House in the next few days, and I'm actually annoyingly confused how to get there from the south!

    I can't go down North Bridge, obviously.

    I don't know if the torpedo will fit through the barriers at the High St to get to Cockburn St to reach Waverley Bridge.

    I could go down Market St for Waverley Bridge, but don't know if I can turn right onto PS because that exit also has barriers, and I don't even know if the traffic lights are working.

    I don't really want to go down Queen's Drive, because that loses me too much height and means I have to crawl up Abbeymount and Regent Road. The torpedo is not a mountain goat.

    I can't turn right onto PS at the foot of The Mound.
    cycle.travel actually suggested I turn right using the pedestrian crossing. I mean, really?

    Lothian Road seems to be the only option remaining, and that means dicing with a million buses and taxis, and a tram or two, plus navigating the hellscape of the east end. Charlotte Square to George St is bad enough in rush hour and would leave me with the equally bad South St David St to reach the PS left turn.

    Frankly I can't be bothered when it takes so much planning to go half a mile. Maybe I should just ride my motorbike and be done with it.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    Waverley Bridge to P St legit

    Signs out of date

    Ground signs for ‘cycle lane’ seem to have disappeared

    Lights work still

    Posted 1 year ago #

  3. Morningsider
    Member

    How about: Mound-Hanover Street-George Street-St Andrew Square-West Register Street-Princes Street-Waterloo Place?

    Slightly round the houses - but not too much additional height loss/gain. Not sure how the torpedo would handle the cobbles on West Register Street.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  4. gembo
    Member

    They were putting what looked like further chicanes on the road past Waverley,I’m do go through them to turn left heading north and right from Princes St. heading south but not the other ways.

    Agree with Morningsider could overshoot then turn right from George st onto west side of St Andrews Sq and head down to Princes St. but then you know all that.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  5. the canuck
    Member

    barriers at the High St--the ones on the street are a bit more narrow than is useful (I don't know what a Torpedo looks like and Google Images isn't happening), but I've often just gone up on the pavement to go around them--carefully obviously, because there are often tourists staring at the sky.

    I've turned right from Waverley Bridge on to Princes St, the lights go red and there's usually a massive gap.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  6. gembo
    Member

    A torpedo is an enormous recumbent in red Fibre glass carbon fibre, it don’t do pavements alas. Under @arellcat power many think it has an engine but it does not.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  7. jonty
    Member

    Only in Edinburgh could we close a very central road to through traffic, giving an excellent way of accessing the very centre of the city by bike on a lower traffic route, and then make it so unwelcoming that cyclists avoid it.

    I certainly don't feel hugely welcome on a bike at the end of Waverley Bridge but the lights do work and nobody seems bothered if, as I did for a long time, you assume the lights aren't working and just creep through into a gap anyway.

    I think layout is still as here - https://goo.gl/maps/FwmgMA4qaMhNHSvE8 - wouldn't want to promise you could get through the concrete blocks but I think the gaps are wider than they look.

    I don't tend to use Waverley Bridge now - my classic North Bridge bypass is accessing the Royal Mile by turning right off South Bridge or St Mary's St then left down New Street (taking care that you have not acquired an invisibility cloak when leaving the cycle contraflow section), left along Calton Road and left up Leith Street. You'd then be able to use the cycle exception to turn left on to Regents Road. There are permanent temporary traffic lights on Calton Road and slow lights when accessing Leith Street.

    More boutique options include tackling the Roubaixesque climb up the street called Calton Hill to take you direct from Calton Road to St Andrews House, or using the cycle parking which I've just noticed allegedly exists in New Street Car Park and walking up Jacob's Ladder.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  8. gembo
    Member

    @jonty there is cycle parking in New Street car park but ypu would really need to know where it was to find it. West side of the car park nearer the station, level -1 I recall. Easier to use the racks outside Waverley Court and walk east to new. St then down to The Ladder, admiring the weird neon art under the railway and maybe spying an old east west tunnel?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  9. jonty
    Member

    I was going to ask if anyone had experience with it then realised I needn't bother! Thanks.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  10. pringlis
    Member

    The racks at Waverley Court have a sign up saying they're "for the benefit of visitors to Waverley Court". I doubt you'd be pulled up for using them, and apparently the building is half empty at the moment, but just so you know and can gauge how comfortable you feel about that.

    FWIW I used the racks at Edinburgh Castle this week while visiting Camera Obscura, which I imagine are meant to be for the benefit of people visiting the castle, but they're always empty and are the only decent racks around there! I figure using the racks supplied by public bodies is at least vaguely justifiable.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  11. Arellcat
    Moderator

    maybe spying an old east west tunnel?

    The old Waverley Vaults?

    There is a good archaeological paper from before the vaults were demolished, in part, when Waverley Court was due to be built.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  12. gembo
    Member

    Yeah vaults, but on new street is maybe side door to them?

    Waverley very rough occupancy rate of building and also probably racks at front

    Monday 5-10%
    Tuesday 30-50%
    Wed 30-50%
    Thurs 30-50%
    Fri 0-5%

    Racks have 8 spaces?. Last thurs afternoon i took the last space in terms of not needing to share A rack e.g 4th actual space.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  13. pringlis
    Member

    Yeah, I'd say it's fine - just pointing out the sign so that it's not a surprise on arrival.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  14. the canuck
    Member

    "but the lights do work and nobody seems bothered if, as I did for a long time, you assume the lights aren't working and just creep through into a gap anyway."

    I tend to behave as if I'd stopped/parked a car there, what would I do next? Ah yes, wait for a safe gap and pull a Uey to go East on Princes.

    Posted 1 year ago #

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