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.
"Desire line" is the technical term for that bit of mud where people already walk/cycle.
Sometimes the get properly paved.
Seems someone has been taking a good look around parts of north Edinburgh.
Closer to the bridge there are marks on the grass which suggest that the path up to House O'Hill Road is going to be improved.
This is one looks like an obvious 'desire', though two fences have usually prevented it being used. There is an access close by, but not 'friendly'.
I did wonder if something was going to happen to the path just past the bridge, which was newly-covered in lovely loose coarse gravel last weekend.
There is a new bit of tarmac at Roseburn as well, I noticed it yesterday. Don't know how practical it is to use by bike ( I just noticed someone walking down it as I went past) but it has to be better than the incredibly tight and narrow bend created to make way for notram works. Hasn't it?
"This is one looks like an obvious 'desire'"
And in the other direction it would be nice to have a ramp from Maidencraig Crescent to Queen's Road (currently steps - so no visible desire line!)
"There is a new bit of tarmac at Roseburn as well"
Where about?
Talking of Roseburn, this was yesterday -
Can't think of any reason why there should be a plan to re-do the road/pavement/cyclepath...?
"Where about? "
Going across the hairpin where peds have made a muddy track anyway.
There is a new bit of tarmac to the side of the washing green at the flats at Hutchison's X-roads. Links nicely to the 200 metres of cycle track I use there (part of the larger 500 metre system). I was chatting to the workies putting it in and they said it was because people were walking through the washing to get onto the cycle track.
It is a strange phenomenon the desire line. If the designers ran the original tarmac down the desire line (by time travelling to ascertain where it would emerge) would the public then ignore the tarmac and create a desire line where the original tarmac would have gone if the designers were not time travellers?
They already did.
new ped access (stepped) put in at end of Warriston Gardens onto the cyclepath that goes to Tesco's.
Also looks like there was work starting this morning on the unmetalled path that goes NE from the five way junction on the Ferry Road path.
"Also looks like there was work starting this morning on the unmetalled path that goes NE from the five way junction on the Ferry Road path."
Was going to have a look 'cos a friend told me that that path is 'in some state'.
I've been told - 'Chancelot Path - just lighting, surfacing delayed until June due to badgers in the area'.
Can't see why digging to put lights in is OK but resurfacing isn't(?)
""Where about? "
Going across the hairpin where peds have made a muddy track anyway. "
Apparently I imagined this..
That hairpin will soon be no more when the trams close it and divert us round the road instead, when they finish there will be no hairpin instead a longer climb at less on an angle.
New path being put in to Harrison Park East. Could have got photos yesterday but didn't think. Curses.
New path being put in to Harrison Park East. Could have got photos yesterday but didn't think. Curses.
spytfyre: will send you some; upload if you want
@SRD - got them, first one is nice but I am not comfortable posting pictures of other people's bairns in them...
Pretty sure the local football teams will be less than pleased that the certain person who objected to the path running away from the pitches got their way...
I popped up the D'Mains path to see the new bit of tarmac, mentioned on another thread, a few weeks ago by Dave.
I nearly came a cropper here in the dark once so good to see that they've made a good job of smoothing it out.
New tarmac by ccbb7766, on Flickr
There are two new big bits of tarmac and another small bit.
Can't believe I took 10 minutes out my journey to cycle up a hill and photo some tarmac...
Canal to West Bryson Road
IMAG0150 by spytfyre, on Flickr
Canal on the right, West Bryson Road to the left
Controvesial route as a majority voted for the path to slide in behind the fence and the hedge to avoid being pelted with footballs
One local resident made such a fuss it got changed.
Power of complaining.
...and they've finished the Granton path, finally. Ish.
New triangle of tarmac to connect pavement on street beside QuatarMass and St Thomas's School. (Chalmers St)
Obviously not expecting too many cyclists here....
To be honest the North Meadow path is barely a cycleway so this cut through is no worse.
Being offset though it will produce conflict with pedestrians and TNT trucks. Should have been in centre of street. 1 out of 10.
I decided to cycle home (on my MTB) this evening.
I saw those red 'road/cycle' works fencing near Craigleith shown in the pics above.
My route took me, from York Pl north to Tesco and north along the old rail line (I see they've opened up the tunnel south of Tesco to the Park of Eyre place. At the North circular path I turned left and along to Crewe Toll before heading south again to Craigleith, where I saw those cycle path works and fencing. North to Davidson Mains/Silverknowes?? and through the Super market car park. the end ofthis path is gravell and quite bumpy. Then right and left & through a posh road with HUGE houses, to the bridge over the Cramond river (behind the pub on the A90) Cramond Brig??. Then through the Dalmany estate but I took a wrong turn at the old farm (at the foot of the long down hill) and ended up going along a dirt track which brought me out 1/2 mile down from my intended Dalmeny Estate exit opp the route into Dalmeny village. Then I headed right into S Queensferry, past the rail st and along to the Bridge. Over the Forth road bridge before catching the Coastal route to Dalgety Bay. Phew. I followed a few cyclist for a good pace and saw loads of cyclist along the way.
My usual direct road route is 16 miles so I would guess this was nearer 18miles??
Think I'll jump bock on my Dawes Galaxy tomorow for a nice ride in to work.
@Dave Crampton - you described part of the joy of cycling there. Despite getting lost on a couple of occasions, you headed in the right general direction and got there in the end, all the better for it.
Those houses are indeed HUGE. And with price tags to match. A lot of them look horribly vulgar too. Was much amused by Ruggtomcat loudly exclaiming at how ugly some of them were only for an owner to pop his head out from the boot of his BWM that he had been putting golf clubs in and give us a scowl.
Its a bit mental, they have a really beautiful little hamlet with a common and stuck on the end is a 60's international styley thing, except it new, and without any grace or style. And I *like* modern architecture.
@Kaputnik
I wasn't lost I just didn't fancy cycling along Ferry Road to Davidsons Mains with the traffic.
EDIT, ah yes I did get lost in the Dalmeny Est.. [embarrassed]
I had thought about heading north from Crewe Toll and along the coast to Cramond but I don't know the route sufficiently. We drove down there looking for Go Outdoors a few months ago and its all new and different. Not at all like my last cycle down there in 2005 before the started to tear it all doen for modern supermarkets and open plan roads.
Oops wrong thread
Starting with the good bit -
Nice newly painted bus lane - is this the start of renewing all bus + cycle lanes and ASLs???
PLUS new parking restrictions which means an end(?) to cars in front of the cottages just ahead of the island which has created a serious hazard for (how many?) years. It took long enough (and a lot of pressure from Spokes) to even get a single yellow line 'protecting' the cycle lane put in 'for' the ERI. (Previously - as seen on Google StreetView.)
Cyclist is turning right towards the "dump" and on to the path that goes to Craigmillar Castle Avenue. Sadly this one is still whin dust (unlike the almost parallel one by the railway further north) because the parks dept. wanted to "preserve the rural character". This path is used much more by pedestrians and cyclists because it is a more obvious/direct route.
Then there's this -
Clearly a very desired line. Though I haven't actually seen many bikes. (This person dismounted where the bus is in the photo and walked across the road.) Presume it's well used by Inch residents going to and from bus stops. There isn't even a dropped kerb (or pavement) by the island.
This is just another demonstration of the lack of CEC-joined-up-thinking. Of course it would be nice to have a pedestrian crossing around here on a busy main road (at least it's now 30mph rather than 40) with through walk/cycle links, but no doubt this would be "too expensive" and not on any (long) list of pedestrian crossings.
Re the cycle lanes to the Infirmary...
http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/downloads/members-campaigning/edinburgh/royal-infirmary/
Of course there was also a load of stuff pre-dating that.
The whole saga is a good example of how having a less-than-adequate facility can lead to pressure to improve it; in this case the original cycle lanes had few parking restrictions - leading to complaints - leading to a first round of parking restrictions - then continuing complaints - and now a further big batch of double-yellow lines.
This sort of process has now happened several times in Edinburgh in different locations (The Mound being another). The officials drawing up the original bike schemes often know well that they have flaws, but they have to work with what councillors will accept (councillors also often unfortunately being under heavier pressure from motoring than cycling constituents).
Therefore an incremental approach like the above is often the only realistic solution, and is worth going along with rather than the 'perfection or nothing' approach favoured by some bike campaigners.
"worth going along with rather than the 'perfection or nothing' approach favoured by some bike campaigners"
Put like that, yes.
BUT the question is do officials/councillors know that they are involved in such an over cautious/inefficient process or do they think the first scheme is the best/optimum?
It's not like there isn't plenty of evidence of 'good practice' from around the world.
Needs some serious political leadership to go with this notion that Edinburgh is on its way to being a 'world class cycling city' - as promised in the signing of the Charter of Brussels.
And/or a Services for Communities department/boss that was adventurous/pro-active/bothered about the practical bits of CEC's Walking and Cycling agenda.
Yes, the officials often know their schemes are not optimal for cyclists, but they also know that councillors won't pass anything more radical - i.e. anything that might lose them too many votes amongst motoring constituents - i.e. anything having a too drastic effect on car parking. So it's not a question of officials not recognising 'best practice' - it's a question of political realities. This is a reason why it's vital for councillors to be continually hearing from individual voters (not just from organisations like Spokes) about cycling issues [http://www.writetothem.com!] so they know there is a growing number of people for whom better cycling conditions really matter.
The current Quality Bike Corridor proposals are a case in point. They will be a big improvement on the current situation, but the planned additional car parking restrictions are nothing like as good as they should be. The officials know this - but they can only put in what they know the councillors will support, so until lots more people contact councillors, that's what we'll get. Chances are, though, that in another 2-3 years, once motorists are used to the new parking rules, and once cycling has built up further, and more cyclists are complaining, then we'll get another round of improvements.
I propose the following cyclesuperexpressway (CSX);
It can be built using rubble form demolished tramworks and speedbumps. No buses allowed. If you see a taxi on it, you're legally allowed to give them a one-fingered victory salute.
Apologies in advance to anyone's house that has to be demolished to make way, but I'm sure you'll agree that 6.5 minutes off my commute is a worthwhile sacrifice.
Others are welcome to propose their own cyclesuperexpressways from door to door.
@kaputnik: Those houses are indeed HUGE. And with price tags to match. A lot of them look horribly vulgar too.
Vulgarity takes many forms. My least favourite house up there appears to have more cars in the car park (it's too big to call it simply a driveway) than occupants, including a brace of 4x4 Range Rovers and several minis. There's another house that cossets a 190 mph supercar that costs over £150k to buy new. I want to have a conversation with the owner, and ask him/her to tell me how close they get to 190 mph during their daily morning commute through the perfectly-maintained but largely deserted (surely) eight-lane boulevards of Edinburgh's city centre...
Come the revolution, comrades...
@kaputnik you get my vote, might just need tweaked slightly to run nearer my house and office.
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