Good piece (not just 'cos I'm quoted at the end).
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Wider-pavements-plan-to-suit.6808385.jp
(I won't be reading the comments just in case...)
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
"Wider pavements plan to suit bikes"
(15 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
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"(I won't be reading the comments just in case...) "
You might be disappointed to learn that you haven't been commented on. Well, not yet anyway.
There are actually quite a few pro cyclist comments on this one.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Are shared use paths really the way to move cycling in the city forward?
Shared use paths just lead to more conflict between pedestrians and cyclist and are not suitable for anyone wanting to go above say 5-10mph (the vast majority of cyclists I'd assume?).
If the council's real ambition is to reduce car journeys by replacing them with bike journeys then this is just another example of CEC's lack of understanding of the requirements.
all IMHO
[I'll get off my high horse now]
Posted 12 years ago # -
"Shared use" means investing in a few signs on lamp posts and some white paint here and there.
Anything else requires planning, will and investment.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"Part of Seafield Road will see its pavement widened to more than 11ft to allow both cyclists and pedestrians to use it"
so why not use this investment to create a true cycle lane along the route [segregated from both the path and road]
[ok, I lied about getting off my high horse in my previous post :-]
Posted 12 years ago # -
so long as it's a metal horse, do stay on it!
Posted 12 years ago # -
Argh! I looked at the comments! Must. Not. Get. Involved.
All the same comments from the same people who used to comment when I would have risen to the bait a year or two back. Cyclists on pavements; running red lights; not paying tax; the biggest danger on roads. Sheesh, there's a lot of anger out there!
At times it just makes me depressed to think there are people out there who are truly that narrow-minded. Oh, and the sort the internet was created for, the faux-hardman who reckons he's slapped down people really well in the past - like Rugal who apparently on stopping his motorbike in ASLs 'all the time' gets 'abuse you wouldn't believe' from cyclists until he rather wittily points out that his motorbike is taxed as a bicycle. 'That shuts them up'. Er. What?!?!? That doesn't even make sense because, well, it isn't. It probably shuts the cyclists up because they're stunned by the remarkable moronic idiocy!
Posted 12 years ago # -
Argh! I looked at the comments! Must. Not. Get. Involved.
All the same comments from the same people who used to comment when I would have risen to the bait a year or two back.
You could always cut and paste the retorts you used back then. Broken record technique, which is what they are doing.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Rugal ... points out that his motorbike is taxed as a bicycle. 'That shuts them up'. Er. What?!?!? That doesn't even make sense because, well, it isn't.
Motorbikes are categorised on a V5C as 'Bicycle' under class of vehicle, presumably because of the number of wheels. Unless I'm very much mistaken, a motorbike is not subject to zero-rated VED as a 'Bicycle' would be, though. So Rugal is at least being somewhat economical with definitions.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Damn, hoisted on my own petard! Doesn't mean it legally is a bike of course. That said, I think I'm one of the few cyclists who actually doesn't mind motorcyclists using the ASLs - as long as they're looking out I see us as both two-wheeled warriors... Or something.
One thing I don't actually understand is the blatant exaggeration by some people. One chap undertook an impromptu survey (sounds familiar) and in 20 minutes saw something like 18 cyclists breaking the law. Yesterday morning in my 109 cyclists that were photographed... 1 broke the law. The morning before on Lothian Road in the 42 cyclists seen... 1 broke the law.
And Rugal talking about constant 'abuse' for sitting in ASLs. Now I've sat in a LOT of ASLs with motorbikes and other cyclists there, and never seen any aggro. Not once. Yet Rugal claims it's all the time. I'm clearly missing out on something...
It was the same as Porty Prom where newspaper comments made it clear there was some sort of war going on, when I hadn't so much as tutted at in all the times I rode there. And these hordes of pavement cyclists that must hide as soon as I approach whether on bike, foot or in car, then spring out as soon as I've passed...
Just.
Why?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Sheesh, there's a lot of anger out there!
Well, there's a lot of anger from a small amount of bitter people who never leave their own houses, I think is a more accurate reflection.
There was a big and interesting article in the Observer on Sunday about "flaming" and "trolling" on message boards and comment pages and how studies are being done on the effect that the anonymity it offers has on people's opinions, how they express themselves and how they project that they want to treat their fellow human beings.
Posted 12 years ago # -
The Evening News has the same group of maybe 10 trolls who comment on more or less every story where there is a chance of a reaction (I usually notice it on trams or cycling articles, but to be honest it's probably all stories about the Cooncil). I've come to the conclusion that they just find it (personally) very entertaining to parrot the same old inflamatory rubbish every lunchtime. Each to their own.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I am wondering if a 3 m wide pavement is really wide enough? The minimum width for a cycle lane should be 2 m, which would only leave 1 m for pedestrians, they would be better off putting in proper dedicated separated cycle lane, after all it would cost the same...
Posted 12 years ago # -
@Kim - Very few pedestrians walk on Seafield Road. It's dirty, lots of diesel fumes from HGVs and speeding cars whizzing past. Effectively this will be primarily a cycle path.
Posted 12 years ago # -
When I rode out of Waverley yesterday morning heading up Market St towards North bank St, I over took a guy on a racier bike than mine (Trek 2.1) who was on the train from inverkeithing with me. At the top prevented from continuing by traffic and a bus hugging the kerb I went round the outside. The guy on the Trek 2.1 wizzed up the path and round the corner then straight back on to North Bank St as I was passing him, the lights turned green as I cut in at the lights.
So there are some who just give the reat a bad name.
Posted 12 years ago #
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