Something revvy seemed very distressed at having had to wait at the four-way lights at the Bonnington Road/Newhaven/Pilrig junction, revving impatiently behind me until we'd crossed the river and reached the end of the queue of traffic going the other way and they were able to whoosh past.
Small brush-wagon breaching the red light from the south bit of Constitution Street to the north and rolling across on pedestrian green.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Today's rubbish driving...
(11333 posts)- Started 13 years ago by Stepdoh
- Latest reply from wishicouldgofaster
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Posted 6 years ago #
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This morning I was attempting to cross St John’s Road at the junction with Belgrave Road. There’s no signalled crossing, so you have to wait at a small island as two streams of traffic go past.
Watching the number of people driving past whilst using their phones makes you feel very vulnerable.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Stickman - maybe you should consider videoing them and passing it to the police.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I was nearly squished on Biggar Road this evening by the no.101 Borders bus attempting to overtake me and take up position in the nearside lane.
From my video, it looks like the driver entirely misjudged my speed (between 22 and 26mph at the time), the length of the bus, or both, and on realising I was still there, hurridly pulled back into the offside lane. But not before I had hauled on the brakes and swerved hard to the kerb in case the intended manoeuvre was going to stick. I have written to Stagecoach about it.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@arellcat, that is a very bad one
Posted 6 years ago # -
Arellcat, that looks nasty.
I got nearly left-hooked at the Dundee Street - Western Approach Road sliproad junction. Fortunately I know there's a problem there and try to always keep a good eye behind me. The offending driver was directly behind another car and I would guess that he wouldn't have seen me until very late, whereupon he braked and let me carry on (as he should).
Posted 6 years ago # -
@Arellcat - Oof. Bloodcurdling.
@Fimm - Nasty, nasty junction that. I looked at the data on http://www.crashmap.co.uk and was amazed to learn that there hasn't actually been a collision there since 2009. Before that there used to be 1-2 a year, so I presume they narrowed the slip road around 2009.
Difficult to see anything else they could do to improve it other than close the junction, but that is unlikely to happen.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Difficult to see anything else they could do to improve it other than close the junction, but that is unlikely to happen.
They could start by taking the red painted cycle lane out of the gutter and either removing it entirely, or repainting it in primary position.
And as if by magic, there is even a gutter-huggin' "Google Maps" cyclist demonstrating exactly how not to tackle that junction: https://goo.gl/maps/brk1TagJk5A2
Posted 6 years ago # -
Yeah, had a few close calls there myself. Horrible layout and though primary helps it will get you plenty of grief. Either way, that route is not for the timid.
The council asked for suggestions some time ago on how to improve the streets. I suggested either closing that junction entirely, restricting it to buses only with a (rising) BOLLARD or at the very least installing a huge speed table on the approach to prevent[1] drivers accelerating hard from Angle Park and Henderson Terraces to reach the driving nirvana that is the West Approach Road.
Needless to say they did not take this on board.
[1] Well, OK, not stop, but at least ensure their vehicle would be in need of an expensive repair...
Posted 6 years ago # -
fountainbridge seems to suggest that closure has been a possibility at some point: https://twitter.com/fountainbridge/status/992341332222865409
I think there's certainly a bit of room to tighten the geometry of that curve and make the turn more right-angled. Perhaps it hasn't been done as a result of existing plans to close it.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Left-hooked at junction of George IV Bridge & Royal Mile this morning. Blue Range Rover bombed past me within metres of the junction and then slowed dramatically to go left. Went into its side but fortunately stayed upright. Shouting/gesturing match ensued.
Posted 6 years ago # -
You all right? Bike?
Posted 6 years ago # -
All fine thanks. Was quite a shallow angle coming together, at least initially. Zero need for the driver to be driving in such an impatient and aggressive way.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@Frenchy: I presume they narrowed the slip road around 2009
The Streetview pic from 2008 looks much the same to me linky.
@jonty: I think there's certainly a bit of room to tighten the geometry of that curve and make the turn more right-angled.
Looks to me like the main constraint is the bridge that carries the slip road across the Western Approach Road. Rebuilding or even moving that would probably not be a low-cost option, unfortunately. Close the slip road completely and, absent an alternative way to access the WAR from the west, traffic would either try to route via Westfield Road (and that junction by the railway bridge at Murrayfield as already bad enough) or else disperse to other even less suitable routes.
None of which means that the current layout isn't pants.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Thanks. It does look fairly new there, though.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@jonty Aside from (presumably) closing the sliproad that development plan looks hideous! From the same stable as the Picardy Place gyratory.
However, I can't find anything about the new scheme (with a cursory googling) - just get the older masterplan with boulevard cafes etc. Any more info?
Posted 6 years ago # -
For the second time this week the cycle lane going past Haymarket Station was blocked by the "backside" of a taxi that seemed to be queuing at the "drop off" point behind a couple of others.
I thought they were meant to queue on other side of the street?
Oh and the private hire which decided to reverse out of Roseburn Place onto Roseburn Street just as I turned into Roseburn Place wasn't best. I was committed, and nowhere to go.
I did, however, on this occasion manage to survive unscathed from all this selfish behaviour from drivists.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@MediumDave: you'd have to ask the source.
@ejstubbs: I think there's enough space to put in a kink onto the bridge to make it more of a right-angled turn. The road feels quite wide there and obviously is, looking at the width of cars and given the presence of central hatching and the bike lane. You could make a reasonable difference even just by "squaring off" the far pavement (in the direction of travel of the bike lane) and change the kerbline of the near pavement to be parallel with it. Continuing the narrowing of the slip road to at least until it pitches down could help too. Dundee Street is meant to be a 20 these days after all.
Posted 6 years ago # -
(About to press send and notice that @jonty got there before me - but I wrote this already...)
There's plenty that could be done to change how that Fountainbridge junction behaves - you can see where the footway has been narrowed. Fact is that it's narrowed but the running lane is left pointing straight ahead. Had that narrowing been done more cleverly the lane would no longer be pointing straight ahead. Even a small change of angle would have profound effects I think.
@jules878 the normal taxi rank is currently closed at Haymarket - hence fairly regular queues onto the cycle lane. Nasty.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@rbrtwtmn Ah - that explains it. But still no excuse for them to be blocking cycle lane forcing cyclists to cross tram lines at shallow angle unexpectedly. Should there be any enforcement?
I shall probably start taking longer commute to avoid Haymarket again then. (Unless I'm running very late....)
Posted 6 years ago # -
Someone couldn't be botherd waiting five seconds to pass me after this traffic island yesterday, so just drove on the wrong side of the road past it.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I cycled between the canal and Old Town just now. At the King's Theatre Junction:
- the driver of a vehicle opposite me heads through the red light on Tarvit Street, waits for a gap in the traffic between Home Street and Leven Street before driving across the junction to Gilmore Place;
- the driver of a vehicle to the left of me who is waiting to turn left from Gilmore Place onto Home Street is so preoccupied with their phone that they don't see my Night Vision green arm pointing and waving at the green left-turn light, nor do they hear nor see the person on a bicycle behind me and various pedestrians who are waiting to cross the road who join in, trying to attract their attention - they may still be there;
- as I move away from where the ASZ will hopefully be reinstated as the resurfacing continues and aim for Leven Street under a full green light, the driver of a vehicle heading from Home Street takes the right turn onto Gilmore Place behind me.
At the Bristo Square junction, the driver of the Royal Mail Van ahead of me on Bristo Place continues through the red light, bumps up to the left onto the pavement, parks the van and jumps out to go and empty the post box near the corner of Lothian Street.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Coach parked in tunnel on Russell Road. Nicely narrows the narrowest part of that road with sudden poor visibility as you come into the tunnel.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Killie team bus by any chance? I find that’s a frequent source of that particular species of rubbish parking.
Posted 6 years ago # -
It was Scotland vs Fiji at Murrayfield today. I assume that's why the coaches were filling up the spaces.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Someone on Minto St last night was having genuine difficulty driving in a straight line. I politely suggested to them that putting their phone away may help with this particular skill.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Unnecessarily close pass from taxi as I was cycling in bus lane in Corstorphine-wards direction (in the really wide stretch of road between Ballgreen Road and Pinkhill).
It was 1.30pm today. There wasn't a lot of traffic so plenty of room for driver to give me loads of space without impinging on his speed one jot.
Registration was
YE 523 CAB
Maybe 52/532, a bit uncertain of the exact numbers, but I have the letters.
Thanks mate.
Posted 6 years ago # -
YE52 CAB or YE53 CAB could be valid registrations - specifically, registrations issued by a Leeds local registration office either between September 2002 and February 2003 (52), or between September 2003 and February 2004(53). Unfortunately the DVLA VED checking web site says neither one exists.
Posted 6 years ago # -
YE52 CAB is on this useful list. From memory, I think some vanity plates don't appear on the DVLA checker.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Thanks.
I would never cycle this route at rush hour, but at non peak times (if I'm running late!) I do choose this one.
At all other times I cycle an additional mile++ through Roseburn Park and Pinkhill Path.
Posted 6 years ago #
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