CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

Meanwhile in Broughton

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    "

    LOCAL ACTIVIST ILLUMINATES
    Many readers will have occasionally observed contractors working upon sections of road or pavement, and wondered whether the scheme was strictly necessary. How was it prioritised, through which process, by whom and at what cost? Who got paid for the job?
    The indefatigable Harald Tobermann of Pilrig is one of Broughton’s finest, sceptical members of the awkward squad, and has turned his attention to just such a case: the recent resurfacing of local backwater East Scotland Street Lane (optimistically glossed in Issue 196).
    CEC officials were initially reluctant to answer his queries on costs and mechanisms. They suggested he should pay £60–80 for the information through Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 [http:// bit.ly/wGGR0W], even though such figures would be readily available – like any other contract figures – on a departmental database.
    Tobermann persisted, began invoking the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Scottish Information Commissioner, and eventually CEC relented. As a result, we can now reveal that the works cost £51,348, funded from the Road and Footway Capital Investment budget 2011/12. See Extras (1.2.12) for the full response.
    Publication of even these straightforward but absurdly hard-to-access data represents a significant gain for civic transparency. It’s a first step. Tobermann now has the bone firmly between his teeth, and is gnawing on it.

    "

    http://broughtonspurtle.org.uk/sites/broughtonspurtle.org.uk/files/spurtle_203_high_quality.pdf

    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. mgj
    Member

    If you want a scandal, ask how much the work to re-lay the setts on Thirlestane Road into an even less cycle friendly road surface than before cost, and which (just about to retire) local councillor pushed it through as their pet project. And perhaps also why Spottiswoode Street never had any of its crossing points narrowed as part of Safer Routes to School works.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. DaveC
    Member

    This is on my commute to work. Itsb lovely and smoth and has zero vehicles parked on it. I use it when riding down to the cycle path from Tesco's. It saves me time and danger by not having to negociate the right turn onto Broughton Road from Bellevue.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. chdot
    Admin

    "East Scotland Street Lane"

    That'll be the one by the church at Bellevue - no dropped kerb at Scotland Street end?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. PS
    Member

    It's just round the corner from me. Whilst I'd question its prioritisation, it is a lovely bit of tarmac. And it's going to stay that way for quite a while given that HGV/bus traffic is extremely unlikely.

    This is a good thing, because it is earmarked to be part of CEC's Proposed Family Network in the Active Travel Action Plan.

    The only problem is at the East end of the Lane. This used to just be bollarded tarmac (or paving - I forget). A few years ago the Council changed it to a raised pavement, so that peds could walk uninterrupted down Scotland Street without fear of cyclists haring out of the lane and mowing them down. Two cyclists in my block have since had low-speed crashes as they have tried to navigate this additional step. Not very good for a continuous cycle network.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. DaveC
    Member

    chdot "That'll be the one by the church at Bellevue - no dropped kerb at Scotland Street end?"

    You are right, but in my personal view, this is fine as this reduces the speed of cyclists approaching the 'Pavement' which tecnically one should dismount for. On the far left the kerb is low so one can 'slow for pedestrians' (as they are out of sight of approaching cyclists*) and is simple to hop up onto. I do however see a few cyclists riding up the pavement on either side as the cobbles are a deswation for cyclists to cycle up against.

    * I often hop onto the kerb and slowly ride out to the road, and still the occassional pedestrian is unaware of me and jumps when I slowly emerge from the side street. My feeling is if the kerb were dropped then cyclists might fly out of the side street (as there is no a dropped kerb) and might run over unsuspecting pedestrians.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. PS
    Member

    They'd also have to lose a couple of parking spaces again if they dropped the kerb. o-:

    I hear what you're saying Dave, but I've taken the bolshie view that this was a through way before they stuck the bollards in, and the raised pavement doesn't benefit the peds all that much (the incapacitated and mums pushing mahoosive prams excepted). A dropped kerb clearly marked as a cycle route should* be enough to warn Peds that this is "shared space" and to keep their eyes peeled.

    And we'll always come back to the usual problem that the more obstacles/dismounts we put in the way on cycle routes, the less likely people are to use them.

    *Standard ideal world disclaimer

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. mga
    Member

    New dropped kerb on Scotland Street I noticed today.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  9. dessert rat
    Member

    could have really done with that 3 years ago - used to bash down that kerb every night.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  10. chdot
    Admin

    That’s useful.

    In the (long) past the lane used to continue past the bollards.

    The dropped kerb could have been put in when the continuous pavement was created.

    ‘End of year money’ from some budget?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  11. mga
    Member

    It's on my route home from the supermarket so with full panniers it's genuinely useful for me!

    Posted 5 years ago #

  12. gembo
    Member

    @mga, i remember that kerb - it used to be quite high so welcome the job also Cockburn Society have nominated it for Best Looking Dropped Kerb 2020

    Posted 5 years ago #

  13. gembo
    Member

    Also @mga, loving our work on the Posted - 1 hour ago then 8 years ago, Best Thread Resurrection 2020

    Posted 5 years ago #

  14. mga
    Member

    Work continues on the East Scotland Street Lane cycle superhighway. Dropped kerbs on both sides.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  15. PS
    Member

    Oh, that's welcome. It was rideable, but not ideal for the less confident cyclist.

    Now what they really need to do is shift that bin, which blocks sightlines for all but the tallest folk on bikes, and double yellow the gap to discourage clowns from parking next to the bin.

    Posted 4 years ago #

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