"I used to go this way in 1991 when I commuted by bike from Morningside to Balerno. All on roads: I had no idea the WOL path existed, and I'm guessing it was pretty much impassable on a bike in those days anyhow."
iirc for about the last twenty plus years it's been much as it is less the tarmac and lighting in the tunnel and the ***** awful whindust treacle. I certainly used to use it to cycle to and from town/Balerno before I had a driving licence (which I must confess is a little while ago :-o )
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Upper WoL path...
(76 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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How often do travelling uses and leisure uses really conflict?
The canal is busy around office closing times, the NEPN is mostly empty "off peak". Would it really be to the detriment of people going for a quiet walk to benefit the people who currently feel they need to use Lanark Road, especially going up?
I suppose the problem isn't with the (very) limited number of current cyclists willing to be buzzed by hundreds of impatient motorists on the A70. If the WoL was made suitable for cycling it might encourage large numbers of people who don't currently cycle to use it.
With their awareness raised, they might then "recreate" on the path on foot too, especially if that didn't mean ruining clothes and footwear with crazy mud.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I've just spent half an hour looking for fast* bikes that would take a 2" tyre. We'll need that garage!
* for a certain value of fast...
Posted 11 years ago # -
OT I just had a very brief test on the renewed audax bike, def not WOL suitable, and def not 2" tyres, but feels faaaaaast B-) Initial impressions of the dynamo front light are good too :-)
Posted 11 years ago # -
Interestingly I rode right past a place that's on the market in Currie without even realising.
I haven't really paid much attention to ESPC before deciding whether we even want to live there - that's the mistake we made when we found our dream house in Penicuik, then realised how terrible the links to Edinburgh are.
Houses are expensive! :o
Again I wonder at the wisdom of being somewhere that's stupendously expensive to live but doesn't pay correspondingly. (I stopped looking at London jobs' pay years ago!)
Posted 11 years ago # -
I am stupid, I'd forgotten the bike route goes down there.
Posted 11 years ago # -
that's a bit harsh fimm! just shows the perils of multiple mode user spaces, i'd say.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@ Dave
Ah well if considering Currie then you might find Donkey Lane which starts at Muirwood Road and skirts Baberton Golf Course. It used to be a path but it is now a combination of a river and a path. Takes you out at kennels above Heriot Watt, you turn right and you have a lovely traffic free road down to Wester hailes at the Westburn Village end from whence it is a short jink to the canal through westburn village
Posted 11 years ago # -
That was last night: http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9236 :)
The Marathon Winters have impressed me this week, OK they might have failed on occasion on the WoL, but they did eat up the donkey path and the tracks on the right bank of the WoL to Colinton.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Ahbyes, I see it now in two other posts
I once met a hundred year old person walking a dog on Donkey Lane.
Sounds like AKen also advising the jink through westburn village to use the canal rather than wester hailes proper.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I don't often ride the WoL path downstream of Colinton, my recollection is that it's only very poor in a few discrete patches. So rather than tarmacing the whole path I wonder if the council could be persuaded to just address these particular sections, either by improving their drainage or replacing the surface with something less gloopy.
Posted 11 years ago # -
This seems to be happening. One of the bad sections us below the tunnel at Colinton and I noticed recently that some drainage channels at the side of the path had been dug out - I wasn't even aware they were there so it had the feel of archaeology rather than maintenance. There were also some sections of timber deposited at points next to the path that looked like they might be used to stabilise the drainage. Not sure either of these will solve the problem of a gloopy, sticky surface covering though. The whindust seems to be slimy whenever it's damp and it seems to stay damp for a very long time.
Posted 11 years ago # -
As the ground was likely to be frozen hard this morning, I decided to take the WOL path for a change. It was frozen but the surface is now appalling bad for long stretches between Currie and Slateford. It was badly rutted when frozen today but once it thaws it'll be a series of really unpleasant mud slides. Despite the path being up to 3m wide in places, the actual usable section has in many places shrunk to a 50cm wide strip at the side that will only cause conflict with other path users.
It's clearly unsuitable for commuting (although the number of types tracks in the snowy stretches shows that some people are using it) and unpleasant for leisure cycling. I've taken the kids along here numerous times in the past but certainly wouldn't do so now. The only people who might enjoy it are the non-mud-averse mountain bikers. So as an NCN route, what is it for?
Posted 11 years ago # -
from the WoL trust:
MUD MUD GLORIOUS MUD
Posted: 21 Jan 2013 06:02 AM PST
We have had lots of tweets and emails recently about the muddy state of the Water of Leith Walkway. The path is mostly owned by City of Edinburgh Council, managed by the Natural Heritage Service. They are planning to invest a fair bit in path improvements in the coming months. Areas around Redbraes, Kate Mill and Currie will be given attention. We have also been out with volunteers trying to sort out some of the drainage ditch issues and path scrapeing jobs needed to alleviate the worst of the muddy surfaces.Please bear in mind that we have had an exceptionally wet summer at the path has never really had change to dry out before the autumn leaf fall, and small mudslides have also added to the problems. However we would like your feedback on the worst affected areas, so we can help target action. email admin@waterofleith.org.uk
Posted 11 years ago # -
Good to know.
We've started viewing in Currie/Balerno now...
Posted 11 years ago # -
I've been running up and down the WoL path a good deal in the past few weeks. The section between the Visitor Centre on Lanark Road and the Gorgie Road crossing has quite a nice surface - it is not really muddy but it isn't tarmac either. The really muddy bits seem to be at the end of the tarmac section when you've come over the canal, up near the tunnel, and I found a new really bad bit yesterday up beyond the bypass. I think all of these have this "whin dust" stuff that people keep taking about (whatever it is).
Posted 11 years ago #
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