Back on the QBC « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

Back on the QBC

(64 posts)

Started 11 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
Latest reply from chdot

No tags yet.

12 3 Next »

Wilmington's Cow
Member

Popped out at lunchtime today and found myself on a really short section of the QBC (basically downhill as far as Earthy Foods). It struck me again how much of a misnomer it is, especially given most of the direction I was headed had no bike lane whatsoever.

Coming in the other direction had 5 or 6 parked cars in the lane (and was so narrowed at one point that a van coming uphill had to wait till the traffic going downhill was past).

Got it on video, so will be throwing something together tonight. Just seems to have been Launch - hurrah and back slapping for council; derision from anyone who has had to use it; admission that it might not be that good from Councillor Burns;.... nothing.

Posted 11 years ago #
Coxy
Member

I'm off to the Bike Station tonight. I was assuming I'd be cycling in the middle of the road as usual!

Posted 11 years ago #
cc
Member

Looking forward to your video WC.

I live a few yards from the QBC, work a few yards from the QBC, and I cycle to work, but not on the QBC. It's ghastly. Those bits of cycle lane which actually exist are either in the door zone, or nearly invisible to car drivers, or blocked by Chinese delivery vans, or are full of gut-wrenching pot holes. Lauder Road and the Meadows make a far nicer route.

Posted 11 years ago #
Wilmington's Cow
Member

Hmmm, I need more footage.

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

Not really wide enough

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

No cycle bypass!

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

Yep

The quiet route from The Meadows is blocked off!!

I'm sure it will be fine when it's finished...

Posted 11 years ago #
cc
Member

I'd forgotten that that was the council's "quiet route". Well spotted! And of course the council hasn't bothered to put in a diversion for people on bicycles!

Posted 11 years ago #
Wilmington's Cow
Member

Brilliant!

The 'quiet route' thing always amused me. They actually state in the information about the QBC that 'if people want a quieter route....', so basically they're saying 'we've created this QBC but done nothing to address the traffic, so all you non-confident people, who would be most likely to benefit from a proper QBC will have to make do with previous routes, which by the wya we've also actually done nothing with they just happen to be a bit naturally quieter, no I'm not sure why we didn't restrict traffic even further on a quiet route and put the QBC there but never mind that, but actually we've got some general roadworks to do there so it'll be closed anyway and we'll not help out with where else you can go to cycle...'

T. I. E.

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

Hadn't realised how soon 'quiet route' joined QBC proper - though it does avoid the narrowness of Causewayside.

This is route with deviation to other end of KB.

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2023558

Was checking details ahead of -

http://cyclingschools.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/sciennes-plans-monthly-rides-to-school

Posted 11 years ago #
cc
Member

It seems to take a different route going in the other direction, left from Mayfield Road onto Relugas Road.
Oh, in fact the route in both directions is marked on opencyclemap.org.
That "Quiet route 6" is pretty much my route to work.

Posted 11 years ago #
Roibeard
Member

Probably the southbound route is sent via the traffic signals to make the right turn on to Mayfield Road easier.

With that junction closed, one has to turn right before or after the signals and that can be difficult.

Robert

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

Was about to photograph white car - rear offside just in wiggle of bike lane - then this other one arrived.

Man gets out and goes into shop.

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

"I'm sure it will be fine when it's finished..." (Above)

Maybe -

Cycle provision

Lovely lead-in lane.

I'm sure this is parked legally and it's not a particularly wide one.

Fountainhall Road - at junction with QBC.

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

"
Sciennes Primary (@SciennesPS)
28/02/2013 20:12
Come and join us tomorrow on the 1st of our monthly cycle to school. Leaving King's Buildings at 8.30.

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2023570

"

Posted 11 years ago #
Dave
Member

It's not quite ready but will be up tomorrow morning before work:

http://mccraw.co.uk/quality-bike-corridor-revisited/

I'll leave it at that in case the spam filter attacks me again!

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

http://cyclingschools.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/cycling-the-qbc-to-sciennes

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

"

Cycling Edinburgh (@CyclingEdin)
09/03/2013 15:02
@nelly0168 THIS is what @AndrewDBurns thinks of #QBC

http://www.andrewburns.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/cycling-boost-for-edinburgh-with-new.html?m=0

@LAHinds

So it's not just #Edinburgh #cycling dissidents!

"
"

Lesley Hinds (@LAHinds)
09/03/2013 15:43
@CyclingEdin that is why I am aware there has been criticism of this project! Lets learn from this project?

"

Posted 11 years ago #
Dave
Member

chdot, would it be OK for me to use some of those photos in a future post re: the QBC? Properly credited, of course...

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

Of course.

Thanks for asking.

Posted 11 years ago #
Nelly
Member

chdot - That was an interesting exchange yesterday - lesley hinds tweeted me back about 'balancing all interests' when I challenged re: QBC consultation.

This is the problem with local politics - it needs someone to make a brave decision (close George St to motorised traffic for example?) which is NOT balancing all interests - but which is clearly the right move.

I know we notionally live in a democracy, but do we believe that the London bike corridor would have happened if it was debated and all parties interests balanced in the outcome?

Posted 11 years ago #
SRD
Moderator

A few thoughts on the QBC from me too http://deceasedcanine.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/what-so-bad-about-qbc.html

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

Well arguably things have been unbalanced for years...

It's like the BBC - something like the Now Show clearly doesn't have much internal balance (if the balance point is perceived to be somewhere between Labour and the Coalition). Presumably someone thinks it balances the rest of the BBC(?)

Perhaps there could be a better balance between the number of bike and car parking spaces.

Perhaps as cyclists are allowed to use (nearly) all roads any on-road cycle provision is unbalanced.

Politicians really shouldn't have some sort of impossible balanceometer at the front of their minds.

On a simplistic level any action will 'disadvantage' someone.

Politicians shouldn't even consider 'advantaging' those who vote/might vote for them.

'We' believe that 'cycling' advantages (almost) everyone.

There's even some evidence for that!

Posted 11 years ago #
SRD
Moderator

I sent this link to Lesley Hinds http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/03/08/bicycling-means-business-how-cycling-enriches-people-and-cities/

It's examples of how bike infrstructure improves local business.

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

From above link -

"
If bicyclists want to convince policymakers of the benefits of cycling, they need to stop talking about cycling

"

Easier said than done. But I've certainly been saying for a while (including to Leslie Hinds) that there needs to be more emphasis on pedestrians - and provisions for them.

Just basic things like crossing timings - and even connecting the push buttons to change sequences...

Also if you expect people to use buses to and from work (etc.) make it easier to cross the road to/from the stop(s) not on the side of the road where people live. (If the nearest bus stop is on your side of the road in the morning you'll have to cross the road when you come home. I don't think many 'traffic planners' think of basic details like this.)

Posted 11 years ago #
Dave
Member

Nothing could further underline the failure of the QBC than photographs of a police cycling escort (!!) negotiating illegally parked vehicles on the narrow section (where cycle provision has only even been attempted in one direction).

One thing I really liked from Boris this week was a commitment not to make small improvements to a lot of stuff, but to spend their money in a focused manner. The QBC is awful because it delivers almost nothing but was still quite expensive, at 3% of City of Edinburgh Council's annual transport budget (over 60% of the annual cycling budget).

It would have been better to spend all £650k building a segregated cycleway between the bottom of Ratcliffe Terrace and the Grange (ideally Summerhall). South of there the route is exceptionally wide anyway, while to the north you can route people through the Meadows.

I really have no idea why money was spent on the roads between Summerhall and the top of MMW given how easy it would have been to put a crossing in on Melville Drive and route all cyclists on a widened expressway through the Meadows. (FOMBLE?)

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

From Dave's blog post on Leith Walk -

"

Leith Walk could easily be a thriving boulevard – it’s just a question of changing its primary purpose from a distributor expressway to a street where people are prioritised.

There are immediate benefits to be realised from slowing traffic down and shifting the emphasis towards pedestrians and cyclists – drastic reductions in noise, air pollution, hugely increased footfall for local businesses, just for a start.

On that last point – when people can’t easily cross the road, if they come to Leith Walk at all they are going to be inclined to stick to the side they’re on and neglect all the businesses opposite. Who wants to spend time on a four lane expressway of a street anyway?

"

http://mccraw.co.uk/leith-walk-consultation-redesign

Posted 11 years ago #
Dave
Member

Speaking of Middle Meadow Walk - what better demonstration of infrastructure reconstruction than the fact that there is now a busy supermarket (sometimes queuing out the door) in a location with no vehicular access. It's not because it's quicker than going to the alternatives (Marchmont - Cameron Toll by car is quicker, for instance).

Posted 11 years ago #
chdot
Admin

"
THE saga of the abandoned redesign of Glasgow's George Square, which cost taxpayers £100,000, is to be investigated by public spending watchdogs.

"

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/politics/political-news/probe-into-george-square-facelift-fiasco.20459062

OK not quite comparable - £100k 'wasted' because politician didn't get his own way.

But I'm far from convinced that the QBC was any sort of 'value for money'.

Posted 11 years ago #
PS
Member

"
If bicyclists want to convince policymakers of the benefits of cycling, they need to stop talking about cycling

"
Spot on. A similar point to the one I posted in the London thread:

Some good stuff in here:
]http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/bike-blog/2013/mar/07/boris-johnson-future-london-cycling]

Including:
"
One of the very best elements of the plan outlined on Thursday morning by Johnson and his transport supremos is the way it emphasises that more cyclists is good for everyone: less road congestion, less smog, more seats on the tube, a city tilted that bit away from motor vehicles and towards human beings, however they might be propelled.
"

As long as these things are described as "for cyclists" the mental image to the general public is "flouro-jacketed weirdos", so they get no wider support. The tone of the argument needs to be, as per Chris Boardman, "what do we want our cities to be like?" ie, benefits for everyone.

Posted 11 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

12 3 Next »

Reply »

You must log in to post.

// CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

About This Forum

CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

Back on the QBC

Reply »

RSS Feeds

Links