Email to Spokes members -
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Dear member
We are very disappointed to find that the City Council intends to go ahead with its plans for Princes St and George St without amending the cycling aspects, despite the results of the public consultation.
In Princes Street there will be vastly more space than now on the north (shops) side, with removal of all the bus shelters and of the existing roadway - but the pavement will be widened right out to the tramlines, with cycling completely banned. The south (Gardens) side will stay as it is, westbound only, suitable only for confident cyclists willing to mix it with buses and taxis next to the tramlines.
In George Street there will be a roadway eastbound (most likely on the south side of George Street) open to all forms of traffic. The other side of George Street will be pedestrianised, with a 2-way cycleroute included. It is not explained how this will safely connect to the Bridges or to Lothian Road.
Yet we understand that the public consultation revealed a desire to allow 2-way cycle use on the traffic-free north side of Princes Street, and for 'permeable' cycling in the city centre - i.e. being able easily to get to shops, Gardens and other local destinations by bike.
It feels like the Council sees cycling solely as traffic needing an east-west commuter route. Instead we believe that cycling should be a means of getting around and getting to all sorts of places for everyone - from 8 to 80, confident, nervous or novice, as adults or a family with children. Even for commuting, a George Street route by itself will have many problems for people connecting to and from it - for example, anyone heading for, say, the Bridges.
The Council plan is intended as a 12-month trial, implemented at low cost initially, then made permanent if successful. Yet as a trial, it should surely include a trial of allowing 2-way cycling on the north side of Princes Street.
For more info, see the May 31 news item at spokes.org.uk, "Princes Street: Visionary Shock"...
http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2013/05/princes-street-visionary-shock/
and see our briefing document to councillors asking for the trial to be amended to include a Princes Street 2-way cycleroute.
http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/1305-Proposal-to-TEC.pdf
IF THIS CONCERNS YOU, PLEASE HELP ... HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. The plans are to be discussed and voted on at the Council Transport Committee which starts at 10am on Tuesday morning (June 4). If you agree with us, please contact your councillors immediately and ask for an amendment to the trial, to allow cycling (2-way) on the north side of Princes Street as part of the trial. Find your councillors at the Edinburgh Council website http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/councillors or at http://www.writetothem.com.
2. We intend to lobby councillors 9am-10am as they go to work at the Council buildings on Tuesday morning before the 10am Transport Committee. If you are free, please come along. Spokes members will be at the City Chambers Quad from 9am-10am. There will be a few spokes tabards to wear. Also feel free to bring any poster.
If you come (and if you email) please try to engage with councillors in a positive way - we are pleased that the new council is at last trying to create a more European-style and people-friendly city centre, after years of procrastination, but they are making a very big mistake on cycling, and the proposals need to be amended. Many other arguments are in our above briefing document for councillors.
3. If you can come on Tuesday, please email your councillors to say you will be there and would like to speak to them as they arrive. If you hope to come, let us know if possible, but it's fine to come anyway.
4. If you wish to attend the Transport Committee it begins at 10am and is open to the public. However, there is a long agenda, and this item looks like about 1/3 of the way through.
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