🚲 edi.bike | issue 64 | 28th Oct ‘24
your weekly edinburgh cycling digest
📰 News this Week
🍑 “Paths for Posteriors: An Assessment of Edinburgh’s Cycling Infrastructure”
Some more phenomenal citizen journalism from Edward Tissiman this week. Following observations that the carriageway on Leith Walk is a far smoother ride than the hand-laid protected cycleway, Edward set out to measure many of the city’s key cycleways using smartphone accelerometer recordings of North Meadow Walk as a baseline, and has plotted various graphs and written an excellent article with his methodology and results:
Edward also posted a thread with the key findings on Bluesky.
This comparative method came in handy when this incredibly poor utility company resurfacing job [x] on CCWEL was posted - and Edward measured it as fifteen times worse [x] than the original CCWEL surface it was supposedly reinstating. It was good to see recently appointed TEC convenor Cllr Stephen Jenkinson suggest it was potentially a temporary surface [x] and that it would be raised with officers for investigation.
👏 BANZAI Launch Cargo Bike Library for Bruntsfield
BANZAI — Bruntsfield Area Net Zero Action Initiative — launched their new Cargo Bike Library on Saturday. There’s a few photos online from David at Laid Back Bikes [x], BANZAI on Instagram, and a handful more on their ‘stories’ there (at time of writing!).
The library will initially offer a Tern Quick Haul and a Riese & Müller Packster, and will be taking bookings from 4th November via their website;
🔨 Leith Walk Gaining Proper Sheffield Stands and Other Improvements
Local Councillor Jack Caldwell shared progress on some of the ‘Trams to Newhaven’ cycle parking being replaced this week. Stands installed as part of the line extension northwards had previously been heavily criticised for being easy to remove — and indeed, in at least one case were removed entirely — due to the use of a bolt-down design with easily removed fittings rather than properly cemented-in units specified in the relevant guidance. Cllr Caldwell said:
“We're trying to get more down Leith Walk anyway in a separate programme but grateful to Council officers for listening to resident concerns & bringing these up to 2022 Edinburgh Street Design Guidance in the meantime”
Elsewhere on the Walk, John Robson shared some photos [x] of fresh marking additions, as the snagging list for the project is gradually chipped away at — over a year since the tram started running on the new section.
💀 Corstorphine Connections Low Traffic Neighbourhood and Bus Gate Decision
🎤 Spokes’ Live Thread (Unrolled) | 📺 Webcast Link (first place cushion on desk to soften blows)
At the Traffic Regulation Orders Sub-committee meeting on Thursday 24th, Councillors voted 6 votes [Con/LD/SNP] to 3 [Lab/Green] to remove the Manse Rd Bus Gate and retain other measures in the area. For context, see Page 7 onwards under agenda item regarding ETRO/21/21 – ‘Corstorphine Connections’.
Presented with the option of refusing to bow to loud, underinformed and overexcited opposition applying pressure through a semi-orchestrated campaign of half-baked ‘surveys’ [x], misinformation [x], flip-flopping political allies and vandalism — and instead push through changes that removed over 3,000 cars per day from a school-adjacent rat-run with miniscule pavements, contributing as they would to several of the council’s own stated goals and policies — the sub-committee instead did the very Edinburgh thing of tripping over themselves to justify preserving the inalienable rights of car drivers over and above the safety of children and other pedestrians.
The City of Edinburgh Council have nearly all the planning and interventional bones necessary for managing, shifting and shaping traffic in the city: but in spite of spooky season being upon us, there’s no sign of a spine to hold it all together. 💀
🤔 Reactions to the Decision
⏩ Cllr Ross McKenzie:
💬 Quite the shift here.
Until now, I was confident that Council would support plans for Dalry that prioritise walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport over private car use.
The way @EdinburghSNP voted today and @cllr_jenkinson's reaction leaves me less sure. — Post on X
🫢 Cllr Chas Booth:
💬 No surprise that Lib Dems are total hypocrites on transport & climate. I'd have expected better from SNP councillors though.
Both parties have supported ambitious climate & vehicle reduction targets then voted against measures to deliver them… — Post on X
🏫 Dr Scott Arthur MP:
💬 This will only mean more traffic cutting through the area on the way to somewhere else along on a key walking route (inc to school) where the pavement is a little more than two feet wide. — Post on X
🧩 Chris Young:
💬 …the critical piece that reduces rat running traffic through and across the central Corstorphine village is now gone. Drivers win the day. Exactly the opposite of council policy messaging. — Bluesky
🤔 Spokes:
💬 #CorstorphineConnections
Transport Cttee spent many hours over several years debating, monitoring, evolving this scheme
But final decision is by different set of Cllrs, the TRO Sub Cttee, who see this for the first time, discuss for ~45 mins, then decide
🤔 Something wrong — Post on X
🚦 @PidginPosting:
💬 Interesting to listen to the debate on the Corstorphine LTN just how much weight is placed on “keeping traffic moving”. Doesn’t matter how much people raise concerns about safety around schools, that’s ultimately what decisions are based on. — Post on X
💬 We’ll just side with wherever the votes are, even if it means contradicting ourselves over and over — the Lib Dems, probably
👍 Lastly, a more positive take. Low Traffic Corstorphine’s response celebrates the measures that have been retained — diluted as they are by the central piece of the scheme being removed — and the good folks over there continue to do their best to make a difference for their community, even in the face of the Council’s inability to deliver.
Notable consultation deadlines:
💬 Closing today - comments on the ‘East Area’ Covid-era ‘Travelling Safely’ Schemes close today, 28th October;
🏰 Local Bits
🥪 Spokes Competition ‘Cycling & Sustenance’ Results
Spokes’ annual competition winners have been announced on the theme ‘Cycling & Sustenance’. It was a privilege to join members of their resources team as the external judge for this year’s competition, and the entries are genuinely a delight to read through - different folks’ relationships with both food and cycling, the former as a source of fuel, motivation — or in one case, bribes! — thoroughly recommend having a read through with a hot drink and a slice of something sweet;
❄️ Historic Scotland have now switched to their Autumn/Winter weekend road closure times in Holyrood Park:
Closures commence from 8.15am to 9am and roads begin to reopen between 3pm and 3.45pm. Full info here
See our 🛣 Route Closures and Issues section below for details of a Samhuinn Fire Festival closure and cycleway diversion on 31st October ⬇️
🦋 Even more folks from Edinburgh and beyond left Elon Musk’s favourite binfire — TXitter — this week; instead heading for Bluesky. Developed by the original creators of Twitter, it promises to have a more open model that’s less prone to centralised ownership.
If you’re looking to get started, you’ll find a lot of familiar names, faces and logos in our ‘Following’ list;
➕ Nationally
🏴 Scottish Cycling:
”We're delighted to share that £500,000 of funding has [been] announced for cycling facilities across Scotland. Four community cycling projects are the latest to benefit from investment from the Cycling Facilities Fund (CFF) in Aberfoyle, Balloch, Cathkin Braes and Dundee!” — Continue Reading »
🔥 BBC: Why are modified e-bikes causing house fires?
🧑⚖️ By Laura Laker for Road.cc:
”The High Court has granted permission to campaigners challenging cuts to cycling and walking funding in England, with the judge citing a ‘real prospect of success’ in overturning an earlier ruling, in a decision considered pivotal to future long-term investment in active transport”. — Read More »
🎂 Happy third birthday to the Shawlands Bike Bus! They posted a wee video to X from a recent ride;
📹 "Road safety is everyone's business":
”More than 200,000 video submissions of dangerous driving and other incidents on the roads of England and Wales have been made through Operation SNAP's online reporting portal since the start of 2021, new figures have revealed” — more in this road.cc article
(Hurry up, Police Scotland.)
🌍 Elsewhere
📺 Phenomenal Cargo Bike study / video (6m 18s) from cargo bike manufacturer Larry vs. Harry and the Brussels-based Urbike project, modelling speed of cargo bike delivery across Brussels as compared to vans making the same deliveries - well worth a watch and some amazing performance stats;
👏 "As soon as you build a bike lane, within a year, 2 years, the latent demand shows up…
Bike Share Toronto statistics show that ridership on its network of shared bikes has increased dramatically since 2015, when 665,000 bike trips were made annually. In 2023, that shot up to 5.7 million trips." — CBC News, Canada
🛣 Route Closures and Issues
Ongoing: The questionable Network Rail ban on ebike parking at Waverley Station - best to make alternative parking plans if travelling from this station at present;
Part of Quiet Route 8 - Roseburn to Edinburgh Park is currently blocked as reported on X by John Robson;
Lawnmarket and Upper Bow: Road improvements are ongoing until July ‘25; be sure to read the Council’s page about the closures, which managed to completely omit arrangements for a certain human-powered transport mode so mind how you go;
🔥 Reader Robbie kindly got in touch to confirm arrangements for this Thursday 31st October’s closure of Holyrood Park: for the Samhuinn Fire Festival - the cycleway will now be diverted from 5pm via Croft an Righ rather than closed throughout - full details here;
Melville St at Walker St has some partial closures of the CCWEL segregated lanes for major works as part of the public realm improvements that runs until December this year;
Spokes shared the upcoming partial closure of NCN 196, on the Auchendinny-Rosewell railway path for resurfacing with ‘flexipave’ - an ongoing 6-8 week closure from mid-September, so around 2 weeks remaining. Details from Midlothian Council »
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🎉 Events and Happenings
📆 Upcoming / Ongoing
🧒 Just started - Balance Bike classes for Under 6s; choose from a 10am or 11am class over the next five weeks with A Wee Pedal, run from Bridgend Farmhouse. Booking via admin@bridgendfarmhouse.org.uk;
🔁 Weekly Events
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🫂 Help Needed
⭕ Circular economy stalwarts The Bike Station are looking for new board members - take a look at the role description »
💚 Cargo Bike Movement - ‘shifting hearts, minds and other stuff by Cargo Bike’ - are hiring for a ‘Freelance Communication and Marketing Lead’. Could that be you? Check out their Jobs page »
✴️ The Wee Spoke Hub are looking for an Administration Volunteer:
ℹ️ They’re also advertising office / studio space to sublet in their building;
🛠️ Update - with 500 responses, halfway there! Scottish Cargo Bike maker Ariel Bikes are looking to get 1,000 responses to their e-cargo bike market survey, and if they do they’ll give away a bike:
“Win an Ariel e-cargo bike worth £5600, with ZF 112Nm motor system, plus Magura, Shimano, Halo, Schwalbe, Suntour and Spinner parts and components. All on a hand built 4130 chromoly steel frame fabricated in our Scottish workshop. Finished in glorious orange metallic fleck powder coat.
We want to understand the UK e-cargo bike market better. So we’ve created a short survey. Fill in the survey and if we can get to over 1000 responses, we will give away the bike.”
🛠️ SW20 and Edinburgh Tool Library are looking for project volunteers:
”We are looking to expand our team of amazing volunteers and offer additional services -- if you are interested, please complete this form and we'll get back to you”;
Ongoing: 🚌 Marshal for School Bike Buses | 🙋 Help with school programme ‘I Bike’ | 🗨️Join Spokes’ Planning or Resources group | 🤝 Support SW20 via Co-op shopping | 🆘 Donate money or bikes to Bikes for Refugees
🌈 Infrastructure Progress & Consultations
📋 Travelling Safely Schemes - East Area ETRO Consultation Closes ⚠️ TODAY 28th October
ETROs for these schemes have various end dates (barring ‘South’, which is not yet published) and can be found for comment at the Council’s Travelling Safely Commonplace microsite;
This ‘East Area’ Experimental Traffic Order (ETRO/21/28A) covers a number of Covid-era parking suspensions used to facilitate bollarded cycle lanes around London Rd, Willowbrae and Duddingston, including cycle routes used by school pupils, teachers and parents to and from multiple primary and secondary schools. It is currently open for comments until today, 28th October by emailing TRO.Consultations@edinburgh.gov.uk quoting ETRO/21/28A or using the Travelling Safely website form.
🌉 Roseburn to Union Canal
📅 There’s a couple of Roseburn to Union Canal project drop-in sessions open this Thursday 31st October, 2pm-5pm and 6.30-8.30pm:
There will be an opportunity to find out more about the Roseburn to Union Canal Link, including Dalry Community Park and the Sauchiebank Community Garden. We want to hear your ideas and encourage you to get involved in future plans for the Community Park and Garden.
Held at St. Martins Episcopal Church, 232 Dalry Road, EH11 2JG.
🌊 Musselburgh Active Toun Consultation
Updated plans over on Musselburgh Active Toun with further consultation in the coming weeks, including two drop-in sessions about the updated plans: these may be of particular interest to Edinburgh residents as they cover the East Lothian section of Edinburgh Road that would eventually facilitate the long-held ambition of a tie-in to Joppa and Portobello prom, as well as the rest of the North Edinburgh network.
📅 Drop-in sessions for the project are on:
This Wednesday, 30th October, 5pm – 7pm at The Fisherrow Centre, South St, EH21 6AT
Thurs 7th November, 6pm – 8pm at Wallyford Learning Campus, Rosehill High School, Masons Wy, EH21 8BF
Comments on the consultation can also be emailed to musselburgh.uki@aecom.com
🚢 Leith Connections - New Consultation for ‘Hawthornvale to Seafield’ Open
⚓ Leith Connections Phase 3 - Hawthornvale to Seafield
Consultation now open - running until 17th November.
📅 Drop-in session announced: View and comment on the plans with members of the project team this Tuesday 29th October, 2pm - 6pm at Leith Community Centre, 12A Newkirkgate, EH6 6AD.
View the:
Consultation Hub Page (link at the bottom to fill out the survey before the deadline);
Detailed Design drawings (PDF) »
🦶 Foot of the Walk to ‘Ocean Terminal’ (actually Commercial St)
⚓️ As spotted by Harry Williams [x], 'Foot of the Walk to Ocean Terminal' - construction start date has been updated to ‘start of November 2024’ (for ten months) - protected cycle route as part of Leith Connections, which promises to be a great continuation of the segregated routes slowly taking root in the city centre. Confusingly, a closer look at the project reveals that it doesn’t go to Ocean Terminal (shades of Roseburn to Union Canal here) and instead gives up at Commercial St, with the Commercial St to Ocean Terminal leg covered by the third phase of Leith Connections (above).
⚒️ Work ongoing, August to November - Lasswade Rd Cycleways
Spokes shared [x] the project page for a partial resurfacing of Lasswade Rd that includes a stretch of segregated cycle lane at each side, close to Gracemount High School. Spokes’ response makes mention of various interesting aspects and suggests changes.
Thanks for reading - ride safe 🚲
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