🚲 edi.bike | issue 83 | 10th Mar ‘25
your weekly edinburgh cycling digest
📰 News this Week
🍜 TODAY: Join Infrasisters on their ‘Safe Space’ ride
TODAY — InfraSisters are doing something a bit different to celebrate International Women’s Day - a lunchtime pop-up "safe space" ride around the city centre today, Monday 10th March. We'll start outside the City of Edinburgh Council's offices at Waverley Court on East Market Street at 12:30pm
If you're wondering how to decorate your bike to make your presence felt in the middle of the day, we suggest using your noodle. Specifically your pool noodle. The legal distance when overtaking a cyclist is 1.5m...
More on the Infrasisters Website »
💸 George St Public Realm - What Could £2m Have Gotten Us, Elsewhere?
By Harry Williams, in response to a new article in the Herald Scotland — Plans for major cycle route on prestigious Scots street 'already dead'
At least £2 million has been spent so far on design and consulting on a project that now seems unlikely will go ahead in its current form. How much impact could £2million have if it was spent tomorrow on active travel projects?
How many dropped kerbs / cycle stores / easy wins could that have paid for? George Street could have had a proper traffic management plan in place years ago which would have had the exact same impact these plans will have.
Investment in Edinburgh’s core streets is absolutely vital, but so far action in this space seems to have amounted to a lot of money spent on fancy designs and renders and not much actual on the street change.
It took 10 years for CCWEL to begin construction. Meadows to George street has been delayed years at this point and core streets in Edinburgh still have an embarrassing level of on foot / cycle provision.
I believe Edinburgh council should go ahead with the George Street plans in their current form but serious questions should be asked about how we fund/plan and develop these schemes. It’s going to be embarrassing when Glasgow has 10x the core schemes Edinburgh has in the same amount of years.
📍 Tenders - £289,400
📍 Public Contract spending -£110,740
📍 Council docs -£1.535m
- 2023 Procurement Report »
- 2017 Project Update »
Originally published on Bluesky »
🏴 Cycling Scotland: “Investment in landmark cycle routes delivering record share of journeys by bike in Scotland”
Via Spokes: big numbers on the City Centre West-East Link (‘CCWEL’) in this Cycling Scotland article:
Edinburgh’s City Centre West to East Link sees additional 1,000 people cycling in two-day survey period in January 2025 vs 2024, an 83% increase
The article also includes a count from September 2024 where cycling reached an 8.3% modal share along Roseburn just nine months after the route opened.
⚡ Porty Community Energy Carers Survey: Win £50!
Porty Community Energy are running a survey for carers - pass it on if you know someone who might take part:
Please fill out our travel survey for carers (paid or unpaid) by the 12th March and have a chance to win £50. Sharing is caring! Thanks 🙏 It’s a quick survey about cycling which will feed into the design of the Bike Library projects next year. — FB Post
🤝 March Transport & Environment Committee Roundup
The City of Edinburgh Council’s Transport and Environment Committee met on Thursday 6th March and we’ve got an outline of the Agenda in last issue and a roundup after ‘Local Bits’ below ⬇️
🏰 Local Bits
🛄 Final Week!: It was great to make it down to the third opening of the ‘Travel Agents of Change’ [IG] exhibition by Porty Community Energy and BANZAI; having first exhibited in Portobello and subsequently the Water of Leith Visitor Centre, it’s now open on the Union Canal between the 📍 Leamington Lift Bridge and Viewforth.
💔 Sad news this week - following cargo bike delivery service Zedify going into administration in February, the remaining Zedify base in Edinburgh — who independent firm Farr Out [IG] joined forces with in mid 2024 — has now closed down too. We’ve heard that local assets have gone to charitable organisation Goodies SCIO. As always, our thoughts are with founders, riders and anyone else caught up in the end of this chapter, and hope your next adventure finds you soon.
📷 Some great photos on Bluesky of the completed flexipave resurfacing of NCN196 out in Midlothian, by John Robson;
💚 News from Cargo Bike Movement:
💎 Treasure Hunt, Friday 21st March
On Friday the 21st of March Cargo Bike Movement are hosting a TREASURE HUNT by bike! The event is family-friendly with a circuit around the Meadows completing challenges, and clues taking teams across Edinburgh. All wheels are welcome. Form a team or come to 📍 the Hub on the day to be paired with fellow hunters. We thank our sponsors for their support for this event and can't wait to celebrate CBM with our community. See you there! Bluesky post »
‼️ STOLEN CARGO BIKE ‼️- CBM’s Yellow ‘Yoonit’ mini cargo bike (above) was stolen last week, last seen in the Gorgie / Dalry area. If you see it, get in touch with them.
👕 Clothing Fundraiser for Zero Waste Food Runs
Cargo Bike Movement have launched an Everpress clothing campaign to raise money for the continuation of the food collections by cargo bike, picking up surplus food and distributing it to people who need it in Edinburgh.
You can pre-order merchandise now until 24th March on Everpress. Garments are made after the orders have closed to reduce waste.
This fundraiser is aimed at covering future costs that may include cargo bike maintenance, insurance, and storage. While we don't know exactly what these runs will look like, we hope funds from this campaign will help guarantee the continued distribution of food to the community.
📆 Upcoming Training Sessions
“Cargo bike trainings, providing in-depth instruction. The course will give you Cycling Scotland accredited training for cargo bike use, and we’ll have loads of fun!”
Email jamie@cargobikemovement.org to sign up to one of the training sessions:
1-4pm Wednesday March 12th
1-4pm Wednesday March 26th
💡 Photos from Leith Feeder Ride on Bluesky, showing “Much needed new lightning being installed on the unlit / poorly lit stretch of the Restalrig Railway Path between Easter Road and Hawkhill Avenue 👏”
🛠️ The Bike Station this week published a few useful posts on their Instagram account; details of upcoming Bike Maintenance Classes and accredited Velotech courses, and also some FAQs around their Causewayside branch’s closing date and how to access their services around that time;
⚙️ Spokes have — as always — been doing a sterling job holding decision makers to account - this time at a national level, picking over Scottish Government budget updates and attempting to see through the rather foggy way that the cycling budget has been lumped together with other ‘not a car’ categories, in what can only be described as a rather opaque and anachronistic way of accounting for budget and trying to obscure cost-cutting;
💸 Thanks to Michael for sending in - closes 19th March:
People and Place Community Grant Fund opens for applications: The national “Smarter Choices Smarter Places (SCSP)” funding pots that so many cycling organisations have been supported by over the years closed last year, and now Transport Scotland gives that cash to Regional Transport Partnerships (for Edinburgh that’s SEStran) for them to dish out regionally. SEStran’s fund just opened for applications for the year ahead for “community groups, community interest companies and charities” for “active travel or sustainable transport interventions”.
🔧 “Lasswade High School has refurbished and donated more than 40 bikes as part of a project teaching pupils cycle mechanics and bike riding skills. And the good news is, the school wants to give away more.” — Midlothian Council on Facebook
🤝 Transport & Environment Committee: March Meeting Roundup
As ever, the Council’s Transport and Environment Committee (‘TEC’) met this month - a relatively short meeting for this committee, started with a smile after an interjection from Cllr Kevin Lang asking for a variation to the order of Business: to table a recognition that it was the Convener, Cllr Stephen Jenkinson’s birthday 🥳
“There is nowhere I would rather be on my birthday, than a committee meeting in the City Chambers”, the Convener replied with a wry smile.
You can see our agenda and paperwork roundup in last week’s issue for background on any of these items (and a few more that weren’t questioned or discussed at the meeting).
🌐 Meeting Page | 📺 Webcast | 📋 Agenda Frontsheet [PDF] | 📂 Agenda Reports Pack [PDF] | 📝 Business Bulletin [PDF] | 🎙️ Deputations [PDF] | 📑 Motions & Amendments [PDF] | 📅 Future TEC Work Programme [PDF]
📝 Business Bulletin
🛍️ Page 12: George Street Public Realm Improvements update:
In questions, Councillor Kevin Lang made a point that this very publication had fallen foul of last week - namely that the list of city projects said to potentially benefit from income generated by Edinburgh’s new tourism levy was purely indicative, but had been worded in the report in such a way to suggest that there was a list of projects already definitely destined for tourist levy income, when in fact those are future decisions. Quite right to call this out.
Councillor Kayleigh O’Neill asked with regard to ‘value engineering’ on the project, whether Councillors could be provided with a cost comparison when specifying a cheaper material that might require maintenance more frequently or more quickly than the more costly option, in order to be better informed about the trade-offs. Officers answered that this was one of the goals of the upcoming workshops with representatives, and that the sessions will cover potential compromises with materials changes and take councillors through these kinds of aspects of trying to bring the costs of the project down.
📑 General Reports and Motions
🏎️ 8.1: Traffic Calming Measures - Dalmeny Park Estate — Report [PDF]
The long-awaited traffic calming measures for this area — primarily raised table crossings to slow vehicle speeds, and bollards at some corners to protect pedestrians where sight lines are reduced — will be implemented towards the end of April, beginning of May this year.
In discussions, an interesting idea was mentioned when looking to how other cities manage developer contributions such as the Section 75 agreement in effect for this project, suggesting the possibility of using less Section 75 notices - which compel financial contributions from a developer should their planned development go ahead, to mitigate local impact - vs. ‘Planning Conditions’, where the developer is tasked with undertaking the mitigation themselves. As an example, if a Section 75 order were to ask for £25,000 for the council to implement a toucan crossing outside a new housing development, a ‘Planning Condition’ would instead compel the developer to contract the installation of a toucan crossing there themselves.
The knock-on from this in Edinburgh would be that planning approvals with a Section 75 agreement wouldn’t then generate more transport projects for the pipeline, that then compete for resources and end up with delays for either the planned mitigation or other Active Travel or road safety projects.
There’s still a question as to whether these particular measures will be enough to prevent Scotstoun Avenue from being used as a literal racetrack by dafties from across the country, who have been congregating and racing in South Queensferry; they don’t go as far as, for example, filtering the road at one end to prevent through traffic entirely. Officers spoke of a multi-agency approach to tackle said anti-social behaviour, and one can only hope for the sake of the residents here that it wards away the plastic spoiler brigade.
🚦 8.2: Improving Signalised Crossings — Report [PDF]
A question was asked of officers how long it will be until all ‘pelican’ crossings have been phased out of Edinburgh. Apparently, 80 or so remain - but the timetable for converting these to puffin or toucan crossings is hard to pin down, as the type of crossing is not the only aspect to be upgraded — other elements such as halogen to LED light sources might be part and parcel of changes to an individual crossing installation.
From another question, the city has a backlog of locations where ‘we’ (residents, councillors, officers) want a crossing to be implemented - so is it right that we’re spending money on existing crossings rather than tackling the backlog? The answer to this was that older hardware becomes unmaintainable because the technology comprising them becomes unsupported by contractors - so upgrading crossings isn’t just a nice to have, it becomes essential to keep existing crossings running and is why it’s a priority.
🏘️ 9.1: Motion by Councillor Booth - Liveable Neighbourhoods - inline on meeting page
In the report on the Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood that went before the Traffic Regulation Orders Subcommittee (or ‘TRO Sub’) in February - who then voted to retain the measures - there were two key improvements proposed by officers: a proposal to move the Bus Gate to Links Gardens, and to increase traffic calming measures on Duncan Place, where one of the only traffic increases in the scheme was measured.
However, the TRO Sub doesn’t have the power to commission new work - hence this motion - there’s otherwise no formal process for bringing additional officer recommendations from the TRO Subcommittee into Transport workstreams. Isn’t democratic admin fun!
In discussions, Councillor Chas Booth mentioned how contrary to the arguments against the measures, they had not been implemented ‘from the top down’ and imposed on residents, but formed in conversation with them - and as such sought to reestablish a ‘Community Reference Group’ for the work to improve the scheme when the time comes.
In spite of very clearly stating that the motion is not intended to suggest to prioritise the work - only have it ‘shovel-ready’ if funding becomes available - Tory councillors still moved a bid for ‘No Action’ on the item, stating that if it was a part of the City Mobility Plan (CMP) prioritisation work, then this motion was inappropriate and pre-emptive.
Not content with a mere ‘anti’ position on paper, this was followed by a typical anti-LTN traffic displacement ramble by Cllr Whyte, including claims that the Foot of the Walk to Dock St cycle route — currently under construction — will affect bus operations at the Foot of the Walk (while conveniently avoiding any mention of ‘how’, lest the point undermine itself), making heavy-handed claims about increases in traffic locally (clearly unrelated to a general rise in traffic levels city-wide 🤔) and invoking what the ‘real people of Leith™’ think, who apparently are those who don’t know words like ‘modal filter’ — essentially suggesting that it must be the evil cycling lobby who conveniently planted ourselves across Leither demographics and intercepted market research opportunities, rather than that the scheme is indeed popular. One must assume in conclusion that the 75% of real-life, inconveniently supportive residents within the scheme who were in favour of the measures must not be ‘real Leithers’.
In summing up, Cllr Booth fired back with some solid evidentiary support for the measures:
“What Cllr Whyte said in his moving there is just not true about the LTN - 26 out of 27 monitoring points for air pollution showed an improvement - you don’t get that if you have a significant increase in traffic. 12 out of 13 traffic count locations saw a decrease in traffic - you don’t get that if there’s an increase in traffic… There were counts on the boundary as well, and it’s quite unusual for a boundary road of an LTN to see a drop so soon after implementation.” — Cllr Chas Booth
The unusual move of proposing ‘No Action’ by Cllr Whyte was of course rendered entirely moot, outgunned as it was by the usual 9 votes to 2 — ensuring improvements to the liveable neighbourhood are ‘on the list’ for future development.
🛣 Route Closures and Issues
📪 The week’s road closure info - many thanks to regular contributor Robbie for sending these in:
ℹ️ Encountered unexpected road issues? Find out how to report them with this guide from Spokes. The team at Edinburgh Travel News are also keen to hear about cycle path alerts and can be contacted on Threads or Facebook.
🏫 Canaan Lane: exit closed at Morningside Rd for Scottish Water repairs from the 18th for two weeks. It’s not clear if the contraflow cycle lane leading to the Greenbank-Meadows Quiet route and Canaan Lane Primary School will be closed. It’s also not clear if bi-directional local access will be permitted on this one-way street, which may result in vehicles driving with / in the contraflow cycle lane.
🌳 Wester Hailes Road: closed at Lanark Rd for resurfacing from the 17th for two weeks. It doesn’t seem like access via Viewfield Rd will be possible, however the offroad paths at Woodhall Millbrae and opposite Hailes Gardens are marked as cycle paths on the council’s cycling map, and may provide alternate routes.
🌉 Harrison Road: two bridges closed due to structural concerns with micro-cracking in the original cast iron beams. Until works begin, a pleasant temporary low traffic area has been created; however, access to cycles is being restricted as works begin.
The west bridge over a small path is having its deck rebuilt until September 2025. The roadway is closed to cycles, though the footway remains open for now. A closure of the path underneath is also expected, which may include a signed diversion.
The east bridge over the Union Canal is being inspected and may also require repair works. Update 7th March - Inspection works should be complete. Friend of the digest Oli posted a photo of the impressive inspection vehicle on Bluesky »
🧭 CCWEL at Rosebery Crescent - Re-opening to cycles – The next phase of Scottish Water sewer repair works is beginning, which is stated to include a designated cycle lane alongside the works. This follows Spokes raising that plans failed to mention cycles and was missing a northbound diversion.
🚂 Waverley Bridge - concrete barriers have been placed across the southbound lane with no gap. Council officers are planning to replace them with temporary barriers with a southbound cycle lane. Update 7th March – be aware a suspected faulty sensor is causing airport buses to enter the ‘bike box’, further restricting access.
⛔️ North Bridge: closed to northbound traffic until April. It is possible to pass via Cockburn St and Waverley Bridge or on the footway by dismounting. Southbound, be aware of vehicles overtaking in a narrow lane, adjacent to an unclear coned-off area. Update 7th March – Signage has been improved, however some concerns remain.
🧱 Ellen’s Glen Rd, a quiet link in Liberton, closed at the modal filter to repair flooding damage until late May 2025. Closure includes pedestrians and a diversion is signed via Malbet Wynd;
💧 Union Canal: Towpath improvement works are ongoing from Leamington Lift Bridge to Edinburgh Quay until May 2025. A section of towpath is closed with diversion across the lift bridge and along the southern side of the canal - more info at Scottish Canals;
⚡ 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;
🏹 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;
📣 Help edi.bike ✍🏼
🗣️ Recommend us to someone - why not forward to a friend, or just point them to edi.bike online
📝 Share a story / issue - If you run into anything that might be a good fit for next time, feel free to send it over.
💜 Join the Supporters Club for £1/month to help us cover costs and promote to a wider audience. More info below.
🎉 Events and Happenings
📆 Upcoming / Ongoing
💧 As shared by Spokes; There are ongoing drop-in sessions on the Burdiehouse & Niddrie Burn Restoration project, which includes some active travel route aspects - this week:
Tues 11th March, 3pm - 6pm at 📍 Craigmillar Library
♻️ The Bike Station’s 📍 Causewayside branch has a Moving Sale, coming up again on the 15th March ahead of their relocation;
🚲 From Edinburgh Leisure: “Back in the Saddle: New Course Helps Seniors Rediscover Cycling Joy”, an 11-week course which started last week (3rd March);
🚴🏼♀️ Ongoing SCORE Scotland weekend cycling training over the rest of March:
‘Advanced Cycle Training with Safety Advice and Route Planning’ at 📍 Rannoch Community Centre — 6 Rannoch Terrace, Edinburgh EH4 7ES
🗓️ Saturdays 15th, 22nd, 29th March, from 3pm to 5pm
🗓️ Sundays 16th, 23rd, 30th March, from 11am to 1pm
Booking is essential: Call / text Madhavi on 07496190752
⚙️ Spokes, the Lothians Cycle Campaign, latest ‘Action Update’ [PDF] includes details of their next public meeting, featuring Transport Convenor Cllr Stephen Jenkinson and Deborah Paton, the Council’s Head of Transport, Strategy and Partnerships:
This will be our first public meeting with Transport Convener Cllr Stephen Jenkinson, who took over when Cllr Scott Arthur was elected as an MP... He will speak on the place of cycling within Edinburgh’s overall transport policies, and what we can expect to see happening this year. Also speaking will be Deborah Paton, Head of Transport, Strategy and Partnership at the Council. As a senior officer, whose remit includes active travel, she is knowledgeable both on detailed active travel issues and on how individual projects fit into overall council transport plans. Deborah previously worked at Glasgow City, drawing up their new Local Transport Strategy, and before that preparing West Lothian Council’s Active Travel Action Plan, thus rising rapidly through the ranks!
Wednesday 30th April, 📍 Augustine United Church. 7.30pm - 9.30pm, with doors open from 6.45pm for coffee, stalls and chat, including a special stall to join Spokes or renew your membership
💯 Reader Alastair shared with us a new campaign by cycling club Edinburgh RC celebrating its hundredth year:
As part of the celebration of our Centenary year, we are launching our 100x100x100 women's challenge. This aims to get 100 women of all cycling abilities to ride 100k. If you are an experienced rider, why not encourage some of your family or friends to take part in the challenge? If you are nervous about rising to the challenge fear not, ERC is ready to help.
More info at Edinburgh RC »
👺 From Edinburgh Bicycle Coop on their Instagram:
We supplied S2 and S3 pupils of James Gillespie's High School with non-recyclable bike packaging and they created some incredible artwork on the theme of 'faces'. On display in our Bruntsfield branch of what is hopefully the first of many exhibitions.
🖼️ The Spokes, Infrasisters, Bike Buses and Edinburgh Critical Mass co-curated campaigning exhibition ‘Pedal Power’ has opened at its new venue [IG] of Duncan Place in Leith - well worth a visit!
🔁 Weekly Events
🍃 Mon, 12-2.30pm: Free, fun group ride on paths from Bridgend Farmhouse;
🌅 Tues, ⏰ 5.40am: Edinburgh Dawn Patrol - Meet St. Andrew Square, same route each time - contact Markus [x];
☕️Tues, 5pm: [National] Active Travel Cafe on Zoom
🛠️ Weds, 3pm: Bike Kitchen at Edinburgh Tool Library
🌅 Thurs, ⏰ 5.40am: Edinburgh Dawn Patrol (same as Tues, details above);
✴️ Thurs, 5-8pm: Bike DIY Session at The Wee Spoke Hub
⚙️ Sat, 2-4pm: ‘Bike Cleaning and Oiling’ drop-in session at The Wee Spoke Hub
🔁 Monthly Events
🚲 First Friday of the month: Inclusive social bike rides with A Wee Pedal, 1-3pm, from Bridgend Farmhouse;
✊ Last Saturday of the month: Critical Mass Edinburgh, Family-friendly mass protest / group ride, 2pm, Middle Meadow Walk;
🫂 Help Needed
🚐 Could you shift a bike donation into Edinburgh on behalf of Bikes for Refugees? “Milnathort, Cairneyhill or Troon 💪HELP needed! Can you collect/drop a bike donation on your commute to Glasgow or Edinburgh hubs?” — bikedonations@bikesforrefugees.scot
Ongoing: 🚌 Marshal for School Bike Buses | 🙋 Help with school programme ‘I Bike’ | 🗨️Join Spokes’ Planning or Resources group | 🆘 Donate money or bikes to Bikes for Refugees | 📦⚡️ Hire Community Cargobikes, E-bikes or Trailers from SW20, Porty Community Energy or Banzai | ♻️ Donate old bikes to The Bike Station, The Wee Spoke Hub or ‘Brake the Cycle’.
🌈 Infrastructure Progress & Consultations
✨ This section of the digest will receive a revamp in the coming months to move long-running, detailed consultation information onto web pages, and instead publish a list of links for open and recent consultations (along with summaries for anything actually new). In the meantime, anything new or changed is found near the top. ✨
In Previous Updates:
📋 Consultation: Edinburgh BioQuarter Active Travel Gaps - Sheriffhall Park & Ride to BioQuarter Campus Route
Now closed (2nd March at 23:59): Consultation spotted by Spokes this week; seeking to connect up both some missing internal links in the active travel pathways around the Edinburgh BioQuarter site at Little France, and also deliver protected cycleways and quiet routes between the site and the Midlothian Council park and ride facility at Sheriffhall:
“Edinburgh BioQuarter partners (City of Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian, Scottish Enterprise and The University of Edinburgh) are in the process of improving active travel routes and facilities in and around the campus…
The improvements being looked at within this project will see the development of a new active travel route to Edinburgh BioQuarter from Midlothian in the south to plug a 'gap' in the infrastructure. Eliminating the 'gap' will improve accessibility for walkers, wheelers, and cyclists during everyday journeys.”
Detailed Plans and Rationale on the project’s StoryMap »
🗺️ East Lothian Council are carrying out consultations on proposed improvements between Prestonpans and Levenhall; there is of course some local resistance, and it would be great to see folks who feel able to comment responding to the consultation.
Download the (muckle!) combined plan [PDF] or browse the list
🍃 Spokes recently highlighted a new consultation from Midlothian Council to create Active Travel provisions along the A7:
The aim of the project is to improve active travel connections within the study area making it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle for their everyday journeys and to connect to public transport services more easily. Currently, there is no or limited provision for walking, wheeling and cycling along the majority of the A7 corridor.
The consultation has a deadline of 30th March for comments and input;
📋 Following the recent deadline for the ETRO (Experimental Traffic Regulation Order) consultation for the Northern ‘Travelling Safely’ areas, Spokes shared their final response [PDF] to the various areas and schemes covered - as always, thoughtful input on taking the schemes forward and potential improvements;
📃 From lurking in Community Council mailing lists, I spotted this rather handy document listing upcoming City of Edinburgh Council consultations and their approximate launch dates for the coming year;
🏞️ Via Spokes - in an update from Friends of Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park the start of a new project to improve the valley is ongoing:
Burdiehouse Burn Restoration - Concept Design
“For the Burdiehouse Burn to become a successful and notable blue-green regeneration project, restoring approximately 5 km of the burn and surrounding habitats”
Core project objectives:
Sustainable river restoration
Habitat restoration in the surrounding landscape ✨ 3. Active travel connections
Placemaking & access improvements
Education & engagement of people and organisations local to the burn
Net zero gains
Improve the resilience of the site to climate change.
More in their newsletter »
🏚️ New plans for 21 flats on the site of the derelict Longstone Inn - damaged due to local flooding - have been published, featuring a ramp and alley access to the Burnside path; in addition, the council have now progressed with identifying who owns which bits of land and wall where the Burnside path sinkhole is situated, so discussions with the landowner will be ongoing to come up with a plan for remedial works here to fix not only the sinkhole, but hopefully the underlying cause too.
⚒️ Merchiston Community Council are back on the campaign trail to improve Polwarth’s worst junction. News of the Council commencing a redesign, and more background on the project, can be found on their website;
📋 Dalry ‘Living Well Locally’: the council have published an Initial local resident feedback Report on the Dalry Town Centre proposals [PDF]. There is a summary on the main Consultation page.
🕳️ Photos shared by Longstone Community Council show recent works have provided “Some improvements to the diversion path surface and the gradient made on the Burnside path. Barriers also secured more robustly stopping access to the sinkhole.”;
⬆️ The statutory process for a handful of one-way street cycle exemptions have been published by the Council - available here as a list and more detailed plans: ‘TRO/24/27 - One-way street exemptions for cyclists - Various Roads - Ending on 31 January 2025’. Just one part of a city-wide project over the next 18 months or so to make more one way streets legal for contraflow cycling.
🚧 Works on the West Edinburgh Link project look to be starting at the end of May according to the listings on the Scottish Road Works Commissioner web portal spotted by Longstone Community Council;
🚢 Leith Connections: Foot of the Walk to Dock St Construction Underway, Schedule Shared
🦶Foot of the Walk to ‘Ocean Terminal’ (actually Commercial St)
⚓️ 'Foot of the Walk to Ocean Terminal' - construction is underway on the Great Junction St cycleway, with work on Henderson St recently started too, for around ten months - a 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.
This Leith Connections works leaflet [PDF] outlines the rough timeline for construction of the route.
Confusingly, the project 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 (below);
⚓ Leith Connections Phase 3 - Hawthornvale to Seafield
View the:
Consultation Hub Page (now closed to responses);
Detailed Design drawings (PDF) »
🌳 Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route
Some recent movement on the Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route, in an update from Blackford Safe Routes and this update from Cllr Ben Parker;
📋 Travelling Safely Schemes (Various)
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; also by emailing TRO.Consultations@edinburgh.gov.uk quoting the relevant scheme.
🌊 Musselburgh Active Toun Consultation
Updated plans over on Musselburgh Active Toun with further consultation ongoing: 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.
Comments on the consultation can be emailed to musselburgh.uki@aecom.com
Thanks for reading - ride safe 🚲
💜 Join our 'Supporters Club'
The weekly edi.bike digest will always be free (gratis) to read for anyone who subscribes, as well as remaining ad-free.
For £1/month, you can join our Supporters Club, and help with existing costs for our domain name, hosting, and promotional materials like posters and stickers.
Huge thanks to those of you who have already signed up to support us - we really appreciate it 💜
🎁 Club Perks
As well as supporting us, we're also planning the following perks for Supporters Club patrons:
A bi-monthly (around 6 times a year) behind-the-scenes update sharing subscriber numbers / growth, promotional efforts, and other stuff about the running of edi.bike;
A shiny 'Supporters Club' sticker;
Over time, we might also consult Club patrons on strategic decisions and other matters.
If you can't support us in this way, that's grand too - thanks for reading!