🚲 edi.bike | issue 89 | 21st Apr ‘25
your weekly edinburgh cycling digest
📰 News this Week
📈 Edinburgh Tops List of UK Cities Studied with Highest Percentage of Cycle Commuters (10%)
As shared by Spokes this week, an article in the Edinburgh Evening News covers a study where Edinburgh tops a list of UK cities for cycle commuters by percentage:
The rankings were built using the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), specifically looking at the percentage of employed individuals in England and Wales who listed cycling as their main way of getting to work.
To give a full UK picture, comparable figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland were pulled from their respective national statistics bodies, Scottish Government Statistics and NISRA, and combined to form a final league table of the country’s biggest bike-commuting hotspots.
As pointed out in responses to SW20’s post on the matter, by Professor Peter Matthews, the list likely doesn’t include London due to the localised nature of the source data by Local Authority - but it’s an interesting comparison regardless across other similarly historic cities at a national level.
✊ Edinburgh Critical Mass this Saturday 26th
This week! Last Saturday of the month: Critical Mass Edinburgh, Family-friendly mass protest / group ride, 2pm, Middle Meadow Walk. Check their Bluesky or Instagram for the route map, usually posted a couple of days before;
🏰 Local Bits
📷 Some nice photos on Facebook from Bridgend Farmhouse of a their recent ride to the Royal Observatory led by A Wee Pedal;
🖼️ The ongoing ‘Pedal Power’ exhibition about cycle campaigning in Edinburgh co-curated by Spokes, Infrasisters, Bike Buses and Edinburgh Critical Mass is on the move, from its current venue of Duncan Place in Leith destined for Norton Park at 57 Albion Road, from this Wednesday 23rd April;
💬 In a post on Facebook, Cycle Law Scotland are looking for feedback on their idea for a “Cycling Road Safety Roadshow” later in the year:
Potentially hosted in Edinburgh and Glasgow late August / early September 2025. 3hr duration with a number of different topics and speakers. Evening or weekend?
It would be a FREE event, with a FREE prize draw and would include refreshments!
They’re looking for comments on the post — which are a mixed bag of good ideas and disgruntled middle-aged Cars Rights Activists who have taken a wrong turn somewhere — or messages. Their website has a few ways to contact them if you want to avoid the personality voids haunting the comment section.
🎻 /Via Spokes - “Sarah Small's 'Good Again?' concert cycling tour will see her perform in a total of 26 venues, pedalling approximately 4,000 km (2,500 miles) in distance”;
🎉 For six months starting in September, the ‘Towpath talks’ team will be returning:
Cycling community Talks are back - with the closure of Biketrax in January, the regular cycling talks by MacKenzie Barker (@rekrab82 [IG)] and hosted by Izabela Murtagh (@iza.murtagh [IG]) will be making a return in September using a new venue — Gamma Transport Division in the Comely Bank / Stockbridge area"
Great news. Announcements currently via the Towpath Talks account on Instagram, and we’ll publish dates when available;
💸 Amazing fundraising effort underway for Bikes for Refugees Scotland, and others:
In May 2025, endurance cyclist Sarah Ruggins [IG] will fight to claim the outright World Record for cycling the length of the UK and back, a total of 2,700KM, in support of two good causes based in England and Scotland who provide essential mobility & freedom of movement to refugees & asylum seekers via the gift of bikes and the transformational power of cycling..
Please follow [IG] Sarah Ruggins, The Bike Project and Bikes for Refugees for regular updates and news which will include an exciting opportunity to double your donation thanks to Big Give, to make twice the difference to our charities and support to our communities.
Sarah's story can be followed here, as well as information about how you can get involved and support.
🚴 Soul Cycles‘ recently announced bike hire and tours business now has its own Instagram account ahead of a new website launch coming in May;
🇬🇧 National
🛍️ The Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) has announced that this year’s Local Bike Shop Day will take place on Saturday, May 3rd, the weekend of the early May Bank Holiday;
🚧 Another great video on Youtube from Glasgow Cyclist aka Charles McGibbon, taking a wee ride around to check on the progress of various ongoing cycle infrastructure and public realm projects;
🚲 “How new connections are making walking, wheeling and cycling in the Scottish Borders accessible to all”: new National Cycle Route links near Peebles, and other local infrastructure, improving safety and access in the borders;
🇬🇧 The power of dreaming big, by Laura Laker on her Substack this week:
I’m not necessarily talking about the NCN here. The National Cycle Network as it is, does the job as best it can with charitable funding, an army of amazing volunteers and no powers or very much land at its disposal.
I’m talking about, what if we had national leadership on cycling, for a standardized network of routes that connected city, town and village networks (a few are planned, fewer are built), to the surrounding settlements and beyond?
What if we had a national network of cycle routes? [Substack]
🛣 Route Closures and Issues
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.
🦋 On Bluesky? Follow the #EdTravCyc feed - anyone can use the #EdTravCyc hashtag to share route issues they encounter;
📪 The week’s road closure info - many thanks to regular contributor Robbie for collating and preparing these:
🐌 Gardeners Crescent: Closed at Morrison St for Scottish Power repairs until further notice. A possible diversion may be the Canal-Westend cycle route through Port Hamilton. This is a winding but off-road shared use space, marked with blue direction signage. It is due to temporarily close later in the year for building works, but remains open at time of writing.
🏗️ Infirmary Street: Closed at South Bridge on this Sunday (27th April) for a crane lift.
🚧 East Fettes Ave: Closed until the end of April for resurfacing on Comely Bank Rd. Comely Bank Ave may also be closed. If you’re travelling between Stockbridge and Ferry Rd, Inverleith Park or Crewe Rd may be alternatives.
🏫 Canaan Lane: closed at Morningside Rd for Scottish Water repairs. It will still be possible to use the Greenbank-Meadows Quiet Route. However, be aware of vehicles turning and exiting this space via Woodburn Grove, especially around school-run hours. Update: expected to re-open later today (21st April).
🚳 St John’s Road: Crossing Improvements at Featherhall Avenue until mid-June. During the initial works, the northbound cycle lane on Featherhall Avenue will be closed.
⛰️ Duddingston Low Road in Holyrood Park: Ongoing inspection works have identified a risk of rockfall, resulting in a closure until further notice. Dismounting to pass is not possible. The innocent cycle path is currently unaffected; however, this may change.
🌉 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 has been inspected and may also require repair works. Friend of the digest Oli posted a photo of the impressive inspection vehicle on Bluesky
🚂 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. Be aware a faulty sensor is causing airport buses to enter the ‘bike box’, further restricting access.
🧱 Ellen’s Glen Rd, a quiet link in Liberton, closed at the modal filter to repair flooding damage until late May ‘25. Closure includes pedestrians and a diversion is signed via Malbet Wynd;
🏡 Leith LTN: Closure of Duncan Place until late May ‘25 for footway resurfacing. During this period, traffic will instead primarily access the LTN via Links Gardens, with the bus gate suspended. The modal filter on Wellington Place may provide quieter cycle access.
💧 Union Canal: Towpath improvement works are ongoing from Leamington Lift Bridge to Edinburgh Quay until May ‘25. 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.
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🎉 Events and Happenings
📆 Upcoming / Ongoing
🤘 A new 6 week term of the Edinburgh School of Rocks has just started:
💡What is the School Of Rocks? A woman-led community offering a toolkit to empower everyone to find joy in off-road cycling. The School of Rocks builds skill, confidence and community by organising a curriculum of rides over 6-week terms. Rides are fun, regular and gently progress in difficulty. Riders learn and grow in a supportive environment.
⛰ The School of Rocks provides an alternative space to those who don't feel represented in the traditional gravel scene. We particularly welcome women, riders from the LGBTQIA+ community, and riders of all shapes and sizes, skin colour, ethnicity, age, background and ability. We can all discover the joy of exploring by bike.
Do check them out if you’re interested, on Instagram or their Linktree;
⚙️ 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
🧘 Yoga by Bike, coming in May:
Join Detour [IG] for a social bike ride and yoga practice in East Lothian, on the 4th May!
We will meet by 📍 PATH (Portobello Active Travel Hub, on Porty Promenade) at 9am. We’ll ride around 15 miles to Longniddry, with plenty of stops to chat, hydrate and enjoy the scenery.
Around 11am we will arrive at Fern Bothy, where snacks and hot drinks will be provided. Jorja will then lead a 1 hour Vinyasa Yoga class, suitable for all levels.
Option to jump on a train home from Longniddry, or ride back to Edinburgh together!
🏴 Save the date for She Pedals Scotland:
On 14th June 2025 we want to see how many women and girls in Scotland can ride their bikes in one day. Whether it's 1 mile or 100 miles, off road, on road, racing, cycling round the park, e-bike, BMX, handcycle, it doesn't matter. Let's create a buzz around women and girls riding their bikes outdoors!
💙 Riding LEJOG in memory of Tim McKenna — and raising money for charities Mind, Sustrans and Flight Free UK in his honour. Passing through in August, folks can join for some or all of the route by reviewing the itinerary. Thanks to John Robson for the link;
💯 Edinburgh RC celebrating its hundredth year in 2025 and have an ongoing challenge encouraging 100 women of all cycling abilities to ride 100km - offering help to anyone who needs it along the way;
🔁 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 - more info on their Instagram;
☕️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;
✊ This week! Last Saturday of the month: Critical Mass Edinburgh, Family-friendly mass protest / group ride, 2pm, Middle Meadow Walk;
🫂 Help Needed
🍅 SHRUB is looking for food distribution volunteers and Cargo Bikes:
We need anyone available any evening from Monday to Friday with a cargo bike or other transport to help us at SHRUB, picking up food from various supermarkets, that needs sorting and delivering to SHRUB in Bread Street. We are a zero Waste Hub charity and work for community environmental stuff!
We need to keep collecting and giving out for free a lot of waste supermarket food! This project has existed for 3 years any many of our people are vulnerable, disabled and/or elderly and rely on our free safe fresh food that would otherwise go in a bin
Can you help? If you can lend us your bike any day a week or even do the collection? Please email kai.allen@shrubcoop.org
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:
🚶 Pedestrianisation and Cycling Project to Close Lawnmarket to Traffic
Via Harry Williams on Bluesky, news of a new City of Edinburgh Council project commencing in July will see an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) close Johnstone Terrace and Lawnmarket during daytime, with deliveries and loading taking place outside of those hours:
Restrictions will be between
10.30am and 7.30pm, Monday to Saturday
12.30pm and 7.30pm, Sunday
Lawnmarket’s former black vehicle barriers have been removed during works, to be replaced at the end of the current work with mechanised retractable bollards. In addition to this filter, the following changes will be put in place:
Johnston Terrace:
Restricted access for large vehicles when pedestrian and cycle zone is in operation
Removal of existing coach parking
Taxi and private hire pick-up and drop-off areas
Additional blue badge parking
Public and resident parking
Turning area for smaller vehicles including taxis and vans
Castle Terrace:
Coach pick-up and drop-off on Castle Terrace
Relocated residential parking to make way for Coach spaces, at the cost of
Being an ETRO, over the eighteen trial months the council will be looking to monitor the impact and any changes needed before making the scheme a permanent change - including six months of public consultation. There’s also an extensive page of current arrangements, ahead of the ETRO commencing, including changes to through traffic on Castle Terrace.
These welcome (and long overdue) changes are seemingly part of a series of new projects under the heading ‘Improving Old Town Streets’ which starts with Johnstone Terrace and Lawnmarket, and also covers Victoria Street, High Street (west), Cockburn Street, High Street (east) and Hunter Square - all earmarked for changes under the various themes already established by the Transport Committee:
The strategies and plans guiding our proposals
The project reflects our ambition to be net zero by 2030 and the wider vision for the city as set out in our key strategies including:
City Mobility Plan 2021 – 2030: a 10-year strategy to transform the way people, goods and services travel around the city;
City Centre Transformation: an ambitious plan to provide a people-focused city centre, which is a desirable place to live, work and visit.
Our Future Streets (Circulation Plan): a long-term approach for planning transport and improvements to outdoor spaces across the city.
🌸 Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route: ‘Option 3’ Detailed Plans (At Last)
Last Spring, the Labour Administration sided with Tory and Lib Dem colleagues on the Transport and Environment Committee and voted to remove traffic filtering from the Braid Estate, forming a key part of the Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route - filters that had reduced through-traffic in the neighbourhood by as many as four thousand cars per day, a vote in direct opposition to several of the councils’ own policies. After a long design process, the plans for ‘Option 3’ (in a strange, consultation-as-referenda programme of stumbling around local objections and procedural glitches) have finally been made available, providing instead a series of protected cycleways through the streets forming the Braid Estate. Recently, Cllr Ben Parker asked for an update at Full Council and received a number of clarifications from Officers.
Neither pro-filter campaigners nor their pro-through-traffic counterparts are particularly thrilled by the plans, which will be implemented using temporary materials under a new Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO). However, thanks to Labour having tabled a last-minute caveat at the time, the ETRO will include the option to revert and reintroduce filters on the estate without requiring further legal process (e.g. another ETRO design and advertisement), so there is still hope if a case can be made that the goals of the project are deemed to have been compromised by reintroducing through-traffic to a liveable neighbourhood…
You can download the plans here [PDF].
📋 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 🚲
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