🚲 edi.bike | issue 94 | 26th May ‘25
your weekly edinburgh cycling digest
📰 News this Week
🍒 Flora Stevenson Bike Bus x ‘My ride. Our right’ this Friday
Come and join the Flora Stevenson Bike Bus this Friday, 30th May: the ride will form part of Cycling UK’s ‘My ride. Our right’ campaign, and is also a first birthday celebration for the Flora Stevenson Bike Bus.
As part of ‘My ride. Our right’ — a campaign by Cycling UK pushing to make cycling safer for women — organisers are particularly looking to attract female riders, young and old, on a ride asking for sustained investment into active travel and to support the bike bus. Councillors and local press are likely to be in attendance.
📅 Friday 30th May, 8-9am starting from 📍 the end of Craigleith Hill Avenue and ending at 📍 Flora Stevenson Primary School.
✅ City Mobility Plan Prioritisation Approved, and Other Wins at May Transport Committee
Some big wins for Active Travel at the City of Edinburgh Council’s Transport & Environment Committee this week, in spite of some weird shade-throwing from Conservative Councillors trying to claim the Critical Mass ‘Delays Cost Lives’ protest outside had been orchestrated by the Edinburgh Greens. With Critical Mass being a world-wide, decentralised and self-organising movement, that’s more than unlikely, and treads that fine line between the typical dour Tory “down with this sort of thing” demeanour and donning a tinfoil hat to protect yourself from all these folk that just refuse to agree with you.
As with all things, if your team organised it then it’s “residents making their important views on council policy known”, and if you don’t like it then obviously Cllr Booth has called on his rolling roster of pro-urbanism imposters to pretend to be local people with something to say.
I’ve been ill for the last month or so and finally on a course of antibiotics - low on energy, I’ve spared myself a full rewatch and write-up of the committee this month. (My Doctor has also recommended I avoid any Evening News articles penned by Cllr Whyte until I’ve recovered - and then continue doing so…). Instead, I have our recent links to the various items and reports below, as well as links to some great threads and summaries of the outcomes covered by others in the city ⬇️
🪨 News on the Future of Holyrood Park’s Duddingston Low Road
Some news from frequent contributor Robbie Ainsworth, who was in attendance at a public meeting on Monday with Lorna Slater MSP, local community and stakeholder groups:
There was much debate on the rockfall risks at the Radical Road and the perceived overly cautious approach taken by HES. Works are planned to reduce the extent of the closure of the Radical Road.
Duddingston Low Road has been closed since January after similar rockfall instability was identified. It is likely to be reopened to pedestrians and cycles only - making it a pleasant link. A fence (for the avoidance of the rockfall zone, presumably similar to Johnston Terrace) would be installed in the carriageway.
Further closures of the Innocent Railway are planned for cliff descaling works to reopen Duddingston Low Road. I challenged HES on why such a fence has not been installed on the Innocent Railway to keep it open during works. They stated that it was possible but the cost is too high (a figure of 25k was suggested). It was agreed to investigate improving upcoming closures of the Innocent Railway, such as providing more notice, a signed diversion route and keeping it outside of commuter periods.
There was debate and mixed views on closing the park to motor vehicles vs. residents in the east of the city relying on it to drive. This was a much more balanced discussion than Cllr Whyte's proposed amendment at TEC on Thursday describing opinions by residents in the Craigentinny and Duddingston ward.
A 'Friends of Holyrood Park' community group was formed for the long-term desire to become the management body for the park. There will be another meeting in 6 months to formally elect members to the group.
It would be great to have more users of Holyrood Park at the next meeting. About four people raised positive Active Travel points, out of around forty attendees.
Many thanks to Robbie for sharing that roundup, as well as usual excellent road and route closures list below ⬇️
🏰 Local Bits
☀️ Glorious to see a Musselburgh chapter of Cycling Without Age bedding in at the Fisherrow Centre in Musselburgh [IG];
📷 Andy Arthur shared a few images to Bluesky of new bollards installed to prevent vehicle incursion onto the NEPN Warriston and Chancelot bollards and also at the Fiveways junction;
✊ This month’s Edinburgh Critical Mass will take advantage of the warmer weather for a slightly longer route out to Newhaven (as a longer ride, there will be a stop off at a park on the way round) - 2pm, Saturday 31st May, meeting at the 📍 Millenium Milepost on Middle Meadow Walk; IG Post »
🍂 Midlothian Council are consulting on a new ‘A701 relief road’ — which includes a 3m protected cycleway alongside the length of it — but perhaps more importantly, proposing an ‘A701 Sustainable Travel Corridor‘ with protected cycleway and integrations with Straiton Retail park, stretching all the way from the Straiton Roundabout at the junction with the A720 (bypass) to the Gowkley Moss Roundabout. Connections here to the shared paths available on the ‘Edinburgh side’ have been lacking, and the presentation deck [PDF] is worth a look through before responding by this Friday, 30th May;
Great initiatives ahoy! Via Blackford Safe Routes:
🌅 With support from our Cycle Access Fund, The Ripple Project in Restalrig, Edinburgh, is opening up new ways for families to travel, connect and enjoy time together — more at Cycling UK »
🌐 Shiny new website launched last week for the Edinburgh Bike Coop folks;
💪 Following Dr Sarah Ruggins’ world-record-breaking ride from John O’ Groats to Land’s End and back again in aid of The Bike Project and Scottish charity Bikes for Refugees, cycling illustrator James Arnold has created a likeness of Ruggins and made it available on a range of merchandise — and all proceeds go to the same charities as Dr Ruggins’ heroic fundraising ride;
🗳️ Transport & Environment Committee: May Coverage
⚙️ As ever, Spokes kept an in-depth Bluesky thread going as proceedings unfolded; this includes a number of images from reports, background and the meeting itself, and coupled with our summary of the decisions in the list below should give you a good outline of how the meeting went;
🔗 Blackford Safe Routes posted a short thread to Bluesky including details of the weird accusations about staged protests (if a Politician agrees with a set of people protesting, we tend to call that ‘representation’ in the real world…)
Edinburgh Critical Mass also had their own posts on Bluesky with images from the protest outside and a response to the tinfoil hat nonsense;
The Edinburgh Reporter posted a brief interview with Cllr Booth asking about his motion to tackle Active Travel project delays, with the protest as a backdrop.
🚙 A Green amendment on the (now approved) ‘City Mobility Plan Capital Investment Plan’ — the prioritisation of projects for the next decade or so of delivery — emphasised the need for road user charging as part of the Council’s tools to reduce car travel; this being agreed essentially amounted to “we’ll continue to look into this, and speak with other Councils about their interest in it as a potential tool” which is welcome forward progress. Interestingly enough, the powers to introduce congestion charging are actually already available to councils, as explained in this excellent post by Morningsider on City Cycling Edinburgh »
What is seemingly missing, or at least desired by CEC before moving to introduce congestion charging, is the guidance from the Scottish Government on implementation that would normally accompany such legislation. It may be that collaborating with other Local Authorities produces the leverage needed with the Scottish Government to have their backing.
Links:
🔗 Meeting page »
📺 Webcast »
🔗 Agenda » [PDF]
🎙️ Deputations » [PDF]
📑 Motions & Amendments » [PDF]
🚲 7.1 Cycle Hire Scheme Update - Report » [PDF]
✅ Passed (with amendments). Hire ebikes are coming.
🚶 7.2 Local Traffic Improvement Delivery Programme - Report » [PDF]
✅ Passed (with a minor amendment).
⏩ 7.5 City Mobility Plan Capital Investment Plan - Prioritisation - Report » [PDF]
The report includes a long list of projects across the city to either proceed in developing, or pause for the time being - found from page 12 onwards (or on this interactive map) and are well worth a browse through.
✅ Passed, with Amendments:
Three projects were added or ‘unpaused’ at committee following deputations and input from Councillors: development of The Causey, the ‘Portobello Town Centre’ project, A71 Heriot Watt to Sighthill Active Travel Improvements, and a decision on ‘George Street Cross Streets’ was deferred to next TEC - argued as vital to the success of the wider George Street project.
🌳 8.1 Offered for ‘Scrutiny’: Entrance to Holyrood Park Road and Strategy Update – Response to motion by Councillor O’Neill - Report » [PDF]
✅ Passed, with Green group Addendum.
📝 9.1 Motion by Cllr Booth - Delays to delivery of Active Travel Investment Programme - Motion »
✅ Passed.
🇬🇧 National
🏴 Scottish Youtuber Charlie McGibbon aka ‘GlasgowCyclist’ has been up in Dundee riding and documenting the ‘Green Circular’ route around the city;
🎤 ‘Cyclist’ interviews Scottish Borders custom bike builder and painter Russell Stout;
👁️ New Dutch-style 'cycling roundabout' goes down well... as locals tell critics to "take the blinkers off" to see it's "the most straightforward thing" — Article on a new ‘Cyclops’ junction in Hemel Hempstead on Road.cc »
🌍 Elsewhere
⚜️ Paris Votes to Make 500 More Streets Car-Free
With the passage of a referendum Sunday, Mayor Anne Hidalgo will amplify her ambitious moves to challenge car dominance and expand pedestrian access – Bloomberg »
🛣 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:
🎤 Murrayfield: Robbie Williams concert this Saturday 31st May. Various Road closures from 5:30pm. Exercise caution and consider dismounting if possible on CCWEL to Water of Leith Path from 2pm. Roseburn Path to Union Canal open throughout.
🚧 West Coates: Segregated Cycle Path CCWEL may be closed this week by Scottish Power works on the footway near Wester Coates Road until the 6th June.
🕳️ Telfer Subway: Orwell Terrace closed at Dalry Road from the 26th May to the 6th June, for Scottish Water manhole repairs. The next street over, Orwell Place, may provide alternate access to the Telfer Subway.
🌉 Hope Lane Footbridge: Exit to Portobello High St closed from tomorrow 27th May. It will be possible to access the footbridge via Windsor Place or by dismounting.
🛒 Gilmerton Road: Segregated cycle lanes potentially closed near Morrisons for Scottish Water repairs from this Thursday 29th May until 11th June.
🚧 Viewforth: Closed at Bruntsfield Place from 2nd until 11th June for Scottish Water repairs. If you’re heading between the Union Canal and Bruntsfield, Leamington Terrace may be an alternative.
🚧 Stenhouse Drive: road between Tramline path and Water of Leith Path closed at Gorgie Road from 9th June for 9 weeks. Stenhouse Avenue may offer an alternative route.
🌊 West College Street: Remains closed near the pass under Potterrow for Scottish Water sewer repairs. Barriers have been reduced to allow cycle access however be aware of further excavation works.
⛰️ 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. UPDATE: HES advised on the 18th of May that a fence is to be constructed allowing access to cycles and pedestrians only.
🏗️ Port Hamilton Cyclepath: Shared use path between Union Canal and West End closed until 2026/27 for building works. A diversion has been signed via Gardeners Crescent and Semple Street – look out for diversion signs with the red number 7.
🚧 East Fettes Ave: Closed until the end of May 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.
🌉 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, though the footway remains open. A closure of the path underneath is expected, which may include a signed diversion.
The east bridge over the Union Canal has been inspected and may also require repair works. Fencing has been placed across the bridge to prevent motorists from moving cones, though there is a gap for cycles.
🚂 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.
💧 Union Canal: Towpath improvement works are ongoing from Leamington Lift Bridge to Edinburgh Quay until June ‘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
🎻 Tomorrow! 27th May (Edinburgh Pianodrome): “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” /via Spokes;
🧘 Yoga by Bike - booking for June now available:
Join Detour [IG] for a social bike ride and yoga practice in East Lothian, on the 8th June!
We will meet by 📍 PATH (Portobello Active Travel Hub, on Porty Promenade) at 9am. We’ll ride around 12 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!
🎟️ Tickets for 8th June »
Detour also have an event the day before on Saturday 7th June - a 12 mile loop from Tribe in Portobello [IG], stopping off at Dalkeith Country Park for an outdoor movement session.
🖼️ New Venue: The ongoing ‘Pedal Power’ exhibition about cycle campaigning in Edinburgh co-curated by Spokes, Infrasisters, Bike Buses and Edinburgh Critical Mass has moved on from Duncan Place, and can now be found at Norton Park (📍 57 Albion Road) — having been transported across by cargo bike (of course!) in April;
🏴 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!
⛰️ Bikepacking event Dirt Dash’s 2025 return continues in July - check out the gorgeous video they put out this week [IG] from a recent event too:
Stans Yorkshire Coast Dirt Dash on 6 & 7 July, and concludes with the Lezyne Dunoon Dirt Dash on 27 & 28 September. Organised by round the world cyclist Markus Stitz, these self-supported rides are designed for cyclists who love off-road riding and are seeking new experiences on their bikes, whether for seasoned gravel riders or anyone new to bikepacking.
💙 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;
🎉 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!
💯 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 Evenings: Edinburgh Gravel Cycling Club social group rides;
✴️ 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
🟰 Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council’s Edinburgh Cycling Club run weekly group rides and introductory classes
🔁 Monthly Events
🚲 First Friday of the month: Inclusive social bike rides with A Wee Pedal, 1-3pm, from Bridgend Farmhouse;
✊ This Saturday! Last Saturday of the month: Critical Mass Edinburgh, Family-friendly mass protest / group ride, 2pm, Middle Meadow Walk;
🫂 Help Needed
☀️ Job opportunity from Porty Community Energy:
PCE are looking for a summer weekend worker to hire our electric bikes and cargo bikes and staff our Active Travel Hub at the bike library on Porty Prom during our busy season
Do you:
Love cycling?
Love getting other people and families out on bikes and having a great time?
Enjoy being outside and working with volunteers?
Then this is the job for youThe job is for 4 months June – September 2025, 16 hours per weekend (includes paid lunch break each day)
We pay the Real Living Wage (£12.60 per hour or £100.80 per 8 hour day before tax)Email us at portycommunityenergy@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Application deadline: Saturday 31 May, midnight. Interviews to be held Tues 3rd June 11.30am to 3.30pm
🔧 The Bike Station are hiring:
👥 Cycle Trainer Ride Leader - 0.5FTE
🔧 Community Mechanic - 1FTE
More details on their Vacancies page »
🧡 The Wee Spoke Hub are looking for a Comms volunteer [IG] and for other roles too;
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. ✨
🚌 Another update from Robbie on Elm Row; the combined uphill / downhill cycleway behind the bus stops appears to now be completed, but the old downhill cycleway in front of the bus stops has not yet been removed and repaved.
In Previous Updates:
🚌 Good to see changes underway at Elm Row, where the downhill cycle lane in front of the bus stops is being combined with a newly widened two-way lane section behind the shelters, reducing conflict with bus passengers (and also reconfiguring some of the parking at Elm Row in a way that hopefully makes a dent in some of the atrocious excesses being committed in the name of vehicle storage). Initially no diversion was provided - on Scotland’s busiest cycleway, well done everyone - but as per Robbie’s excellent Route Closures info above, it looks like this may now have been addressed
🌸 Thursday 8th May saw the meeting of Edinburgh’s full Council, and tabled amongst its business were some clarifying questions to the Transport Convener on the safe implementation of the changes coming to the Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route by Green party Councillor Chas Booth; the answers are worth a read through [PDF, Page 17] in terms of some previously unseen detail, including different widths of planned protected cycleway on Braid Avenue depending on whether travel is in an uphill or downhill direction;
⛔ Charlie shared that the Brunstane Road and Coillesdene scheme — TRO/23/14 [PDF] — has works underway presently to make it permanent, which is great to see;
🚶 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) »
📋 Travelling Safely Schemes (Various)
ETROs for these schemes have various end dates 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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🎁 Club Perks
As well as supporting us, we're also planning the following perks for Supporters Club patrons:
A quarterly 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!