🚲 edi.bike | issue 98 | 23rd June ‘25
your weekly edinburgh cycling digest
📰 News this Week
🏛️ George Street Design Options and Next Steps Coming to Transport Committee
Local media’s favourite project to lambast — won’t somebody think of the parking! — starts to get some sensible coverage in The Scotsman this week. It’s pretty heartening to see the Transport Convenor, Cllr Stephen Jenkinson, putting the intentions plainly in a mainstream outlet:
“George Street is a car park. Parking will be removed. There will be restrictions on vehicle movement. The details are being worked through, but it will predominantly be pedestrian.”
Six tiers of potential spending on the project will go before the Transport & Environment committee when they meet this Thursday 26th, following a ‘value engineering’ exercise. You’ll find our outline of the George St report and other cycling-related items coming to committee below, after ‘Local bits’ ⬇️
🏰 Local Bits
📸 A glorious host of Bike Bus footage and photos on Friday - from the Wee Unicorns Bike Bus to James Gillespies, to photos from Jarlath Flynn from Flora Stevensons Primary, Parson's Green Primary and three routes to George Watson’s running that day - and lastly had to share this Brass Band by Bike Bus shared by Dr Caroline Brown 📯
📈 A welcome summer solstice data thread from Edward Tissiman, monitoring the Cycling Scotland cycle counter data at the Omni centre cycleway;
📐 Having had sight of draft plans, Merchiston Districts Community Council have a blog post on the changes coming to the somewhat infamous mini-roundabout junction in Polwarth after a lot of local campaigning, which sound extremely promising. Consultation coming later in the summer, which we’ll be sure to link to here.
🪽 You might recall our featuring of a cargo bike market survey by Ariel Bikes, who hand-build electric cargo bikes in Scotland; they’ve kindly published the results of the survey which has all kinds of interesting wee insights;
🏆 The City of Edinburgh Council has been awarded Excellence in Transport Design at the Scottish Transport Awards 2025 for the Roseburn to Union Canal Active Travel Route which opened recently — The Edinburgh Reporter »
👏 Great post from Midlothian Council on Facebook:
🚴♀️ Our Best Cycling Year Yet in Midlothian! 🚴♂️
For the first time ever, EVERY primary school in Midlothian has taken part in Bikeability road cycling training! 🙌
In the 2024/25 school year, a record-breaking 1,450 P5–P7 pupils completed either Level 1 (playground) or Level 2 (on-road) training – helping them build confidence and stay safe while cycling. 💪
Since 2020, we’ve seen a year-on-year rise in schools and pupils getting involved.
💪🏽 Please consider supporting one of our excellent readers:
🚲 A local mum and edi.bike subscriber is biking from Glasgow to Edinburgh on 28 June to raise money for a new, inclusive breastfeeding support charity. Biking for breastfeeding is a way to raise awareness of the need for breastfeeding support and funding at a time when the funding landscape has changed in Scotland. What do biking and breastfeeding have in common? Both come with a sense of freedom - the sense of freedom moving about on your own two wheels is similar to that feeling when you crack breastfeeding and are able to feed a baby anywhere (a right that became legal 20 years ago in Scotland this week!) — 💷 Donate Here »
👮🏽♂️ Police Scotland will be doing free Bike Register security marking on Friday 27th June 11am - 3pm at 📍 Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, 67B Groathill Road North, alongside ELREC and Dr. Bike who will be doing their weekly bike repair sessions;
(Last week’s issue incorrectly stated this was on 7th June, apologies!)
📋 Via Spokes — Midlothian Council have an Online Survey running until 27th June on local appetite for secure cycle parking, ebike charging stations, and expanding the Brompton Hire scheme available at Sheriffhall Park and Ride;
⚙️ Spokes have recently launched their annual competition with a range of excellent prizes - entries welcome on the theme of ‘My favourite bike ride’. Details and lots of local Edinburgh cycling news can also be found in their most recent Action Update [PDF]
🗳️ Transport & Environment Committee Agenda for Thursday, June 26th
Ahead of the Council’s Transport & Environment Committee (‘TEC’) Meeting this week, here’s the cycling or cycling-adjacent items they’re covering, and links to the relevant reports:
🌐 Meeting page »
📋 Full Agenda [PDF] »
🏛️ 7.2 - George Street and First New Town
📄 Report » [PDF]
🖼️ Cross-sections and Illustrations [PDF, Page 13 onwards] »
There are six levels of potential intervention for George St and its environs in total:
From the six options above, what’s being asked of Councillors this Thursday is to agree to ‘put on hold’ the two most basic options, as they ‘do not deliver the public realm enhancements’ - one preserves the status quo, at a cost of £10.3m for maintenance needed, while another proposes to simply remove parking with minimal costs, but points out that local stakeholders will find that hard to accept without improvements to the space that’s left behind.
For the four upper options, the report illustrates for each of these a cross-section of George St and identifies the compromises with reducing spend - for example, the full design features Hostile Vehicle Mitigations (HVM) in the form of permanent bollards — which the council currently hires in for the Edinburgh Festival period, and would likely continue doing so without — and planter units also rated for HVM, as well as Sustainable Drainage Systems to cope with an increase in intensity of rainfall thanks to climate change. With the bollards in particular also serving to curb (kerb?) potential disregard for the newly restricted access, and profound issues seen elsewhere in the city with professional drivers doing whatever they like in terms of parking and loading, it does seem there’s quite a lot to be lost between even the top design and the next tier down. By the time we get to tier four, it’s just slabs as far as the eye can see.
🌴 There’s a total of eight trees across nearly a kilometre of public space in the best design we have, which is frankly hilarious both in the context of other European cities that got this right, and the amount of shade we’re going to wish we had in about a decade’s time (if not already!).
Rather than voting on which option will go ahead on Thursday, Councillors are essentially being asked to shelve the ‘Do Minimum’ options and work will then begin to identify the funding available for the project from external partners, so it may be some time before we get a sense of whether or not any of this value engineering will come to fruition, or whether we get the full design as intended.
Fans of my slightly snarky prior coverage on this will note Cllr Mowat’s ‘cycle super-highway’ is referred to on these plans as a ‘Carriageway / Cycle Street’, on account of it still being used by vehicles that aren’t bikes - kids these days are apparently calling them ‘roads’, rather than inventing new, scary-sounding names to terrify their voting base.
💰 7.4 - Thistle Foundation Grant - Report » [PDF]
Thistle Foundation’s active travel projects are fantastic, and they have also been consulted previously on the accessibility of new cycleways by the council. This TEC sees them up for a £70k SESTran grant:
People and Place grant funding has been offered to local authorities, charities and community groups across the South East of Scotland region for projects that will deliver active and sustainable travel behaviour change.
The grant will cover what sounds like a brilliant scheme:
Adaptive cycles - hire/loan support to access adapted bikes/mobility aids, targeted training/promotion of mobility aid friendly routes via disability advocacy networks and buddy events to improve confidence in travelling actively for people with long-term health conditions.
Here’s hoping this passes on Thursday - vital work and great to see.
📦 8.3 - Report: Delivery cyclists – Response to motions [PDF] »
As an ‘item for scrutiny’, this may not be discussed at TEC unless a councillor raises their wish to do so.
Various Full Council and Transport Committee motions have raised concerns regarding ‘gig economy’ delivery cyclists in recent years:
2023 (PDF: page 43),
August 2024 (PDF: page 4),
October 2024 (PDF: page 22),
March 2025 (PDF: page 83);
This report lays out actions undertaken by Council officers — and Police Scotland — under three themes:
Theme 1: Engagement with delivery cyclists (and operators)
Theme 2: Regulation and non-legislative measures regarding delivery zones and e-bikes for delivery cyclists; Police Scotland data and enforcement operations regarding delivery cyclists
Theme 3: Consideration of the Sustrans Delivery Cyclists study with regard to Council Design guidance, policy and practices.
It was interesting to find out about The Workers Observatory from this report, and see the Council adding them to the list of stakeholders around this issue - their work in the city has recently led to the creation of 📺 Edinburgh ROOM (Riders Observatory and Organising Movement).
Ultimately, there’s an intersection of many issues at play when it comes to delivery cyclists in the city; policing illegal use of non-EAPC bikes without licence and registration, safe and legal cycling behaviours, the overreach and under-regulation of behemoth tech companies, cycling infrastructure provision, the rights of workers and loopholes exploited by corporations, Conservative voices latching onto another ‘out-group’ to pearl-clutch about to their base — and demonise in the process — not to mention the refusal not only from critics but also from some involved in the cycle campaigning side to acknowledge that there’s also some coded racism and unconscious bias baked into many of these conversations and assumptions. A lot of this is outside of the Council’s control; it’s telling that only one of the three major operators has met with officers to discuss.
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking have recently released a report, “Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes”, authored by Laura Laker. It is a vast, in-depth look at not only the risks and regulations, but also the issues facing workers in the gig economy, and makes for a sobering read - particularly in terms of how the workers are treated - not only by faceless corporations, but by society at large.
On a more positive note, the conclusion of the report has this to say following engagement with the authors of the recent Sustrans Delivery Cyclists study [PDF]:
Officers note that the key recommendations of the study to improve safety for delivery cyclists are centred around creating a network of cycle lanes/paths that are: physically separated from traffic, wide enough to be used by all types of bicycle, well maintained, and have more dropped kerbs and tailored traffic lights for cyclists.
It is the view of officers that, with these elements in place, delivery cyclists would be considerably less likely to use pavements. This is because the cycling infrastructure would enable them to move quickly and safely along their delivery routes, avoiding queuing traffic and uncomfortable interactions with drivers, which were key reasons that delivery cyclists highlighted for using pavements, as reported in the Sustrans study.
This feedback also correlates with the findings of the Edinburgh Walking and Cycling Index about the types of cycling infrastructure that residents would like to have in order to feel safe and confident in choosing cycling as an option for moving around Edinburgh.
Sounds like delivering a proper cycling network stands to benefit cyclists, not-yet-cyclists, pedestrians, and now restaurant businesses and gig economy workers too?
We’ll have a roundup of committee decisions in next week’s issue.
🇬🇧 National
🏴 Scotland
🏗️ Glasgow - another update from GoBike:
A short list of consultations in and around Glasgow; including some drop-in events. Also, important feedback about progress on city-wide projects. — Full Post »
👣 Via SRD: ‘Paths for All’ has rebranded as ‘Walking Scotland’;
💬 From Transform Scotland this week:
A new report published today (Tuesday 17 June) by the Cross Party Group on Sustainable Transport reveals that Scotland’s transport system is systematically excluding many Scots — especially women, disabled people, children, and those on low incomes.
🌐 ‘Mind the Gap’: New inquiry reports transport system excluding majority of Scots
And, following the UK Government’s spending review:
Today’s UK Spending Review, including the announcement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves of £15.6 billion in new investment for local transport infrastructure in England, marks a major step forward for public transport south of the Border.
Much of this funding will support improvements in bus, light rail, and metro systems in England’s urban centres — a clear sign that public transport is being recognised as essential to economic growth, sustainability, and social mobility.
As Scotland is due to receive a share of this funding via the Barnett Formula, there is now a vital opportunity for the Scottish Government to invest meaningfully in transforming its own public transport network.
🌐 UK Spending Review funds must be prioritised for scottish Public Transport »
🏴 England / 🇬🇧 UK
📰 A great set of resources to anyone setting about commuting by bike for the first time - the Cycling UK commuting guide »
🚳 Sales of illegal and dangerous ebikes must be stopped, say MPs and peers: All-party group concerned about hazards caused by bikes, with focus on use by delivery drivers and risk of fire — The Guardian
🚶 Plans to pedestrianise parts of Oxford Street will move forward "as quickly as possible", the mayor of London has said — BBC News »
🌍 Elsewhere
🆘 Via Laid Back Bikes:
Latest Afghanistan fundraiser organised by Shannon Galpin. Every £€$ helps! Since the Taliban takeover she's organised life saving evacuations for 150+ Afghan cyclists (one recently arrived in Dundee, many others across the world!). Donate & pass on if you can 🙏
Their story, as written by Galpin, can be found here — along with the Fundraiser Link »
🛣 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.
🌴 Our regular road closures contributor Robbie is on a well-deserved holiday this week - below are the longer term closures, and if you’re on Bluesky you can follow the #EdTravCyc feed to keep an eye out for any closures affecting cycleways during the week - anyone can use the #EdTravCyc hashtag to share route issues they encounter.
Longer Term Closures:
🌉 Harrison Road: two bridges closed due to structural concerns with micro-cracking in the original cast iron beams. Access to cycles is being restricted:
The north-west bridge over a small path is having its deck rebuilt. UPDATE 16th June: Full bridge closure to pedestrians and cycles from June 30th for rebuilding until November. Path underneath will also close, with a signed diversion in place.
The south-east bridge over the Union Canal is closed for investigations. Fencing has been placed across the bridge to prevent motorists from moving cones, though there is a gap for cycles. UPDATE 16th June: Bridge will not require rebuilding and is expected to re-open to vehicles in July.
⚡ Dryden Street: Link between footbridge and modal filter at Cambridge Ave closed until end of July for Scottish Power upgrades. Leith Walk segregated cycle lanes have largely superseded this route and may offer an alternative.
🚧 Viewforth: Closed for various works until 10th July. If you’re heading between the Union Canal and Bruntsfield, Leamington Ter may be an alternative.
🌉 Hope Lane Footbridge: Exit to Portobello High St closed for resurfacing works. It will be possible to access the footbridge via Windsor Pl or by dismounting.
🚧 Stenhouse Drive: road between shared use path along tramline and Water of Leith Path closed at Gorgie Road for SGN works until mid-August. Stenhouse Ave may offer an alternative route.
⛰️ 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 currently possible. It is anticipated that a fence will 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.
🚂 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.
💧 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
🚶🏻♀️ Wester Hailes Walk, Pedal and Thrive Project June to October Events at ScoreScotland - mainly based at 📍 Gate 55, 55 Sighthill Rd, and booking required - call / text Madhavi on 07496 190 752 or email madhavi@scorescotland.org.uk.
🚺 Cycle Training for Women Beginners: 5.15pm to 7.15pm, Wednesdays 25th June, 2nd July, 9th July, 16th July;
🔧 Dr Bike Repairs & Servicing: Friday 27th June, 10:00am to 3:30pm
🚸 Play Together on Pedals (3 to 6 year olds): Fridays from 2pm to 4pm;
🧭 Led Cycle Rides: Saturdays from 9:45am to 1pm;
🚲 Adult Beginners / Family Cycle Training: text for an appointment.
🌾 Also 28th June — Bridgend Farmhouse Summer Fair:
Games and activities for kids; silent disco; family bike rides; stalls and the café with Bridgend Farmhouse handmade goods, food and drink [including pakora] on sale; music, hill race, and lots more!
Adult entry by donation, kids go free [but must be accompanied by an adult] - booking is essential for all – 🎟️ Get tickets here »
🧘 More upcoming rides and movement / yoga sessions from Detour [IG]:
28th June - Yoga by Bike, East Linton - 🎟️ Details and Tickets »
29th June - Detour x Tribe Porty - Movement by Bike, Porty to Dalkeith - 15 mile loop following cycle paths, quiet roads and gravel paths, stopping off at Dalkeith Country Park for a guided outdoor movement workshop - 🎟️ Details and Tickets »
6th July - Yoga by Bike, Porty to Longniddry - 🎟️ Details and Tickets »
🌍 Saturday 5th July: World Naked Bike Ride Edinburgh, 1pm - more info at wnbr.scot (website contains mild nudity, naturally!)
🖼️ 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;
⛰️ 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;
✊Last Saturday of the month: Critical Mass Edinburgh, Family-friendly mass protest / group ride, 2pm, Middle Meadow Walk;
🫂 Help Needed
🧡 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. ✨
In Previous Updates:
📸 Thanks to ‘Dashed Lines’ on Bluesky for tagging us in their photos of a newly opened ‘missing link’ path built between Greendykes Rd and Hunters Hall Park in the East of the city, following their photos of improvements at Greendykes and construction shots earlier in the year.
📋 New Consultation in Meadowbank for Marionville Rd Cycleway, and Details on Smokey Brae
Following consultation in 2022, the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has published new web pages (Issue 96, 9th June) detailing plans for protected cycleways on Smokey Brae, including Marionville Avenue and Restalrig Avenue. There are pages featuring visual before / after renders, and others with street layout plans.
These changes are part of an overall plan for the area which now includes a new section being consulted on, featuring a bi-directional protected cycleway on Marionville Rd. The associated consultation is open until the 17th of August, with CEC no doubt hoping to deliver both sets of improvements in tandem in the near future.
📋 Open Consultation: “Walking, wheeling and cycling improvements in Currie” is now open for comments until 6th July. The plans include junction and crossing improvements, and additional cycle parking and access at Curriehill railway station, as well as access into some of the new developments in the area. There is a drop-in session about the plans at Currie Library on 16th June from 2-5pm;
🌳 Progress at Elm Row - with the new combined downhill / uphill section of cycleway behind the bus stops finished up, pending the pavement being reinstated at the former downhill lane - photos from John Robson (Issue 95, 2nd June);
📸 Some great construction photos from Martin (Issue 95, 2nd June), documenting progress on the ‘Foot of the Walk to Dock St’ protected cycleway;
🔭 As spotted by Harry Williams and others, some movement on the ‘Longstone Link’ bridge (Issue 95, 2nd June): a Boundary Map [PDF] and Pre-application Screening have been published on the planning portal, which reads:
The proposal is for a new 5m wide shared-use bridge over the Water of Leith between a new housing development and New Mart Road. The bridge will link on the north east to a 3.5m wide shared-use path that will be widened to 5m wide connecting to New Mart Road in HRA. On the south west, it will connect to a new path to be delivered within the land of the new residential development. On the north west, the existing wooden boardwalk will be altered to connect to the new infrastructure. The location and alignment of the bridge has been selected to minimise the impact on trees, flooding management considerations and to retain the desire line for users crossing the Water of Leith.
🚌 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) »
🌳 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;
Thanks for reading - ride safe 🚲
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