edi.bike weekly
Weekly round-up newsletter on infrastructure progress, road closures, community events and odds n’ sods that help with the day to day of getting around Edinburgh, Scotland by bikes of all kinds.
Welcome 🚲
This is a bit of an experiment, but we live and ride in a city of many amazing organisations and activists sharing great information, and I’ve enjoyed trying to curate a bit of hopefully useful news for the week ahead. If you come across something this week that could be good to share, send it over with this form, and if you find it helpful why not forward it to friends and encourage them to sign up too!
Road and Route Closures
(Sadly this won’t be an exhaustive list, working on finding good sources for relevant closures and diversions.)
👷🏼♀️ Currently wrapping up is the last section of Water of Leith pathway resurfacing, which has meant a fortnight’s diversion between Colinton Tunnel and Knockhillbraehead - diversion details from this Water of Leith Conservation Trust post on Facebook which also mentions a small diversion in Bonnington for other works (see maps on post).
⛔ There are a series of road closures in the old town as part of managing pedestrian traffic during the Edinburgh festivals - the council has a web page detailing the closures, which include only one way cycle usage of Lawnmarket heading eastbound from Johnstone Terrace to the junction with the mound for much of the daytime – meaning heading westbound involves dismounting and wearing your most patient smile as you navigate the many pedestrian tourists noodling on by.
Warnings and Problems
🔧 Infrastructure and theft: the entire run of the ‘Trams to Newhaven’ network extension includes bike racks that can be easily unscrewed from the ground — and also lack a parallel ‘tapping bar’ to help prevent theft — as reported here after a tweet by Edward Tissiman. These actually contravene the Edinburgh Street Design Guidance as Spokes reported on Facebook. Worth finding the nearest alternative immovable post or rail instead of one of these while it plays out.
🤯 Relatedly, in the wake of the full reopening of Leith Walk we’re still seeing some degree of confusion / non-compliance with continuous footways (where pedestrians and cyclists have priority over cars going to/from side streets) and at the foot of the walk as observed in this /r/Edinburgh subreddit post. Hopefully this is just a transitional issue as folk get used to the new layouts.
Infrastructure Progress
🌉 A promising hearing this week on the potential for a new bridge over the Water of Leith at Chesser, unlocking quiet routes for cycling in the area.
📯 A council team member from @edinhelp (X / Twitter) confirmed the return of cycle lane protections to at least some of Lanark Road in this discussion.
🧱 Local community group SW20 noticed some newer means of cycleway segregation on Holyrood road - using kerbs rather than ‘orca’ bollards - unusual for the city, but potentially a good route forward. Their whole thread is an interesting read.
📋 The council is running a consultation on measures to improve walking, wheeling, cycling and bus reliability on the A8/A89 Broxburn to Maybury.
…On a personal note - we cycled a good run of the CCWEL over the weekend and look forward to the parts still under construction at Haymarket, Melville St, St Andrews Square and York Place becoming available as this core route through the city is finished in the coming months.
Events and Happenings
🛣 Wee Spoke Hub are running their ‘Commuting Skills - Adult Introduction to On-Road Cycling’ sessions weekly with sessions on 17th and 25th August and into September - booking here.
(via the excellent Edinburgh Minute - daily city-wide news highly worth your time!)
🧼 Porty Community Energy are running a bike wash on Friday 26th from 6pm - 8pm, a mix of bike care, fundraiser and information event - see their Instagram post.
🚦Monthly fun and friendly Critical Mass ride, highlighting the lack of safe cycling affordances in Edinburgh on Saturday 26th; route typically announced a few days before on their Facebook group, X (Twitter) and mailing list, and as always meeting 2pm at Middle Meadow Walk.
🏅 Spokes are running a competition with some great prizes for folks who share their experiences, ideas and hints around domestic bike storage - closing date 3rd September.
Until next time – safe riding :)