📰 News this Week

🔲 Protected Cycleways for St Andrews Square out to tender

Local Democracy Reporter Joe Sullivan broke news in the Midlothian View this week that the City of Edinburgh Council have advertised a tender for new public realm and cycleway works in St. Andrew’s Square.

The tender describes the location in relation to nearby active travel projects:

”St Andrew Square is a key connection between the existing City Centre West to East Link (CCWEL), the proposed George Street and First New Town (GNT) scheme, and the George Street to Waverley Bridge (GSWB) active travel project.”

…and we’ve done our best to map out the described features below:

• “Eastern footway (pavement) will be widened to 6.0m creating more space for public realm enhancements.

• “New protected bi-directional (two-way) cycle track will be introduced on the east side of St David Street and along the north side of St Andrew Square.

• “Junction upgrades to support safer, easier and more accessible movements for people walking, wheeling and cycling.

• “Existing blue badge parking, business loading and taxi rank spaces to be retained along southern side of the square, with additional capacity added.

• “Existing pay and display parking to be removed along northern side of the square and replaced with blue badge spaces on the northern side of the road.

“In summary, the project will provide a continuous link between various ongoing projects and will maximise accessibility for active modes whilst retaining fundamental operational and servicing requirements including parking, loading and public transport. Completing this work will enhance the attractiveness of St Andrew Square for everyone and encourage people to spend time in and around the square and within the various local businesses.”

With the square itself owned and operated by Edinburgh City Centre business improvement district Essential Edinburgh, this looks like an unusual but thoroughly welcome case of the Council assessing transport and logistics needs, liaising directly with local stakeholders, and going ahead without much in the way of fanfare or over-consultation.

It’s also positive to see not only a retention of, but increase in, blue badge holder spaces - and in the removal of the pay and display parking on the northern edge of the square, which is exactly what we should be seeing in the city centre at this stage, albeit on a grander scale; as the tender states,

“The City Mobility Plan (CMP) strategy frames a bold, ambitious, and rapid change agenda (underpinned by a target to be net carbon zero City by 2030) and sets out a basis for significant tram, bus network and active travel interventions to improve mobility and address key challenges. The strategy will mean car and heavily bus dominated traffic within the city centre will be replaced by walking and cycling infrastructure, and by smaller cleaner passenger vehicles for those, who with mobility constraints, would find this approach too challenging.

“The designs for St Andrew Square, align with many of the CCT (City Centre Transformation) and CMP core objectives.”

Perhaps recent consultations nearby on e.g. George St and First New Town have given the Council a good baseline for redesigning the area, and the uplift in footfall and cycle visits brought by CCWEL and the Tram line have all fed into a receptive and positive engagement with businesses around the square - or maybe this has just gone somewhat under this cycle campaigner’s radar and has actually been in the works for some time; but either way it’s welcome progress on continuing to further connect CCWEL and provide safe, segregated cycle infrastructure and improvements for pedestrians in the centre of Edinburgh.

⛔ Meadows to Union Canal; Tarvit Street will stay closed to motor traffic

Some further good news for cycling in the city centre came this week in the form of a project update on the Meadows to Union Canal route.

With works on the refurbishment of the King’s Theatre drawing to a close, but commencement on the build of this ‘missing link’ cycle route not due until next year, there were concerns that potentially Tarvit Street — part of the new route and closed to motor traffic for around four years during works on the theatre — might be reopened to through-traffic and add to an already busy junction and close again shortly afterwards.

Instead, a modal filter will be installed at the junction of Tarvit St and Drumdryan St — which will be made one-way — so motor traffic will only be permitted one-way round a loop of Tarvit westbound, Drumdryan north and then east, returning to Brougham St - with two-way cycling allowed on both arms of the loop.

“We will initially install temporary barriers and signs, these will then be replaced with bollards and planters to formalise the changes. All the infrastructure will be upgraded as part of the wider Meadows to Union Canal project in the future. This future work will fully upgrade the road and pavement surfaces, matching the recent upgrades completed at the front of the theatre.”

This is a well-considered approach and it’s heartening to see the opportunity to achieve a ‘quick win’ for safer walking, wheeling and cycling in the area.

📋 Last chance to respond to ‘Craigmillar Niddrie Connections’

The consultation period for Craigmillar Niddrie Connections ends this Wednesday, 8th July — have a look over the plans and say your piece!

🏰 Local Bits

☮️ An important statement from ROOM (Riders Observatory and Organising Movement, affiliated with The Workers’ Observatory) in the wake of the recent terror attack in the city in which delivery riders were targeted, followed shortly afterwards by one member giving a stirring speech at the recent Reclaim Our Streets rally;

💸 Vote by this Friday, 10th July in support of Bikes for Refugees and Porty Community Energy, and many more!: Greenlight funding is ongoing over at Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (‘ECCAN’). Funding for projects over £5k is decided by a vote from members - so you need to join to vote, but joining is free.

🚲 There are cycling projects you can vote for from Bikes for Refugees and Porty Community Energy who are both very worthy of your support.

➡️ Online voting is open until this Friday, 10th July.

✊ Some cracking photos and details from the recent Portobello High School programme to get more high school-aged women cycling by the City of Edinburgh Council on Bluesky;

💛 To mark one year until the Tour de France Grand Départ in Edinburgh on 2nd July 2027, the Council’s Transport Convener, MSP and Minister for Transport Stephen Flynn, and many others attended an ‘activation’ pop-up at Waverley Station featuring some cycle trainers / simulators;

💈 Great to see bollards going in protecting the City Centre West to East Link on York Place from repeated HGV parking for loading into nearby hotels. We love to see it!

(We need to petition the Unicode consortium for a bollard emoji so we can stop misusing the barbers pole…)

🚂 Interesting recent news and project ruminations about park and greenspace connections and more in this Powderhall.Link campaign post;

📰 Ever felt guilty about how much space is devoted to cyclists in Edinburgh? No, me neither. Don’t worry though, a ‘top architect’ has been speaking to The Scotsman on our behalf:

“A leading Edinburgh architect has claimed the city’s active travel policy is prioritising ‘greedy’ cyclists over pedestrians, adding that he feels guilty over the space he gets cycling across the city compared to walkers.”

Originally a ‘premium’ article at The Scotsman — which refers only to the cost for access to slog through it, certainly not to its quality of contribution — Fraser’s thesis rightly get a roasting in the road.cc comments. Oh dear.

⚡ New from Porty Community Energy: Friday morning beginner and cycle confidence sessions at our bike library, Friday 10th July from 10am – 12:30pm at Porty Active Travel Hub (at the end of Pipe Lane on Porty Prom – next to the public toilets). More information - including the option to arrange a session on a different day - on their website »

🚊 A couple of links missed from recent news of a Workshop on the future of Princes St and George St, posted by Spokes this week; the collated renders and sketches of the project by Edinburgh architect Richard Murphy, and a brief concept video on Youtube;

🪷 Detour are back with an event coming up in Edinburgh this Saturday 11th July: join them for a social bike ride from Portobello, and vinyasa yoga practice at Fern Bothy in Longniddry - info and tickets here;

💼 JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES

🚸 Become a Play Together on Pedals Instructor

Cycling UK in Midlothian are looking for enthusiastic, child-focused instructors to join our Play Together on Pedals team in Midlothian, Edinburgh and East Lothian.

As an instructor, you’ll help preschool and early primary-aged children discover the joy of cycling through fun, supportive sessions in nurseries, schools, and community settings. You’ll play a key role in giving children confidence, building life skills, and inspiring families to get active together.

Find more information on Play Together on Pedals, what an instructor role entails and how to apply to become one on the Cycling UK website

📋 Midlothian Council Leader encourages young people to sign up for Tour de France employability opportunity - Edinburgh Evening News. See the Grand Départs ‘Readiness to work’ website for more also;

💛 Tour de France; Grand Départ GB launches nationwide search for Tour de France volunteers - at Le Tour online and also article from the City of Edinburgh Council »

📮 Got a story or link for the next issue of edi.bike? DM or mention @edi.bike on Bluesky, or send it in using our Submissions Form »

⛈️ National

♿ “Kierson Wise, our Paths for Everyone Manager, shares his lived experience of cycling with a disability, and how this has fuelled his passion for making cycling accessible for everyone. Kierson, who has recently published his research as part of his Churchill Fellowship, explains how we can help more people feel empowered to make cycling part of their lives.” — Walk Wheel Cycle Trust »

🏍️ Cycling Scotland: Supercharged e-bikes are mopeds in disguise and tackling them is a road safety priority — at The Scotsman. Does a solid job of laying out the case for distinction between e-motorbikes and ebikes/EAPCs, while unfortunately also tripping over the ‘throttle means it’s an illegal bike’ pitfall which we tire of seeing from advocacy organisations and politicians alike. Read the rules, for pity’s sake.

🌍 Elsewhere

🇪🇺 “Cycling is no longer simply a recommended element of urban mobility planning—it is becoming part of a legally required planning process for Europe’s largest transport hubs.” — Mandatory Urban Mobility Plans Set to Boost Cycling Across Europe /via Edinburgh Festival of Cycling

🛣 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;

📪 Road closure info — our regular contributor Robbie is away this week, so please refer back to last week’s list here.

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🎉 Events and Happenings

📆 Upcoming / Ongoing

🍑 14th July from 1pm is the Edinburgh World Naked Bike Ride 2026; as per the Facebook event, “Meet at Middle Meadow Walk at 13:00 for a 14:00 start to give time to disrobe and get your body painting done.”

🔧 Basic Bike Maintenance sessions at Bridgend Farmhouse, next on 31st July:

• Inclusive, small and friendly groups with Dara

• Last Friday of the month from May to Oct

• Suggested £5 donation to Bridgend Farmhouse

Places go quickly - please book a place by emailing admin@bridgendfarmhouse.org.uk

🧘 Detour are back with a new event!

Join us this August for a weekend of movement, community and adventure.

We will meet in Perth and cycle through stunning Perthshire landscapes, stopping off to enjoy the views along the way, before arriving at Morningside Farm. Here, you will be guided through three movement sessions in the spectacular Wild Hive Dome or outdoors.

Enjoy good food and good company, moving and relaxing in the cosy indoor spaces, before camping under the stars. There will be plenty of time to rest, socialise and explore.

Ride & Retreat, and Retreat Only tickets are available 🌿

The first 3 of each ticket type will receive an early bird discount 🦜

Ride & Retreat - £260/295
Retreat Only - £215/255

📍Morningside Farm, Logiealmond, Perthshire

Follow this link for full event details and tickets, and feel free to drop us a message with any questions!

🔁 Weekly Events

🚴 Weekly

• 🍃 Mon, 12-2.30pm: Free, fun group ride on paths from Bridgend Farmhouse;

• 💪 Adult (16+) Confidence Builder bike rides with The Bike Station, 5-6pm from outside Pav cafe, Meadows;

• 🌅 Tues, ⏰ 5.40am: Edinburgh Dawn Patrol - Meet St. Andrew Square, same route each time - more info on their Instagram;

• 🚺 Tues, 5-8pm: Fix My Own Bike session for Women and Minority Genders at The Wee Spoke Hub

• 🎙️ Tues, 5pm: [National] Active Travel Cafe talks and discussion on Zoom

• 🪨 Weds, 5.40am: Edinburgh Dawn Patrol [IG] Gravel edition - starting from 📍 Cairngorm Coffee;

• ☕ Weds, 8:15 - 9:45: Coffee Outside [IG]: Wednesday morning hangouts at 📍 Lochrin Basin - bring a mug, water, a way to boil water, and coffee ☕

• 🛠️ Fortnightly (second & fourth Weds each month), 3pm: Bike Kitchen at Edinburgh Tool Library

• 🔧 Weds, 5-8pm Fix Your Own Bike Sessions at The Bike Station, Tollcross

• 👑 Weds 7pm - Queens of Pain evening group ride for women & non-binary folk - ride details & locations

• 🌅 Thurs, ⏰ 5.40am: Edinburgh Dawn Patrol (same as Tues, details above);

• ✴️ Thurs, 5-8pm: Bike DIY Session at The Wee Spoke Hub

• 🪨 Thurs Evenings: Edinburgh Gravel Cycling Club social group rides;

• 👑 Fri 6am - Queens of Pain morning group ride for women & non-binary folk - ride details & locations

• 🪛 Fri, 10am-3pm Dr Bike cycle repairs from ELREC’s Edinburgh Cycling Club at 📍 Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre - no booking required and all welcome;

• 🔧 Sat, 1-4pm Fix Your Own Bike Sessions at The Bike Station, Tollcross

• ⚙️ 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 from Bridgend Farmhouse - every Friday 2-4pm between April and Hallowe’en, 1-3pm on the 1st Friday of each month November to March.

• ✊ Last Saturday of the month: Edinburgh Critical Mass is a family-friendly mass protest / group ride, leaving at 2pm from Middle Meadow Walk - don’t forget to grab a t-shirt!

🫂 Help Needed

📦 Edinburgh charity Goodies are offering free Cargo Bike training for those looking to volunteer with them in their food redistribution work:

Our head rider Fabian will be doing cargo bike training every Wednesday starting 17:30 at the Meadows, next to the East Meadows play park.

This is for anyone who would like to volunteer as a food rider in the evenings during the week.

We will also be signing T&C's that will be required before you can ride.
Looking forward to seeing you there ✨
Remember your helmets also! 🚲

❤️ Charlotte’s Tandems are looking for help in Edinburgh:

We lend, throughout the UK, at no cost (i.e. for free), tandems and tag-alongs (trailer bikes) to (and only to) people with disabilities or additional needs, who are unable to ride a bike safely on their own, so that they can enjoy the wonders of cycling.

In other words we provide all-ability, adapted, inclusive cycling for adults and children who are disabled, have special needs, SEN, SEND or impairments, such as Autism, Down's Syndrome, visual impairments, learning or physical difficulties.

They’ve published a Facebook post in which they are seeking a new ‘helper’ in Edinburgh - you can read about this role here, and a commenter shared:

As a former helper in Edinburgh, there are a couple of things you need to know if you are interested in taking this on.

1. You need to be able store several tandems when they are not being used.

2. The riding skills of who want to borrow a tandem are highly variable, so you may need to try to teach them how to ride a tandem, which is not like riding a solo bike.

If you can help, do get in touch with them.

👏 Cycling Without Age Musselburgh [FB] are raising funds to modernise their trishaw fleet - they have a JustGiving page, but more effective direct giving is also possible using the bank details on their Facebook post;

🚲 The Bike Station - can you volunteer with us? 🚲

Help us make cycling more accessible and connect people with the joy of a bicycle. We have a fantastic team of volunteers who support us in many ways, so please do reach out if you'd like to be part of the community.

🛒 Shop volunteers: Helping with customer service and support, with the role focused on offering advice up to your comfort level and building up to assist with sales. In busy times this is invaluable support to try and allow our refurbishment mechanics to continue getting bikes ready for sale; while in quieter times it allows for extra help across the general retail duties of the shop. We are also busy with the Wee Bike Library project which you can get involved with, connecting children with a free bike loan (smiles all round).

Current opportunities, with 3-4 hours weekly shifts:

Tollcross: Friday (between 12:30pm-6:30pm) and Saturday morning (9:30am-1pm) fortnightly.

Gorgie: Saturday 1-4pm.

🛠️ Fix Your Own Bike volunteers: We are seeking experienced mechanics to support our FYOB sessions, where people pay £6/hour to utilise a stand and full toolkit to work on their own bike. We are looking for volunteers to help provide advice to those attending these sessions, to ensure we can continue to offer this valuable resource. Those best fit for the role would have a lot of experience with bike maintenance and also be good at calmly communicating advice to participants. Sessions are on Wednesday (5-8pm) and Saturday (1-4pm) with the later more in need of regular support.

If any of these roles are of interest, please contact jamie.henderson@thebikestation.org.uk to discuss the role in more detail.

As a volunteer you not only join a community of like-minded individuals passionate about cycling - you can also access bikes, parts and accessories at a discounted price as well as heavily discounted maintenance courses after 6 months of volunteering.

Ongoing: 👥 Get help with routes & road confidence through Cycle Buddies or become a buddy | 🚌 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

📋 Overviews: CEC’s Active travel improvements programme | Interactive Map from City Mobility Plan prioritisation exercise

✏️ In the Works:

✍️ Take Action:

• 📋 Comments open for Craigmillar Niddrie Connections, or jump straight into the technical plans; closes 8th July;

• 🛣️ Sign the petition to Stop the £55 Million A701 Relief Road »

🏞️ “The prize is a lin­ear path­way from the Pent­lands through Fairmil­e­head, Bur­die­house, More­dun, Gilmer­ton, Nid­drie and Craig­mil­lar and all the way to Joppa where it could meet the Por­to­bello coastal cycle­way and link up to the city’s entire water­front. You could in the­ory cre­ate a tri­an­gu­lar route that would include the Water of Leith Walk­way. That route would be around 25-30 miles and would include some of the finest urban green space and views in Scot­land.” — Pent­lands to Porty path could be huge asset for city com­munit­ies, Evening News / Press Reader »

📝 The good folks at Spokes have spotted a planning application 24/05843/FUL for a “Cycle path link connection and associated works from Gogar Station Road south to land east of 1 Gogar Station Road” - though they also note in their Bluesky post the width of the path being around a meter less than design guidance would instruct…

🅿️ Seven new on-street ‘cycle hangar’ storage units are planned for the locations marked with a green dot on this newly published Traffic Regulation Order - thanks to Spokes for sharing;

🆕West Edinburgh Link - Torwood path section between Torwood Crescent and Meadow Place Rd ready for use [FB];

🔐 Recently Closed:

• 🧭 Comments on North Edinburgh Connections - protected cycling and walking improvements for West Granton Road, Pennywell Road, and Ferry Road — closed 9th June;

• 📨 Closed 10th Feb: consultation period for the Silverknowes Rd ETRO providing protected cycleways (ETRO/21/30C).

• 🚲 Closed February 9th: Barnton Connections consultation on safe, protected cycle routes through the area;

• ⛲️Dundee Street Fountainbridge Active Travel Project consultation closed 12 January 2026 | 🗺️ Mapped illustrations (do zoom in!) — Image 1 and Image 2 | 📄 Technical drawings [PDF, 23.7mb]

• 📝 West Edinburgh Link, including Glasgow Rd, South Gyle, Bankhead, Sighthill, Wester Hailes and Clovenstone. “Around 5km of new segregated and improved cycleways, new crossings, path and pavement improvements”, the first phase underway with an initial focus primarily on links to Quiet Route 8 - Technical plans [PDF]

• 🤔 The ‘Curriehill Active Travel Link’ reported by Spokes to have been delayed beyond its 2025 due date by ‘biodiversity concerns’.

• 🤫 Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route having detrimental changes made, delayed until at least a Standards Commission hearing in March ‘26: Detailed Designs [PDF] | ETRO Published as TRO/25/17

• ⚒️ Road Resurfacing & early ‘Dalry Living Well Locally’ Outcomes

• 🧱 Vital path upgrade through Muir Wood park in Currie

• 🌳 Meadows to Union Canal Link

• 🦦 Burdiehouse & Niddrie Burn Restoration - blue-green regeneration project including 3m wide ‘Pentlands to Portobello’ core path;

• 🔄 Proposals to address issues at Davidson's Mains Roundabout; City Cycling Edinburgh thread | Planned ‘options’ | Comments closed Friday, 16th January

🔬 Trials & Programmes Underway:

• ✨ Improving Old Town Streets | Includes current ETRO for Lawnmarket & Johnston Terrace

🚧 Under Construction:

• ⚒️ Work has commenced at the former Dalton’s Scrap Yard on Yeaman Place - which includes a ‘Section 75’ requirement for the developer to create a new walking, wheeling and cycling access to the Union canal from the site. A linear connection through the new purpose-built student accommodations slated for the land (surprise!) connect to Dundee St, while a ramped access looks to link to the Yeaman Pl side directly. Planning application documents here »

• 🧱 Changes to southside protected cycleways at Summerhall under construction until June 2026;

⛏️ Burnside Path Repairs & Longstone Sinkhole
Contractors setting up on site w/c 3/11 for repairs required to the retaining wall/sinkhole. Hope to complete the in-river works by xmas, & reinstatement of sinkhole by end of Feb. Option to extend contract if required. — Longstone Community Council on Bluesky » (including site plan images)

• ⛴️ Queensferry High Street Improvements | Technical drawings [PDF]

• ⚓️ Foot of the Walk to Dock Street | Works leaflet » [PDF] | Progress photos »

• 🚋 Trams to Newhaven Snagging / Defects List »

• 🤬 Silverknowes Rd North being returned to cars | Spokes’ area history

📋 Consulted On:

• 🐚 The consultation on Station Road as part of the Musselburgh Active Toun closed mid December;

• 🚋 Major North-South Tramline Consultation | Spokes’ brilliant, detailed response [PDF] | Officers A8 ‘Diversion’ Clarification

• ⭕️ Polwarth Gardens road layout consultation | “Safety Wins: Residents Choose New Polwarth Junction Design, Construction to Begin Within 18 Months” at Merchiston Districts Community Council »

• ⚒️ Queensferry Connections project;

• ⛏️ Marionville Rd and Smokey Brae improvements;

• 🚶🏽‍♂️ Walking, wheeling and cycling improvements in Currie

• 🧪 Edinburgh BioQuarter Active Travel Gaps - Sheriffhall Park & Ride to BioQuarter Campus Route;

• 🌞 Dalry Living Well Locally | Initial Feedback Report » [PDF]

• ⚓ Leith Connections Phase 3 - Hawthornvale to Seafield | Detailed Designs (PDF) »

• 🚴🏽‍♂️ Midlothian Council - A7 Sustainable Transport Corridor

• East Lothian Council - Prestonpans to Levenhall | Combined plans » [Large PDF]

Thanks for reading - ride safe 🚲

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