Overall there is much to like about this scheme as well as several improvements that could be made.
As evidence has shown worldwide, investing in people-centred places, rather than traffic dominated ones, is good for wellbeing, business and the planet.
Dalry isn't in our area of benefit, but the scheme is emblematic of what could be achieved in neighbourhoods across South West Edinburgh. our members have businesses, take their kids to swim at Dalry Swim Centre, use the playparks and travel to and through the area almost every day. It's also a key public transport corridor.
The risks for this scheme are the same as for many others in Edinburgh - risk of being watered-down, budget challenges, risk of not being ambitious enough - but the benefits if delivered well, could be huge for an area with low-car ownership and with less access to public space than in many parts of the city.
All of this is principally delivered by filtering Dalry Road with a bus gate. This will grant more space to develop public space, reduce crashes and increase the quality of life overall in the areas. We know that when cities around the world are ambitious then politicians are rewarded, but when they try to fit in unfettered private car use you end up with a Leith Walk!
Below we list what's good, what could be improved and where there needs to be more ambition (or where the Council need to hold their nerve!).
Here are some of the good points about the scheme:
In most places, a wider pavement this will be a much safer place to walk and wheel, including continuous, level pavements.
We love the: Zebra crossings, the increased space outside the Dalry Swim Centre, the areas for seating and bike parking: please maximise all of these!
Public transport will be faster and more reliable. Fact. This is a key bus corridor. Please maximise shelter sizes and visibility of public transport.
The outline designs suggest some street trees and greenery - this should be maximised for urban drainage, biodiversity and climate change. More trees!
Filtering traffic is necessary for traffic reduction goals and positive overall - although this scheme could and should go further (see below).
The cycle provision significantly improves what is there, including at some of most dangerous points - junctions and bus stops.
The designs aren't clear, but should be able to have the latest good practice bus stop bypass designs (as suggested by this positive Living Streets Report) rather than bus boarders. This segregation will be necessary with 30-50 buses per hour.
If there was one reason alone to filter these streets with a bus gate it would be to significantly reduce injuries and resultant costs to the NHS and public services. Just look at the crash data (it’s terrible!):
Should there be a zebra crossing at/near the entrance to Dalry Cemetery?
The new one way in/around Murieston is welcome. Due to mobestity, cars are bigger than they used to be and getting bigger. car design lead times means we know this will get worse as EVs get bigger. It’s almost impossible to pass when driving on those streets!
Great to see a cyclops design in Edinburgh - the key will be reducing the space for vehicles and given as much as possible space to pedestrians and cyclists. If the space is design well and efficiently, you don't need advance cycle boxes. Could this be a roundabout cyclops instead with zebras for pedestrian priority?
Here's where it can be improved:
Could there be more blue badge parking? We think so.
It's still an early design, but there needs to be a much stronger link to Dalry's history and contemporary community (e.g. link to War Memorial at Haymarket, the walk to Tynecastle, brewing etc).
The school street at Dalry Primary should also be enhanced - in a similar way to Dalry Swim Centre. The recent changes have been welcome, but better materials and street trees (like a Parisian school street) should be used, potentially with manually operated gates for school drop-off & pick up-times.
The scheme need space for more seating - a place to park you bum is key!
Where can you spend a penny? Public toilets should be considered not just as a convenience but a necessity!
You don't need a filter lane in a low traffic neighbourhood. That is a traffic engineering failure. It could be space for blue badge parking, trees, a loading bay, cycle parking or more pavement:
Traffic volumes and speeds will be just as high in the town centre - with c30-50 buses an hour this increases the risk of a catastrophic injury for cyclists by not having well designed floating bus stops in this section - so will need bus stop bypasses too.
Not all pavements have been widened as much as they could be. Carriageways appear to remain quite wide. With reduced traffic and to help 20mph compliance the minimum width carriageway should be used. In this photo there's space for two bus stop bypasses - but if there is space for that here then in other locations the carriageway can be reduced to widen the pavement too:
Caledonian side streets - all appear to be one way. Should this be with contraflow cycling?
Please fix the (frankly) appallingly tiny amount of pedestrian space on the corner of Dalry Road and Morrison Street. More people use that pavement every day than the road.
Bollards. Bollards. Bollards. The bike lanes, junction, corners and pavements need protecting so they are not broken (it saves money over time).
Here's where there could be more ambition or where the Council need to hold their nerve:
Edinburgh Council is sadly expending political capital on wee changes (such as a Corstorphine bus gate that’s only in 18hrs a day). If you’re going to put the effort in you might as well go big to hit your own targets. It needs to expand ambition or hold its nerve. Here’s how:
There will be calls to remove or water down the bus gate. We will then end up with a Leith Walk where trying to fit everybody in ends up please no one. If the bus gate is weakened, then councillors should articulate why more pedestrian injures and less reliable public transport is acceptable for this community in order to facilitate passersby from other communities and - crucially - how they will achieve their own 30% traffic reduction targets without such measures.
In the absence of filters, then fully segregated cycling is the only option.
By using a bus gate, the permeance of this scheme could be threatened by a weak council in the future. Should harder measures at the Haymarket end be considered (but still maintain bus access)?
There should be a link through Distillery Lane into Haymarket Station - complex, we know, but public transport should be as accessible as possible.
Russell Road should have a similarly timed bus gate under the Western Approach Road Bridge - this would prevent Murieston, Ardmillan and Harrison Park being used as a rat run and reduce accidents at key junctions. This is the only kind of ambition that will deliver current policy.
As a minimum should Mcleod Street be filtered (perhaps 7/7/7) so rat-running traffic isn't going past Tynecastle High or Tynecastle Stadium?
Please follow best practice guidance rather than removing bus stop bypasses. There is a great Living Streets report into bus stop bypasses, this suggests that, where needed and well-designed, they support the policy aim of increasing the levels of cycling. This will be an area of concern that with good design can be mitigated:
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