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news
Edinburgh tramline vs cycle path - photo credit Andy ArthurCyclists directed into dangerous tram lines in Edinburgh's Princes Street
Cyclists campaigning against 'crazy death-trap' street planning in Edinburgh's Princes Street have discovered a section of cycle path that intersects with tram lines at an angle that could cause serious injury.
Although official advice to cyclists is to only cross tram lines at a 90 degree angle, the cycle path directs riders onto the tracks at a 40 degree angle, as illustrated in cycle campaigner Andy Arthur's photograph above.
TIE, the original company formed to build the tram system, said in a letter to a cyclist who had slipped over on a track: "The Edinburgh tramway crossings and junctions have been designed to ensure that cyclists are guided to cross the tracks at as near as possible to 90 degrees and no less than 60 degrees."
The photograph shows the painted cycle lane at the bottom of the Mound, on Princes Street, aligning to Hanover Street, which is part of the National Cycle Network.
Edinburgh Council also reinforce the 90 degree guidelines on their website.
As we reported at the weekend, the reopening of Princes Street has caused widespread confusion for cyclists, who feel that signage for cycle paths is misleading, forcing trams, buses and cycles to interact dangerously. Many city cyclists feel that tram lines are dangerous, because it's easy to catch a wheel in the gaps or to slip over in wet conditions.
Latest Comments
- Simon E 12 min 44 sec ago
There seems to be a copy on YT (though I haven't actually watched any of it) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlfblLude-tfj0X-ITlQQM8m5YAW...
- Rendel Harris 13 min 17 sec ago
My posts would have those who had the similarly thankless task of teaching me leaping from their graves and crying, "My God, it's only taken 40...
- hawkinspeter 13 min 47 sec ago
I just played around a little with Google Maps with directions going from Hanham/Warmley toTemple Meads and that didn't choose Crews Hole Rd. The...
- bikes 18 min 49 sec ago
I've had the same discussion with so many drivers at red lights after a close pass when riding primary in a narrow lane "But you were in the middle...
- nextSibling 48 min 28 sec ago
The point of limited-run models like these isn't to make a profit. It's a marketing exercise to get the brand in the media via filler articles that...
- FionaJJ 1 hour 19 min ago
Seems like a flaw. I wonder who decided that? Surely it's in everyone's interests to come up with an agreement that a portion of the car-park be...
- chrisonabike 1 hour 24 min ago
Don't forget the hour record!...
- brooksby 1 hour 36 min ago
https://metro.co.uk/2024/11/25/uncle-picture-welcome-sign-car-crash-kill...
- pockstone 2 hours 9 min ago
See my comment on the live blog...I think it's pretty clear who the real baddie is.
- Steve K 3 hours 56 min ago
It is, apparently, "packed with high visibility reflective details on back and shoulder."
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5 comments
It would be interesting to see the 'risk assessment' for these wonderful bits of street furniture. Councils are risk averse at the best of times how did this get through? clearly not planned as a cycle path that bit was an afterthought...
Easy way out of this problem, don't use the cycle paths. The ones here in Telford are full of potholes and covered in broken glass, pretty sure they weren't designed this way but they never get cleaned up; they were however designed to go nowhere, start and stop in irrelevant or unreachable places or take you twice the distance and three times the time that the road takes. Always the same problems bad design, poor maintenance, and poor management.
Ehm, you still have to follow the direction of the road. Do you know the actual location from first hand experience?
With all respect, but we locals are getting a bit tired from hearing again and again wise comments on this and other forums on how to do it properly from people who haven't actually seen the location. These are places where hundreds of cyclists have crashed within a few years, from beginners to most experienced cycling instructors.
The first time this goes wrong the council/planners are going to be sued and the taxpayer will end up paying a second time. And then a third to revise the design.
The problem is exacerbated by the uneven surface either side of the rails which needs to be sorted out. ORR/HMRI standard is to have a rail head between flush with the road and -6mm - these rails are at least +6mm if not more in places and either side is a row of ridges, some approaching 10mm, when the DfT standards for white lining, and tramline paving is that it should not exceed 5mm, as a greater height of any ridge can deflect a cycle tyre.
Even cars have skidded and crashed where tram rails are standing proud of the road surfaces, infamously in the case of Roe vs Sheffield Supertram & Others. For much of the street the position would be greatly improved if the rails were the only 'ridge' to tackle.