Path Improvements On The Way?

Greener Leith has been working for months to persuade anyone who'll listen to us that the current barrier on the traffic free path from Easter Road to Hawkhill Avenue and Lochend Park needs to be removed. As you can see from the picture below, the barrier is designed as an extremely tight chicane, and it prevents cyclists, wheelchair users, and people with buggies from using the path altogether. 

It also looks really horrible.

You can see in the photograph, that the path surface deteriorates to mud for about 20 metres, before it joins a cobbled lane. So we're delighted to hear that, (subject to the approval of around £17,000 worth of funding from the Housing and Built Environment Sub Group of the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership)  the ugly barrier is set to be replaced with a new chicane that will allow most wheeled objects through,  and also that the muddy section of path will also be improved and brought up to the same standard as the rest of the footway.

This one improvement will make it possible to walk with a buggy, push a wheelchair or cycle all the way to Lochend Park, and both Meadowbank and Easter Road stadiums from the foot of Easter Road - with very little contact with motorised traffic.

We're particularly pleased about this improvement, as it supports our 'We Love Leith' campaign that seeks to inspire Leithers to choose a greener way to travel. Simple improvements like this make it even easier, not to mention more appealing, to walk and cycle. To date, hundreds of Leithers have so far made a We Love Leith pledge, and many are keen to walk, or cycle more with their kids to school. The removal of this barrier will make it possible for many more people to walk or cycle all the way from Lochend and Restalrig to Leith Academy without going on a busy road.