Local MSP backs 20mph residential speed limit and better bike lanes

Cycle safety has been a high profile political issue in Edinburgh recently. Lothians Green MSP Alison Johnstone used a rare opportunity to hold a debate in the parliament this week to discuss the issue.

Local MSP Malcolm Chisholm took part in the debate (he speaks at about 31 mins into the debate in the video above), and we were delighted that he mentioned Greener Leith and quoted our We Love Leith active travel work extensively in his speech.

Hundreds of Leithers we worked with indicated that they would like to see more dedicated cycle facilities and lower speed limits in the neighbourhood. It's great to see our MSP take these views to Holyrood. 

You can read the full text of what he said in the debate below:

"I welcome the Scottish Government’s reaffirmation of its commitment to ensure that 10 per cent of journeys will be made by bike by 2020, since that is clearly highly desirable in terms of health and climate change. However, being realistic, I do not think it looks like we will achieve the target given that—late increases in the budget process notwithstanding—the active travel budget is still less than 1 per cent of the total transport budget. 

"It seems to me and, I am sure, to others in the chamber that safety is the key to reaching the target. Alison Johnstone highlighted the sad and tragic fact that 16 cyclists have died on Lothian roads this century.

"Cyclists desperately need more space on roads and more 20mph limits in residential areas. In that regard, I emphasise the importance of the Labour amendment and I hope that the Scottish Government will consider the guidance that appears to discourage some local authorities from introducing such zones. 

"Of course, cycle paths are important—there are many good ones in my constituency, which will encourage me to return to cycling in due course—but action on cycle training is also required. Alison Johnstone and I attended a recent cycle training event at Leith primary school, but we would agree that action on cycle training of that sort is to no avail if the other safety measures are not taken.

"Local community-led campaigns, such as the we love Leith campaign by the Greener Leith organisation, are important. I pay tribute to the Scottish Government for providing much of that campaign’s funding through the climate challenge fund. It involved community consultation, behaviour change work and efforts to tackle the barriers to active travel that were identified by local residents.

"The first consultation, involving 450 residents, put the behaviour of other road users at the top of the list of reasons for people disliking cycling, along with danger and vulnerability in general. That is perhaps not surprising because, as I was alarmed to read in a newspaper report a couple of weeks ago, Leith Walk has been flagged up as one of the 10 most dangerous streets in the United Kingdom for cyclists. 

"When residents were asked what would encourage them to cycle more, 49 per cent said that infrastructure improvements would be the main thing that would get them back on their bike. A second consultation flagged up dedicated cycle lanes on main arterial routes as the top cycling priority.

"Greener Leith has also highlighted the need to reduce traffic growth in general in order to encourage cycling, as well as for many other purposes. In particular, it flagged up the social cohesion of neighbourhoods, the sense of ownership of public space and mental and physical health. Therefore, I am alarmed that traffic trends tend to be going in the opposition direction. I have lodged some parliamentary questions about that this week.

"Edinburgh has been referred to quite a bit. We must acknowledge that a lot of good work has been done, but I think that the 5 per cent of the budget for active travel schemes next year is not matched by this year’s budget for them, which is 1 per cent of revenue spend.

"Edinburgh Labour has emphasised the separation of bikes and road traffic, the safe storage of bikes, possible cycle hire schemes, school cycling training and 20mph speed limits. I re-emphasise that last point. It seems to me that the widespread use of 20mph speed limits in residential areas would benefit cyclists and pedestrians alike."

You can view the text of the motion here.  

 A summary report of the research that Malcolm Chisholm referred to in his speech can be downloaded by clicking here. 

It Shore will be better when upgrade completed

There can't be many Leithers who haven't noticed that the southern section of the Shore is currently being dug up. Here's what it'll look like when the upgrades are completed: 

Shore Improvements

It will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Greener Leith blog for a few years that we did try to persuade the powers that be that stronger traffic reduction measures would have been even better. We gathered evidence that there are significant numbers of locals who would support full pedestrianisation.

Now that the tram doesn't look like appearing in Leith any time soon, it would appear that full pedestrianisation is probably not the best option to pursue. Afterall, many of the local businesses in the area there have a city wide clientelle that will be arriving by bus for the foreseable future.

However, we think there must still be scope to trial further traffic reduction measures that will help to push the balance of the street even further in favour of recreation and sustainable transport uses. For example, a complete ban of through traffic on Sunday afternoons over the summer could offer scope for outdoor events to take place there. 

Whilst, it remains to be seen how easy it will be for Police to enforce the buses and bikes only policy northbound on the street, there's no doubt this improvement scheme will make the area a better place to visit and live beside - and it will be welcomed by many.

We should also congratulate the council officials involved who have worked hard to build consensus over the final design, never mind finding the money to implement it. Given how strapped for cash the council is going to be in the future, Leithers are lucky that this project went ahead at all.

Bonus Bag scheme commended by councillors

 

This week Greener Leith recognition from city councillors on the Transport, Infrastructure and Environment committee for the bonus bag part of our We Love Leith scheme. They passed the following motion with unanimous agreement:

“That this Council:

Recognises the social, economic and environmental benefits of local high streets across the city and is committed to working with local traders to improve these essential and invaluable community assets;

Commends the work of Greener Leith in encouraging local people to use local shops through the promotion of the Greener Leith Bonus Bag where discounts and offers are available to shoppers using the Greener Leith or alternative reusable bag;

Recognises the aim of becoming a zero waste city given the need to save resources, cut CO2 emissions and reduce the financial costs to the city in waste disposal;

Notes the public support for measures to make Edinburgh plastic bag free;

Notes that Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland have introduced taxes on plastic bags and that countries including Italy have banned them entirely;

Agrees that a forward thinking capital city which markets itself as ‘Edenburgh’ can show the Scottish Government that more action is needed;

and calls for a report into how a reusable bag scheme can be rolled out across the city, looking, for example, at opportunities available within the Town Centre Regeneration projects for funding and promotion.”

The motion would not have happened without the support of local councillor, and now newly elected green MSP, Alison Johnstone , and Gordon Millar of the Ban Plastic Bags Edinburgh Campaign.

Whilst we are not funded to support the scheme anymore, there are still We Love Leith bags in use locally, and many of the participating businesses are still providing discounts to shoppers using them. Needless to say, Greener Leith would be delighted to play a role in any city-wide project that operates along the same lines, and it will be interesting to see if the council can make funding available to kick start a city wide scheme that might achieve the economies of scale required to make it economically self-sufficient.

You can read a bit more detail about how the scheme worked here:

Bonus Bag Outline

This news was also covered in this Edinburgh Evening News article.

Funding package confirmed for Shore

It's been a long time coming, but after a vote at Thursdays Leith Neighbourhood Partnership Housing and Built Environment Sub-group Committee, funding is now in place for plans to give the Shore a huge facelift.

Draft plans have been produced already by council staff, and a period of public consultation will take place this Spring to fine tune the details. You can see an outline of the draft plans here:

Draft shore redesign proposals

View more presentations from Greener Leith

You can have your say on the plans at the next Leith neighbourhood partnership meeting. Details of the meeting here:

Leith NP Programme 24.3.11

Needless to say, we are sure that Greener Leith readers will for the most part be delighted with this news, afterall, "Pedestrianising the Shore" came out top priority in a large consultation we did as part of our We Love Leith active travel project. Whilst the proposal is not for full pedestrianisation, it will, we hope lead to a considerable reduction in the problems caused by traffic on the street.

Greener Leith has been supportive of the Friends of the Water of Leith Basin, who have also campaigned on this issue. In 2009, Greener Leith held a Car Free Day event on the Shore, which saw traffic removed from the street for the day. You can see an interview with George Johnston, of the Friends of the Water of Leith Basin, making the case for reducing traffic on the Shore back in 2009 here:

You can read more about this project in a post I wrote on STV Local earlier in the week.

The Free Cycle Map of Leith

There's a lot of talk in the press today about the Bike Station's new Innertube map. They've taken a very stylised approach to illustrating the whole off-road cycle path network in Edinburgh, inspired by the London Tube Map.

The Guardian helpfully uploaded it to Scribd.com, where you can view it in all it's full screen glory.

Edinburgh's Innertube Map - The Bike Station

However, cyclists on the City Cycling Edinburgh Forum were not all impressed. Some people argued that a more detailed map is more useful as it shows the connections between routes. Chris Hill, one of the people on the forum said: 

Clearly it's 'simplified' but as it's not all off-road it seems strange to miss crucial links like Telfer Subway and the curious route from Leamington Lift Bridge to Dalry Road which crosses the WAR.

I can't understand why Roseburn Place is mentioned twice but not joined up.

Also missing is DMains to Cramond Brig and onwards.

I hope it will show people routes they didn't know about and encourage them to explore (perhaps with the help of a 'proper' map), but there's certainly the potential for much confusion...

Another user 'Min' was more generous:

"I suppose if the map is small it will be easy for people to pick up and have a look at and will serve as a starting point for finding the cycle paths. Plus you can download it for free and it is aimed at people who do not know about the off road cycle paths. These people are unlikely to pay for a Spokes map that they do not think will have any off road paths on it because they don't know about them. Maybe?"

Clearly, different maps serve different purposes, and it is a mysterious rule of thumb that every cycle promotion project in history seems to have felt the need to produce their own map - often because each project has a slightly different target audience.

However, given the debate above, it's perhaps worth pointing out that a detailed Active Travel map has been available for the Leith area of the city for a fair while now, online, for free. It was just a bit hidden on The Greener Leith Social. To make it easier to find, use and download, we've put it on Scribd.com too:

We Love Leith Map

To see a large version of either of the maps, click on the 'full screen' link above the map, and then in the bottom of the screen you can magnify the map even more to have a look in detail.

Whilst the 'lower page'  of our map, which is the Future Travel Map is somewhat out of date (for example, we were told the tram would be finished by now), the map itself provides more detail than any cyclist could want on cycle paths, cycle lanes and cycle parking - as well as bus routes and the locations of City Car Club bays too.

For those of you who live or work in this part of the city, and would like more detail - enjoy!

Bonus bag to go city-wide?

Our innovative We Love Leith 'Bonus Bag' loyalty scheme that encourages Leithers to support local independent businesses has won praise from a local city councillor. Cllr Alison Johnstone would like to see the idea go citywide as part of a bid to declare Edinburgh a plastic bag free city. 

Cllr Alison Johnstone, who is the Green Party representative for the Meadows and Morningside ward of the city said: 

“Three years ago I asked for a City Council report into the possibility of Edinburgh becoming Scotland’s first plastic bag free city.  I received a negative response at the time but it seems clear that the City Council is lagging behind public opinion.

“There’s a real willingness from the public to start addressing this issue.  More and more people are using sustainable bags and I think the Council should be a bit braver and help lead the way.

“Among the things that the motion will call for will be to highlight the work of Greener Leith on plastic bags and suggest looking at how this can be rolled out across the city.”

Alison is a supporter of the non-partisan, Ban Plastic Bag Edinburgh campaign, which has already gathered nearly 400 other supporters already using a Facebook page.

Sadly, we're out of stock of the We Love Leith bags at the moment - but you may still be able to buy one from participating retailers in the neighbourhood.

You can find out more information about how the Bonus Bag scheme works here.

Work to start soon on Leith path network upgrade

The City of Edinburgh Council has just released details of a confirmed plan to upgrade the existing cycle/pedestrian path running from Easter Road to Seafield Street, via Lochend. The path is currently poorly surfaced, full of muddy puddles, and unlit for a great deal of it's length, so we're sure this investment will go a long way to encourage more people to use the path.

This path is particularly important as it runs close to three different schools, including Leith Academy, and connects pretty well with Lochend Park and Easter Road stadium too.

Work is due to start in February next year.

The intention is that this upgrade will connect at the Seafield end with plans to improve the mainly off-road route between Portobello Promenade - Leith Links - Sandport Place. This further improvement is currently at the design stage, and identified as a priority in the councils Active Travel Plan with a target completion date of April 2014.

If you have any questions about the detail of the Lochend Path upgrade, you should contact the council officer developing the detailed design, Mr Andrew Easson on 0131 469 3643.

Greener Leith is unsurprisingly delighted that these routes are set for improvement so early, and together, they'll help to make cycling and walking a much more attractive option for residents of Lochend, Restalrig, and folk in the Pirniefield area. We note that "build a cross Leith cycle route" has come out in the top 5 on the list of priorities local residents would like to see when it comes to transport - so it's clear that there will be plenty of other local residents who will be delighted with this news too.

If you click on the image above, you should be able to view a larger map.

Snow is coming: We Love Leith bike ride cancelled

Judging by these weather reports, it's probably prudent that we cancel the November We Love Leith Bike Ride that was due to take place this Saturday. Sadly, the cycle paths aren't gritted by the council, so if it does snow, or if it freezes for a long time, they're not a good place to take cyclists that are building their confidence, or younger kids.

Instead, we're planning a Christmas get together in December for all our Greener Leith friends, volunteers and supporters. More details to follow.

This means that the next We Love Leith Bike ride won't take place until the end of January - when the weather may, or may not, be a bit better. We'll keep you posted. 

Of course, whilst two wheels can be tricky on the cycle paths when they get icy, two feet will be fine. You might want to come on the December Leith Walk instead.