Edinburgh: Princes Street carfree celebration ride

"David Marsh" wrote in message
...

Edinburgh's Princes Street is due to go permanently carfree, during the
daytimes and early evenings, as of 19:00 this evening (Sunday 15 May).

Join in for a leisurely bike ride along Princes Street to celebrate on
this beautiful spring evening. Meet at Waterloo Place at 18:45.

NB: This is NOT critical mass or a protest ride, just a leisurely
non-organised evening bike 'promenade' as is enjoyed by cyclists in
many other European cities.


NB2: Although the Council websites, the BBC and road signs report
Princes Street as being reclaimed today, work was still underway on the
street earlier today, so there is a possibility that perhaps everything
might not be ready for this evening(?), but here's hoping..


--
David Marsh,
Be careful not to run over any squirrels. When the street was closed to
traffic during the Commonwealth Prime Ministers conference. We saw a
squirrel come out of the gardens by the West End, sit on the kerb for a few
minutes rubbing his hands together before scuttling over the empty road.
Presumably off to visit friends in Charlotte Square.
Derek.

And what about at
the junction with Lothian Road? Is there a summary of the changes
anywhere
online?



http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/CETM/ click map

alan brown

"David Marsh" wrote in message
...

Edinburgh's Princes Street is due to go permanently carfree, during the
daytimes and early evenings, as of 19:00 this evening (Sunday 15 May).

Makes no difference to me. I can't imagine why anyone would ever have
wanted to drive a car along that nightmare street! Will cars still be
crossing over from the Mound and Waverley Bridge though? And what about at
the junction with Lothian Road? Is there a summary of the changes anywhere
online?

Join in for a leisurely bike ride along Princes Street to celebrate on
this beautiful spring evening. Meet at Waterloo Place at 18:45.

But then you'll get snarled up in the junction with the Bridges and Leith
Street just as you start out. Wouldn't it have been better to have met for
afternoon tea in the Balmoral first and then cycled along from there? )

Tamzin

In article , David Marsh
writes

Edinburgh's Princes Street is due to go permanently carfree, during the
daytimes and early evenings, as of 19:00 this evening (Sunday 15 May).

Join in for a leisurely bike ride along Princes Street to celebrate on
this beautiful spring evening. Meet at Waterloo Place at 18:45.

Finally, the taxidrivers won't be slowed down by careful cardrivers in
their attempts to render the Edinburgh cyclist an extinct species.

The operate in packs, you know -- first the taxi knocks the cyclist
down and then leaves it to the open-topped tour bus to crush them into
the tarmac. It will be brutal...

Meanwhile over in suddenly-busy Queen Street how are the cyclists
doing?
--
Email me via robert (at) nojay (dot) org (new email address)
This address no longer accepts HTML posts.

Robert Sneddon

In article ,
David Marsh wrote:

Join in for a leisurely bike ride along Princes Street to celebrate on
this beautiful spring evening. Meet at Waterloo Place at 18:45.

Since most of the problems for cyclists on Princes Street are
caused by buses, I can't seen it making things much better.

-- Richard

Finally, the taxidrivers won't be slowed down by careful cardrivers in
their attempts to render the Edinburgh cyclist an extinct species.

The operate in packs, you know -- first the taxi knocks the cyclist down
and then leaves it to the open-topped tour bus to crush them into the
tarmac. It will be brutal...

Meanwhile over in suddenly-busy Queen Street how are the cyclists doing?
--

One (Aces Taxis?) nearly hit me on Friday (13th!) in Canaan Lane as he
pulled out of the housing complex half way up on the left (cycling towards
Newbattle). He was looking left and only left under the misapprehension that
Canaan Lane is 1 way when in fact it is 2 way to traffic at that point, its
just you can't get in at the bottom but there are houses and other driveways
and they can go up or down Canaan Lane. It's the most dangerous street on my
journey as I regularly almost get hit by drivers cutting the corner at
Newbattle I cycle towards it.

A passing pedestrian on Friday commented on the driver's lack of driving
skill saying it was unbelievable that he hadn't bothered to look right when
pedestrians or cyclists could be coming up the road, never mind cars!

in message , David Marsh
') wrote:

Edinburgh's Princes Street is due to go permanently carfree, during
the daytimes and early evenings, as of 19:00 this evening (Sunday 15
May).

Join in for a leisurely bike ride along Princes Street to celebrate on
this beautiful spring evening. Meet at Waterloo Place at 18:45.

Woah! Just 33 years after the bike-ins of 1972, we finally achieve what
we were campaigning for then!

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

X-no-archive: No, I'm not *that* naive.

"Alan Brown" wrote in message
...

And what about at
the junction with Lothian Road? Is there a summary of the changes
anywhere
online?



http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/CETM/ click map


Thank you most kindly my dear sir )

Tamzin

"Richard Tobin" wrote in message
...
In article ,
David Marsh wrote:

Join in for a leisurely bike ride along Princes Street to celebrate on
this beautiful spring evening. Meet at Waterloo Place at 18:45.

Since most of the problems for cyclists on Princes Street are
caused by buses, I can't seen it making things much better.


I've never dared to cycle in Edinburgh but I think I would be terrified by
the buses if I did. I must say that all you cyclists are awfully brave to
go anywhere near those beasts (Adopts fluttery eyelids and flirtatious smile
as she looks at all those well-muscled handsome cyclist types although she
realises that the female ones are courageous too just not so decorative).

Tamzin

"David Marsh" wrote in message
...

Anyway, the whole thing was a bit of an anti-climax, unfortunately, due
to a distinct lack of Lothian&Borders' finest to 'advise' motorists of
the alternative routes, so there wasn't actually much reduction in car
traffic going down Princes Street. I hope the donut-munchers will be
trying a little harder to earn their keep tomorrow (and then I'll lay off
the cheap jibes)..


I heard that da polis were going easy on cars going the wrong way for the
first week or so but hopefully they'll be theri usual selves after that. I
walked along Princes Street today and didn't notice much difference but then
there were roadworks causing a delay at the east end where they are working
on the next phase of the changes. I'm hoping it will mean fewer cars going
up Leith Street and down Waterloo Place as I occasionally choose to go that
way to get to the Bridges when Abbeyhill/Horse Wynd is jammed and it's
taking too long to get into Holyrood Park. Incidentally wtf was that march
of white t-shirted people on Saturday 13 at about 5.15-5.45 pm? I was going
to the stables and drove up Easter Road to the junction of Abbeyhill and
Regent Road. I could see that the way down Abbey hill to Horse Wynd was
jammed solid so I stupidly decided to turn left and drive along to the
Meadowbank entrance to Holyrood Park. Woe is me for at almost the precise
second that I arrive dthere the police closed off the road into the park
because this crowd of people were walking down it towards the parliament
junction. If they were marching wtf did it have to be on the road when
there's a huge expanse of grass there for them? I was really annoyed at
how, yet again, the council appears to value the "rights" of demonstrators
over the rights of people to be able to journey from one part of the city to
another within the usual time frame. And the damn thing wasn't even
publicised - there are usually signs warning of delays posted weeks before
such events. I ended up being herded down a really narrow road as it was
impossible to turn round and I had no clue where I was going or that the
road in question had speed bumps. Also due to the double parking there was
little room to squeeze past in places and a van nearly bashed me. I ended
up at the lower arch of the railway bridge at the bottom of Abbeyhill and
although the traffic jam there had cleared a bit no-one would let me on to
the proper road, not even the police vans that went sailing past! I was so
stressed that I was tempted to stop the car where it was and get out to go
for a walk. It's at times like that that I realise that if I had magic
powers I would have blasted the entire rest of the human race into oblivion
long ago. So it's just as well that the force isn't with me isn't it? (sob)

Tamzin