Thread by @SW20Ed

🚨 SW20 on Tour 🚨

🧵 Wee trip to Waltham Forrest, London

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, accessible public transport, walkable communities and safe cycling - showing what’s possible in a UK context.

Many lessons for Edinburgh..!

#StreetsNotRoads

The local authority here delivered traffic calming/reduction projects know as Mini Holland schemes

Through traffic was filtered from residential streets using one way streets (with two way cycling), trees as filters and small gardens.

The effect:

✅less thru traffic
✅residents, deliveries and emergency services unaffected
✅less noise (it’s remarkably quiet) 🐦
✅greenery

Continuous footways give pedestrian priority - and clearly showing the boundary between roads and streets where cars are guests. Great for accessibility too.

Different approaches, varying success! #streetsNOTroads

@LivingStreetsEd @LStreetsScot @WeAreMACS

Good quality materials (they’ve weathered pretty well) that are great for pedestrians and obvious for drivers:

✅big, wide roads put on a diet
✅mostly 20mph
✅easy to cross
✅bike bits clearly demarcated
❌pavements could be bigger in places

Lots of different bus stop bypass examples - reducing overall catastrophic risk of bike vs bus crash.

The permanent ones (pics 1&2, Waltham) very different to temp COVID ones (3, near Euston)

What’s clear is that when they are common users know how to use them.

Bike infrastructure works well:

✅pretty coherent
✅floating parking doesn’t feel very floaty once it’s built well!
✅integrates with driveways too (important in multi-car SW Edinburgh!)

Junctions were often pretty good. This is similar to what’s being proposed in lots of these Edinburgh schemes 👇

It’s needed all over Edinburgh (particularly around @SpokesPorty) - junctions are key conflict/risk areas.

https://twitter.com/spokeslothian/status/1534139456533438464?s=21&t=0mRiQa3BsOtCTA4c1sI39w

London is more diverse than Edinburgh - but that diversity was reflected in cycling, e.g. the Sikh family biking through a high street and the high proportion of female cyclists.

Plus 100s of eScooters 🛴 & eBikes!

The high streets were buzzing…. which is surprising as…

…the death of the high street was (predictably) predicted. 🥱 🙄

Every city does this. Fingers crossed🤞 Edinburgh politicians show resolve and leadership.

guardian-series.co.uk/news/13720251.…

What’s the results?

🏥 🆙 health up
🚗 ⬇️ car use down
🔊 ⬇️ noise down
🚗 ↔️ traffic: main roads no worse, neighbourhoods a lot less
⛑ 🆙 safety improved (50% reduction within LTNs)

3ys £80m worth of investment has £724m health benefits over 20ys!

researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/4662…

Up to 76% reduction in traffic inside LTNs! Which results in up to 50% fewer crashes 🤩

https://twitter.com/janrosenow/status/1534812442840256512

Lessons for Edinburgh:

Strategy needs many layers:

✅traffic reduction via road space reallocation
✅LTNs make a huge difference to residents
✅goes along with good walking, wheeling, bike and 🚌 infrastructure
✅business needs people not cars
✅hold the course!
✅consult well

Consultation key, but is one layer of decision making - needs contextualising in policy landscape that is pointing to reducing car demand as a starting point….

…with eyes on wider health, environment, business and community benefits.

theguardian.com/world/2022/jun…

Cc’d to local stakeholders - not for response/comments just to help show positive UK examples. 👍

@NeilCllr @FionaCllr @sjenkinson76

@rsmcksg @DenisDixonSNP @cathyfullerton @danheaped

@CllrScottArthur @MarcoGBiagi

@davidfkey @CouncillorCowdy @ValWalker11

Cc’d to stakeholders:

@best_edinburgh @LivingStreetsEd @LStreetsScot @EdinReporter @edinburghpaper @SpokesLothian @JimDensham @StreetWurrier @TransformScot @TS_Director @JennyGilruth @SpokesLothian @CyclingUKScot @SustransScot @John_Lauder @WeAreMACS @EdinburghBUG @jonburkeUK

Cc’d local stakeholders:

@JGBMCC @ColintonCC @TunnelColinton @ColintonAmenity @Longstone_CC @currie_comm @BalernoCC @TheHealthAgency @SBPCC2 @WHALE_Arts @Bridge8Hub @SCOREscotland @greenspacetrust @craiglockhartCC @FairmileheadCC @WOLCT @CV_Enterprise @cargobikemovmnt

End 🧵!

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Thanks!