How wide is Leith Walk? Apparently below Pilrig Street, it's too narrow for cycle lanes. But it doesn't actually get narrower until below Smith's Place. 
There's already a segregated cycle lane on each side for 360m, where the street is at its narrowest 28m. So let's take 28m as the absolute minimum width for segregated cycle lanes, then 77% of Leith Walk is actually wider than that.
In fact the only section where it falls below 28m is between Smith's Place and Crown Place, a 360m section. It says something about the utter lack of commitment of the council to active transport that they can't accept a short section where cars deprioritised
The only thing that is too narrow here is the council's vision and commitment to some other solution for the city than death by 1,000 badly parked cars.
Tell you what I hadn't appreciated though, there's a 600m section at the bottom of Leith Walk, where NO PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS will be provided, between the Foot of the Walk and Jameson Place, and there will be a raised "pedestrian deterrent" median
So that's a big "F*ck you" so far to; cyclists, the elderly, disabled, people with pushchairs or wheelchairs...
That section currently has 2 pelican and 2 zebra crossings. Not only will these be removed, but the road will be widened to accommodate 2 tram running lanes and 2 vehicle lanes with painted cycle lanes (currently just 2 general traffic lanes + painted cycle lane)
I wonder if it will even be possible to do this on a bike between Manderston and Jane Streets? certainly don't fancy cycling across the points.
No getting between Lorne and Balfour Streets on a bike either
No getting from Balfour/Arthur Streets across to Dalmeny Streets by bike. Nope. No way.
And you don't appear to be able to get out of Iona Street on a bike. Certainly you can't turn down the Walk if you happened to be trying to get to Balfour Street and on to Pilrig Park... And how do you get to Pilrig Street?
And those segregated cycle lanes? No way to get from the downhill lane to any of the right-turn side streets, and you can't get out of Iona Street and onto the downhill lane.
This explains why such a fuss was made of the cycle crossing at McDonald Road / Brunswick Street; there's nowhere else to get a bike across the road between here and the foot of the walk except at Pilrig Street from general traffic lanes
Do these absolute rockets at the council think that nobody on a bike needs or wants to go across Leith east/west? Do they really think that making Pilrig or Duke/Constitution Streets the only way to get from one side of the Walk to the other is a thing? (Rhetorical Q.)
Say you want to come from Easter Road direction and you want to get to Pilrig Park on 2 wheels? You can't actually do it from between Brunswick Street and Iona Street, and below that you have to turn back up the Walk as far as Pilrig Street
It's almost as if whichever geniuses schemed this all up on their desktops from an office have never actually been to Leith to see the place. How are people getting about? On foot mainly. And a fair few by bike. Motor traffic is generally just passing through
And you know what? There's a lot of old folk in Leith, and also a lot of younger families with pushchairs and little ones. And a reasonable number of folk might need a stick or a wheelchair. But no, they've no actual reason to want to safely cross the road in the council's view.
The "new, improved" Leith Walk will have 12 pedestrian crossings, all of which are 2 stage. 4 of these (green) will serve the 2 tram stops. There will be none between Balfour Street and the Foot of the Walk
Between the crossing points at McDonald Road Tesco and the Foot of the Walk, there are only 2 places to cross. Balfour Street tram stop and Pilrig Street. That's a distance of 1.2km
I could go on and on pointing out how utterly terrible the design is, but right now I've better things to do with my time. Suffice to say, I've looked at a lot of Edinburgh consultations and this is without a doubt by far and away the worst for anyone on 2 feet or wheels
The only thing prioritised here is the council's burning desire to force the tram down Leith Walk at all and any cost, and a total inability or unwillingness to even contemplate anything but the north-south movement of vehicles and maintaining parking as a sop to the status quo
I mean seriously, these plans are diabolical, and one thing stronger than the council's urge to shove a cack-handed tram design down the Walk is mine to meet the designers at a consultation event and take them to task on this.
For what it's worth, here's this whole damn thread on this sorry state of affairs in one handy page; threadreaderapp.com/thread/9758570…
Here's a wee diagram to illustrate the total disconnect between plans and reality. There's a determined attempt to engineer pedestrian flow on Leith Walk as if it was a through motorway. Except it's not, it's a busy high street with most people following non-conformal paths
I keep coming back to this though. This is what's making my blood boil, this is actually lifted out of the drawings for Leith Walk
Pedestrian deterrent paving.
Pedestrian.
Deterrent.
PEDESTRIAN.
DETERRENT.
Let that sink in.
Pedestrian.
Deterrent.
PEDESTRIAN.
DETERRENT.
Let that sink in.
There's a median strip of this stuff to go in the length of Leith Walk, only broken for a small number of pedestrian crossings or the tram crossover points, and busy junctions at Brunswick Street and Pilrig Street.
Whichever councillors and officers allowed these drawings to go forward for consultation with these words in them should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
Just been told that these plans seek to "to balance transport policy with the needs of residents, businesses & Leith and Newhaven communities" (council quote)
