New moves on Spaces for People
There are new Spaces for People schemes planned in the city. The council was just been awarded a further £2 million of government funding.
South Bridge - a bus gate will be introduced at Chambers Street where there will be a revised road layout. Temporary traffic lights will be introduced at the George IV Bridge end of Chambers Street.
Lanark Road, Longstone Road and Inglis Green Road - cycle segregation and revised parking arrangements are proposed.
This will provide a safe protected cycling route as an alternative to the Water of Leith path and the canal towpath.
There is a petition set up by Derryck Reid rejecting the council's proposals for the introduction of a temporary segregated cycle lane on Lanark Road. While petitioners say they agree on the reduction of the speed limit on the road to 30mph, many of the objections centre around the removal of parking spaces for residents or delivery vans outside their own homes.
The objectors also say that this will create congestion by reducing the carriageway to a single lane. Cllr Gavin Corbett reminded councillors that it was in 2012 that Andrew McNicoll was killed while cycling on Lanark Road. He explained that while traffic has grown by 8% in the last decade and it is necessary to reallocate space, change can be uncomfortable. He also pointed out that on the canal towpath, which is a shared space, there is already tension between some who uses the space.
The A1 and A90 - temporary cycle infrastructure on the A1.
Greenbank and the Meadows - safer cycling route on this route will be provided. Braid Road will remain closed while the measures at St Peter's and James Gillespie's schools are set up.
This will provide a "coherent quiet connection" from Greenbank to the Meadows without any further interventions in Cluny or Midmar.
Ewen Maclean of Blackford Safe Routes said: "We believe very strongly that the Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route will benefit everyone in the community.
"This particular route provides safer active travel for thousands of school children in the area, but also allows opportunities for everyone to travel more safely and more sustainably, at a time when many people are worried about using public transport, and we vitally need safe travel alternatives to the car. We hope this route is just the start of many such measures that could be employed across the city which will promote more vibrant and active communities, encouraging benefits for local businesses and safer, more connected communities."