Roads to anger, confusion and danger?
Elderly and disability charities warn traffic layouts are changing too much, too fast
Behind endless lines of traffic cones, Scotland’s roads are undergoing dramatic change as cycle and bus lanes are built to encourage greener transport.
However, leading charities fear users, from drivers and cyclists to elderly and disabled people, have not been fully consulted or properly informed.
Last month, we reported around 7,500 roadworks were under way every week across the country, including creation of two-way cycle lanes in most cities, and campaigners for some of the most vulnerable people fear changes to road layouts are happening too quickly.
Adam Stachura, policy chief at Age Scotland, said the elderly were struggling to cope with the pace of the changes. He said it was not just the new cycle lanes that were proving difficult for older people to navigate but also streets being dug up for cabling and repairs. “Some elderly people hadn’t gone outside much during the pandemic and since lockdowns have ended many have found their familiar landscape has now changed,” he said.
“They are having to navigate dug-up roads, traffic cones and other obstacles that are leading to concerns about trips and falls. The works seem to be taking an interminable amount of time and now a big worry for them is trying to cross the street with bikes coming at them from every direction.
“A common complaint is that changes are not being communicated clearly enough in advance and the elderly are not being consulted enough about their needs.”
Ian Buchanan, equality and access
manager for Disability Equality Scotland, said recent alterations to city streets had proved particularly challenging for wheelchair users and people with guide dogs.
“Planners, councils and developers are simply not taking enough notice of the views of the people with actual lived experience of trying to move around a city with a disability,” he added. “Too often the disabled are either left out of the discussions altogether or are simply part of a box-ticking exercise.
“The idea of active travel schemes is great but they are often exclusionary.”
Some of the ongoing works are part of the Scottish Government’s active travel scheme. It aims for walking, wheeling and cycling to be the most popular choices for shorter everyday journeys by 2030.
However, in Edinburgh “floating bus stops” – whereby people have to cross a two-way bike lane to board and alight the bus – have proved controversial.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) believes the bus stops create an unacceptable level of risk to people with impaired mobility. Similar stops have been created in Glasgow, with more scheduled for the city’s suburbs.
The RNIB said that local authorities across the country had used lockdown to narrow roads, introduce cycle lanes and increase pedestrianised areas that disabled people found too challenging. Catriona Burness, the charity’s parliamentary and policy manager in Scotland, said it now planned to set up a mock segregated cycling lane at Glasgow’s George Square to demonstrate to councillors and planners how difficult it is to navigate these with limited or no sight.
“We will be asking the councillors to put on visors that mimic common eye conditions such as cataracts so that they can experience these difficulties for themselves,” she said.
Sustrans, the organisation responsible for developing and promoting the National Cycling Network in Scotland in partnership with roads and planning authorities, said it consulted rigorously with interested parties before changes to roads and streets were given the go-ahead. Sustrans also managed the Scottish Government’s £33 million Spaces for People initiative to introduce temporary infrastructure across Scotland during lockdowns.
Carole Patrick, Sustrans Scotland’s portfolio director, said: “As a standard, we insist that all designs have rigorous equality impact assessments. This is a condition of funding. We also advocate community engagement on projects. Designs that are done with the community, work for the community.
“We have learned a lot from the disabled community in Scotland and throughout the UK and we are continuing to learn. We have a strong working relationship with the mobility and access committee who advise the Scottish Government and parliament on disability inclusion.
“In so many ways, we all want the same things; places that improve our health and wellbeing, pavements and streets that are free of pavement parking and clutter, streets that are safe and that are not dominated by motor traffic, and sustainable transport that helps tackle climate change.”
Cosla said councils were creating healthier, safer streets after consultation with the public and attempting to minimise disruption, adding: “We would be happy to meet directly with advocacy groups to ensure their needs are considered.”