Edinburgh residents have access to a number of cycle routes designed to help them get around safely, with the City of Edinburgh Council’s website listing a number of route planning tools.
Encouraging more Edinburgh residents to cycle has a number of benefits – not only is it good for our health, but it’s zero-emission so helps reduce pollution.
In Corstorphine, the high volume of traffic on St. John’s Road and Corstorphine High Street means that many cyclists (particularly children or those new to cycling) tend to either avoid taking their bike out at all or attempt to use residential streets.
As noted by road safety charity Brake, the safest routes for cyclists are where cyclists are physically separated from motor traffic. Paths that are shared between pedestrians and cyclists can be a safe option so long as they are properly designed, and wide enough for both pedestrians and cyclists to use comfortably.
We feel there are a number of changes that could be made in the area to help make cycling a more enjoyable experience and a viable alternative to taking the car or getting the bus. These include:
- Adding temporary bike lanes during the pandemic on St. John’s Road, Corstorphine High Street and on other busy roads.
- Longer-term, installing a segregated cycleway along the A8, allowing residents to cycle safely from the Maybury roundabout along Glasgow Road/St. John’s Road/Corstorphine Road to Roseburn.
- Reducing the attractiveness of residential streets as rat runs by introducing filtered permeability to the area.
How can I get involved?
If you’d like to see Corstorphine’s streets made more cycle-friendly, there are a few things you can do.