The briefing sets out the views of Living Streets Scotland and Living Streets Edinburgh (the local campaign group) on the future of George Street and the scope to restore it to its rightful place as one of the capital’s and Scotland’s finest streets. It summarises 10 principles that we believe will allow Edinburgh to match and compete with other similar north European capital cities, with principal streets that offer a high quality experience to visitors and residents.
Achieving the vision
Recognize that George Street is an internationally important asset
Redress the chronic lack of high-quality urban space in Edinburgh
More people – not more parking – is the key to George Street’s future success
Create fully pedestrianised European style spaces
George Street is not a transport artery, so prioritise place over movement
Quality materials are not enough to deliver a quality street
Shared space must protect vulnerable users and restrain vehicle speeds
George Street must be at the heart of a lively, sociable walkable New Town
Proactively manage and regulate the new street from the outset
Edinburgh must not fail again
The opportunity must be taken to demonstrate Edinburgh’s streetscape can match its world-class architecture.
Princes Street is the heart of Edinburgh and its busiest street for people on foot. But pedestrians get a very raw deal as they proceed along the street. We have recorded video footage of this junction in September 2015 and found that it can take to FOUR MINUTES 22 SECONDS for people to wait for the green man phase to cross just the Frederick Street junction. This is an unacceptable wait time for people on foot and not only leads to delays for the great number of people on foot but is dangerous as some people will inevitably seek to cross before the ‘green man’ phase comes on, resulting in frequent ‘near misses’.
The problem lies with the timing of the traffic signals. According to council policy, “absolute priority” is given to trams; this has had a knock-on effect of increasing the time that pedestrians have to wait to cross the roads which join Princes Street. However, the Council has responded to our concerns by tweaking the signal timings and we understand that pedestrian wait times have reduced recently. We will make more video recordings in the future, so that the pedestrian experience and actual wait times can be accurately documented and monitored. We also want to ensure that, should trams be extended to Leith or Newhaven in the future, there is no detriment to the pedestrian experience on any other part of the tram route.
Ten leading disability and environmental Scottish charities (1), brought together by Living Streets’ Edinburgh Group (2), have written to the Scottish Government urging action to be taken to turn Holyrood Park into a safe and attractive space for all.
While the city of Edinburgh gears up to reduce speeds to 20 mph, most of the sprawling park, meant to provide leisure opportunities for residents and visitors alike, remains a 30 mph limit with only one pedestrian crossing. The call follows concerns about the growing number of traffic accidents in the park (3).
The ten co-signing charities are calling for Historic Environment Scotland to review visitor access and safety arrangements in the park more generally at a time when Historic Environment Scotland is consulting on its corporate plan (4).
David Spaven, Convener, Living Streets Edinburgh, said:
Park should be a green space
“Holyrood Park is a unique green space, close to the heart of Edinburgh, but it’s become far too dominated by the speed and noise of vehicle traffic.
“People who want to enjoy this special park quietly and safely face far too many obstacles – speeding traffic, hardly any safe road crossings, and pedestrians and cyclists forced to use narrow ‘shared space’ paths.
“The time is right for Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government to consider transport priorities for the park, with the needs of people on foot put right at the top of the list.”
“We want Holyrood Park to be a safe place that can be accessed and enjoyed by everybody. At the moment, the high volumes of traffic not only affect the air quality and noise but also people’s perception of how safe the park is.
“This can be very off-putting for many people with sight loss and can result in them not using the park, therefore denying themselves the pleasures of the great outdoors and being fit and healthy.”
John Lauder, National Director, Sustrans Scotland, said:
”While City of Edinburgh Council is rolling out 20mph zones across the city, the iconic Holyrood Park is being left behind. Right now it’s just not living up to its potential as a safe, attractive space for people on foot and bike to enjoy.
“In Scotland we have strong, cross-party support for walking and cycling and a government that has invested record levels in active travel over the past couple of years. Yet, on the door-step of the Parliament, one of Scotland’s most iconic parks is being used a rat-run – to the detriment of its users and those who live in the neighbouring communities.
“We want Holyrood Park to reflect Scotland’s ambition on active travel, by making it a safe attractive space for people making journeys on foot and by bike.”
Brian Sloan, Age Scotland Chief Executive, added his support to the campaign:
“Traditionally urban parks have been viewed as the ‘lungs of the city’ and we fear that given the current situation Edinburgh’s ‘lungs’ are being unnecessarily harmed.
“Holyrood Park could be a wonderful space for people of all ages to engage in an activity, such as walking or cycling, to enhance wellbeing and quality of life.
“Yet, given the current infrastructural prevalence for vehicular traffic this means that many people are put off from venturing into Holyrood Park. We urge the authorities to re-consider this so that Holyrood Park can rightfully be restored as a beneficial place for citizens and visitors alike to enjoy to its full potential.”
Contact
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Kathryn Shaw, Media and PR Coordinator: Kathryn.Shaw@livingstreets.org.uk / 020 7377 4914.
Zebra crossing installed in 2005 removed by end of 2008This crossing point was removed
Notes to editors:
RNIB Scotland, Guide Dogs Scotland, Age Scotland, Spokes (Lothian Cycle Campaign), Sustrans Scotland, Paths for All, Living Streets Scotland, Transform Scotland and Ramblers Scotland
Living Streets Edinburgh is a local campaign group of Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking. We want to create a walking nation, free from congested roads and pollution, reducing the risk of preventable illness and social isolation and making walking the natural choice. We believe that a walking nation means progress for everyone.Our ambition is to get people of all generations to enjoy the benefits that this simple act brings and to ensure all our streets are fit for walking. For more than 85 years we’ve been a beacon for walking. In our early days our campaigning led to the UK’s first zebra crossings and speed limits. Now, our campaigns and local projects deliver real change to overcome barriers to walking and our ground breaking initiatives such as the world’s biggest Walk to School campaign encourage millions of people to walk.
However, in the interests of taking placemaking seriously, we would like to see the proposal go further than simply creating a performance/gathering space in front of the NMS. Any placemaking project should surely consider the street as a whole, and not simply one short stretch.
We would like to see the widened pavement stretching at least the full block from West College St to George IVth bridge, and preferably the full length of the street.
This would provide a more balanced effect, rather than creating an uneven patchwork. It would also respond to the congestion that regularly occurs on the pavement around the new, tower entrance to the NMS building.
This buildout would provide a much enhanced pedestrian experience both for those travelling along the street, and for those visiting the museum. Similar consideration should also be given to the junction with South Bridge, which records very high footfall, but which is often an unpleasant experience for those on foot.
Finally, to enable pedestrians safer access to the Cowgate, we propose a zebra crossing across Chambers Street at West College St. This would link up NMS to the steps down to Guthrie Street, as well as making it easier for staff and students moving between George Square and University buildings on the far side of Chambers st.
Objection from Living Streets Edinburgh to Planning Application York Place / Elder st 15/04868/AMC
This objection is sent on behalf of Living Streets Edinburgh, a group that campaigns for improved conditions for pedestrians in the City. We also work to ensure that the City Council follows its own policies and guidance with regard to pedestrians.
We object to this application on a number of grounds:
It conflicts with the City Council’s Street Design Guidance, particularly with respect to footway widths.
It worsens conditions for disabled pedestrians (and by extension for all pedestrians) by introducing steps where none exist currently, and by failing to properly protect pedestrian space and crossing in the shared space area. Therefore by accepting this application as it is the Council would fail to comply with the law (Equality Act 2010).
It conflicts with the City Council’s Active Travel Action Plan by failing to provide comfortable, convenient and safe pedestrian routes.
The specifics of each of these points are as follows:
Pavement widths – Elder Street and York Pace are classed as a strategic retail / high streets in the Street Design Guidance and as such should desire to have a pavement width of 4 meters, with an absolute minimum of 2.5 meters. The application fails to meet this in a number of locations:
Elder Street, at the junction with York Place, north side, adjacent to loading bay / car park entrance;
Elder Street at the far right, top side;
The footway on the south/west side of Elder St also appears to have been split with part level, part on steps. If this is indeed the case then it also effectively narrows the footway below standard.
[Based on this application, we also have some concerns about the south side of York Place where a two way cycle lane appears to have been squeezed onto the pavement, however subsequent planning documents claim that the full pavement width has been retained, which we consider vital]
Equality Act and accessibility. Introduction of steps on north / east side of Elder Street – this footway currently provides step free access from York Place (east) to the St James Centre. There is no justification for placing new steps in this location. The step free route involves four separate road crossings rather than the current one, flagrantly disregarding the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 to improve (not worsen) conditions for disabled people. No contrasting coloured strip is shown to indicate the edge of the “footway” and the start of the “roadway” in the shared space area; again a vital feature from an accessibility point of view.
Comfortable, convenient and safe pedestrian routes. There should be a zebra crossing connecting Multrees Walk to the St James Centre. This street will still have vehicles driving up and down it and crossing pedestrians (especially older and disabled people) need priority crossing in what is essentially is a pedestrian area. The Street Design Guidance states that the Council will on such streets “Provide pedestrian crossing points every 50-100m, ideally associated with entrances to major buildings.”
The “footway” area in the shared space area should be protected with bollards to prevent the footway parking that takes there at present. Again, this also has Equality Act implications; footway parking is one of the most significant mobility issues for visually impaired pedestrians.
Within these plans there are two staggered junctions crossing York Place and Elder Street. Again both should be removed, as noted in the Street Design Guidance that states “Avoid staggered crossings”. It currently takes up to 3 minutes just to cross 22 meters of York Place (Youtube video showing crossing time). With the change in road layout with dedicated turning lanes it should be easy to remove the Elder street stagger as a minimum. It is also unclear where cyclists on York Place are supposed to cross this junction. Would they dismount and use the small pedestrian island?
At the main entrance to the St James Centre there appear to be 14 bike racks at 90 degrees to the footway. If these bike racks are used the footway will be blocked – particularly difficult for older and disabled pedestrians, and the many who have prams or are carrying shopping.
The swept path analysis only shows busses traveling to / from the west end of York Place. Nothing is shown from the east. Busses currently traveling from Elder Street heading east bound have to dangerously overhang the pavement on the north side of York place to clear the existing pedestrian island. No attempt has been made to remove this risk to pedestrians walking on the pavement.
