Tram Granton to Bioquarter – initial Spokes thoughts

With the consultation underway, we are publishing some initial thoughts from Spokes and welcome any feedback. You may also wish to consider our points in your own consultation response.

Basically, Spokes supports the principle of the tram, but we have identified some problems and some missed opportunities on the integration of cycling. We urge a fuller treatment of cycling in the forthcoming stage of more detailed planning, and we urge that complete details on cycling provision are included in the next round of consultation.

Spokes has the objective of promoting cycling as part of an overall sustainable transport and access strategy. As such, we support a growing tram system for Edinburgh, provided cycling is well catered for in the project design and operation.

The aim of the tram is to reduce car traffic, and to head off potential traffic growth in development areas such as Granton and the Bioquarter. If successful, this is a huge benefit to walking and cycling, as well as in terms of congestion, public health and climate. However, the project should be accompanied by complementary measures to further encourage use of public transport and active travel, for example bus gates and, notably, congestion charging. It is well established that traffic reduction is best achieved by a carrot/stick combination.

The tram project must support and promote active travel as a whole, and cycling in particular, and must not introduce additional dangers. The initial tramline onroad section did not follow this principle, resulting in many tramline crashes and injuries, which continue, with substantial and ongoing compensation costs to the Council, pain and anguish for the individuals concerned, and lost productivity for employers. However, the Council learned from this, and the subsequent extension to Newhaven, whilst far from perfect, incorporated segregated bike paths on Leith Walk. To the best of our knowledge, there have been zero tramline crashes on Leith Walk (apart from one at the complex Foot of the Walk junction where cycle provision is poor).

Decision criteria

In all decisions on the tram project, Spokes considers that the following criteria are crucial..

• Traffic reduction. Traffic reduction is a major factor in positive cycling, wheeling, walking and living conditions throughout the city, and a major contributor to desirable outcomes on congestion, public health and climate. Thus decisions, such as in the Bridges corridor, must have traffic reduction as a top objective.
• Improving cycling conditions. Every opportunity should be taken to improve cycling conditions – for example, if the Council selects the Roseburn route the project should incorporate a new active travel bridge over the mainline railway
• Not worsening cycling conditions. Our biggest concern from the tram project is dangers from onroad tramlines where the layout neglects proper consideration for cycling safety. This is a major concern in the Bridges and also in the sections at Orchard Brae and from Granton to Crewe Toll.

General points relevant to the scheme as a whole, or all areas

• Bike carriage on the trams – Edinburgh was (and, we think, still is) a pioneer in the UK in catering for, albeit this is fairly common in many European and US tram systems. With the planned tram extensions, including eventually over long distances into the Lothians, it is vital that the policy continues and, in particular, that the design of further tram vehicles continues to enable this.

Top issues for specific sections of the route

.

Granton to Crewe Toll

• Top Issues
• The onroad tramlines between Granton Square and West Granton Access combined with traffic pressures, present a serious hazard to cyclists, given the absence of segregated provision. The Council must provide detailed plans of how these dangers will be averted.

Crewe Toll to City Centre, via Roseburn corridor

• Top issues
• The Council is to be congratulated on modifying the project north of Roseburn bridge to single track, and with battery running, enabling a 3m+ active travel path (with one pinch point). This follows the instruction to the tram team by councillors at the 1.2.24 Transport Committee, for which we again thank all members and others who contacted councillors at that time.
• However, south of Roseburn Bridge, to Russell Road, there is a lack of clarity, and indeed contradictions, in the consultation materials – see these clarifications from the tram team, the Roseburn bridge cross section, the path cross section, the artist impression and the map view. Further investigation is essential, with a firm intention to continue the 3m offroad path through this section.
• The tram project should incorporate a 3m active travel bridge over the mainline railway, thus providing a level offroad path from Leith right through Roseburn to Dalry and Fountainbridge. This bridge is included in the Council’s Mobility Plan, Active Travel Delivery [page 43]. To forget it now, with major earthworks likely for the tram project, would make a mockery of these intentions. Whilst costly, the cost would be lost in the overall tram project.

Crewe Toll to City Centre, via Orchard Brae

• Top issues
• The onroad tramlines, combined with traffic pressures, including at several junctions and narrow sections, present a major hazard to cyclists, given the absence of segregated provision. Indeed, the current proposals actually remove existing segregation, presenting a situation similar to the first tramline. The Council needs to provide detailed plans of how these dangers will be averted if this route option is chosen.
• CEC should give consideration to single-tracking on Dean Bridge rather than stating “cross-section prohibits segregated cycle provision”.

City Centre to Bioquarter

• Top issues
• The section through North and South Bridges is of extreme concern, with no cycle provision, new tramlines and continued through traffic on a road where width is at a premium. The project should include a bus gate (as was planned, though never implemented, as part of the Covid proposals) potentially single track sections and fully segregated cycle provision.

• Whilst alternative north-south routes are proposed in the consultation, these would not suit all journeys, with many cyclists using the Bridges to travel between South Edinburgh and Leith. And whilst there is a brief reference to the proposed Meadows to George Street route on the west side of the Bridges, there is no reference at all to the east side, where the Mobility Plan, Active Travel Delivery [page 43] promises a new ‘Waverley Valley’ active travel bridge connecting from the Old Town to Leith Walk. Such projects must be an integral part of the tram project.
• The tram stop on North Bridge, with platforms on either side rather than a central platform, would compel cyclists to cross tramlines at a dangerous angle in order to pass the platforms. A better location for a Waverley Tram stop, also for many other reasons, could be on Princes Street outside the Balmoral in close proximity to the existing stepped, lift and ramped Waverley access routes. This would then also enable a ‘Royal Mile’ stop at the North Bridge Arcade.

Resources

• Spokes article linking to all relevant materials in the tram consultation, how to find your way around, and summarising the proposals
• Early Spokes consultation DRAFT response, incorporating the above top issues, plus the start of listing other issues

What you can do

• When responding to the consultation, please check out our points in this article
• If you have comments on the points above or in our initial early-draft detailed ideas, or detailed points in areas we have not yet covered, please email spokes@spokes.org.uk
• Please pass on the link to this article, repost our Bluesky post, and like our FB article.