With nearly seven months since lockdown first kicked in, how have the streets of Edinburgh changed? Under the banner ‘Spaces For People’, the Council has introduced some measures to create more pavement space for social distancing, and some traffic has been limited. The closing of Waverley Bridge to traffic is probably one of the more recognisable examples. However, compare Edinburgh to its three Scottish city counterparts - Aberdeen, Dundee, and Glasgow - and you see that far more could have been done, and far more quickly!
Modifying streets with planters, temporary pavement and barrier structures, cycling wands: these are all cheap and easy to install. There is no need to wait for lengthy, costly consultations which delay improvements and are nothing more than a symptom of managerialism which kicks the can down the road. Install simple, semi-permanent infrastructure and modify based on public feedback. One benefit of social media - Edinburgh Council can see very quickly what residents think about new measures.
We need to be far more ambitious. For seven months to make changes to Scotland’s capital, we have seen very little change in Edinburgh. Much of it has been piecemeal, but we need to take the opportunity provided by the pandemic recovery with both hands. More pavement space, accessible streets, greenery, trees, less air pollution, better bus, bike and tram infrastructure... these are the bare minimum to keep the city running in 2021 and beyond, particularly in light of the global climate crisis and the economic effects of the pandemic.
Take a look at what Glasgow has done with Kelvin Way and London Road...
Sources: (www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/26020/London-Road-MacDuff-Street-to-Kirkpatrick-Street and www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/26075/Glasgows-Making-Spaces-for-People---Progress-Update-October-2020)
The councils of Dundee, Aberdeen, and Glasgow have worked far more quickly and more creatively to create new space. The cycle lanes above, in Glasgow, are better protected from road traffic than many temporary schemes in Edinburgh, and more effort has been put into using planters for greening these barriers. Dundee has used painting on roadways to slow car traffic.
More Edinburgh streets could have widened pavements and protected bike lanes, with smaller side streets dead-ended to through traffic. HAGSA has already proposed dead-ending streets in Gorgie, creating pocket parks and a segregated cycle link from Haymarket to Saughton Park. New barriers have been installed along Dalry/Gorgie Road in the last few days:
Once these barriers are no longer needed for social distancing, they could easily be linked together as part of the proposed cycle link. As the photo under Tynecastle Bridge shows, there is even room in some areas for additional pavement space for pedestrians. But this is only one campaign for one area of Edinburgh. This crisis has already brought us significant and lasting structural change. Let’s use it to improve and re-imagine our communities and public spaces and make them safer, greener and fit for purpose, to meet our immediate needs and for a better and healthier future.