Tram Granton to Bioquarter: Spokes response

Spokes Planning Group has put considerable time and effort into preparing a thorough and thoughtful 15-page response to the tram consultation. We have received several plaudits, such as “fantastically detailed and comprehensive” from Edi.Bike.

In summary, Spokes supports the tram in principle, but our response has identified some serious issues over cyclist safety, as well as one new major opportunity. We urge the Council to take our comments very seriously in the detailed design, should the Transport Committee decide next year to move to that stage.

See our full response here.

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 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 linking to the superb new Roseburn to Union Canal path.
• Not worsening cycling conditions. Our biggest concern from the tram proposals is dangers from onroad tramlines, with literally hundreds of reported cyclist injuries, and one death, on the original tram route. This is a major concern in the Bridges corridor and the Orchard Brae section of the proposals. In view of the seriousness of the issue, we include in our response a separate section [section 4] on bikes and tramlines. Furthermore, under no circumstances should the offroad-integrity of the North Edinburgh Path Network be broken – in other words, all road crossings should remain grade-separated.

Below we elaborate on two top issues raised above – one very concerning, and one major opportunity.

Bridges corridor [section 8 of our response]

“The section through North and South Bridges is of extreme concern to Spokes, with no cycle provision, new tramlines and continued through traffic on a road where width is at a premium.”

• Alternative routes are proposed (though not yet fully detailed) and will suit some people on longer trips – but for many people the Bridges corridor is much more direct or is a major residential, shopping and destinations location in its own right
• Whilst the tramlines are in the centre of the road, several proposed tram stops are kerb-adjacent, forcing cyclists to cross the tramlines at intolerably dangerous angles
• The tram stop in the middle of the Bridges is problematic for many reasons – we suggest replacing it by two stops – at Waverley Steps and (for the Old Town) at the Arcade
• We have proposed several alternatives or ameliorations, including
  • single-track running
  • 2-way tram with Bridges southbound and Pleasance northbound
  • tramlines on one side of the road and a bidirectional cycleroute on the other
  • a bus gate to remove private traffic
  • more ambitiously, we urge reconsideration of alternative routes (which are proposed in the Mobility Plan for potential future tram stages) such as Morrison Street and Melville Drive. Re-routing away from the Bridges corridor is also proposed by Edinburgh World Heritage, albeit for different reasons, and the Cockburn Association has also expressed concern over South Bridge.

Connecting Roseburn to the new Canal link path [part of section 6]

Spokes has not taken a position as between the Roseburn corridor or the Orchard Brae on-road route – rather, we have pointed out the pros and cons of each alternative. However, if the Council selects the Roseburn route we are arguing strongly that the project should include a high level active travel bridge over the mainline railway, linking North Edinburgh Network to the superb new Canal link path without the present need to descend to road level and back up again.

• Such bridge would be a transformative improvement to the city’s offroad network, meaning Leith to Fountainbridge without a single road crossing
• The bridge is already included in the Council’s Mobility Plan [Active Travel Delivery document, page 43] as a long-term aspiration when funding becomes available. Including it in the tram project, as part of the earthworks which will be necessary in this area, is probably a now-or-never opportunity to provide the bridge.
• The sketch below shows a possible alignment. The dotted yellow path would probably not be necessary, as most people would remain at high level, whilst people needing local access could use the ramp at Sauchiebank (to the new path) or at Roseburn.

Resources

• Our response to the consultation
• Our popular bluesky post
• Our tram pages, including,.,
  • previous tram stages
  • how to report tramline crashes
  • how to minimise your chances of a tramline crash