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Thousands share their suggestions for walking, cycling and wheeling improvements

Thank you for your comments

The Commonplace website was launched at the end of May and remained open for a month. This website was set up after the City of Edinburgh Council received funding from the Spaces for People programme, with the aim to identify locations within the Council area where measures are needed to allow the public to remain 2 metres away from one another, while making essential journeys by walking, cycling and wheeling; exercising and queuing outside businesses.

Over 4,000 comments have been received via Commonplace and the Council’s dedicated email inbox, with suggestions by residents and from people who work or own a business in the city.

Feedback is being monitored, with key issues highlighted including traffic speed, amount of traffic, pavement width and the need for more cycle lanes. The below wordcloud summaries these barriers, taken from the data collected from Commonplace:

While the comments and feedback will continue to help identify and prioritise measures, it will not be possible to deliver all of the suggestions due to funding limitations and procurement of resources.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said:

"Thank you to the thousands of people who took the time to let us know where they think improvements could be made to help people walk, cycle and wheel safely. Your feedback is invaluable and will help us to refine and expand our approach as lockdown continues to be eased, as well as influencing longer term strategic plans to improve infrastructure across the city.Our programme of improvements, which is one of the most ambitious in the country, is well underway - over the coming months we’ll be delivering more than 30km of cycle segregation in the first phase of improvements alone, widened pavements across the city and reducing speed limits in key areas. We know how important it is to make these changes quickly and we’re making good progress while monitoring feedback to make sure the measures are working."

What’s next?

Last week, widened footways and bus, cycle and taxi gates were installed on East Princes Street and South David Street , as well as the closure of Waverley Bridge .

You can find out more about the temporary measures that are already on the ground within Edinburgh and the upcoming plans, including closures on Victoria Street and Cockburn Street.

To add your feedback to existing measures visit the Space to Move interactive map.

John Lauder , Deputy CEO Sustrans and National Director Sustrans Scotland and Northern Ireland, said:

"Sustrans Scotland welcomes the huge response to the City of Edinburgh Council’s commonplace tool. This illustrates the level of interest from the public in making places better for people to walk, cycle and wheel safely in Edinburgh. As the local economy reopens, and we hear the news from Transport Scotland of a 25% increase in bike journeys compared to last year, it is vital that people can exercise and make essential journeys on foot and by bike, safely while adhering to physical distancing guidelines. We look forward to continue working with the Council on the Spaces for People programme."

For further information, please read the full press release .

Posted on 9th July 2020

by Project Team