Wednesday April 26th 2017
Michaela Jackson from the Gorebridge Community Trust is pushing the Scottish Government to do more to encourage cycling and she has successfully pressed the Scottish Goverment to debate her petition in Parliament.
The Community Trust is calling on the Scottish Government to develop an active travel infrastructure strategy that will require active travel provision to be incorporated into all new major infrastructure projects for Scottish cities, particularly those projects designed to improve commuter routes from regional centres into city centres. In short, they say cycling should be considered as central to any new infrastucture rather than as an after thought.
The lack of any real provision for cycling in Transport Scotland’s improvement plans for Sheriffhall roundabout has been the catalyst.
Michaela said :
“As an experienced cyclist, I was petrified when I had to use the Sherifhall roundabout on my bicycle – other cyclists refer to it as ‘The Blender’ and largely try and avoid it.
“So, we have been working within communities in Midlothian to encourage cycling but there is only so much we can do without infrastructure for cyclists. Creating safe access across the Sheriffhall for cyclists would help us support more people to commute to Edinburgh or the Sheriffhall Park and Ride by bicycle.”
In December, Midlothian View called for for an iconic cycle bridge to be built across Sheriffhall roundabout and this has been included in the petition
The current roundabout is a virtual no-go for the majority of cyclists but there is an opportunity to put cycling at the heart of the design. It would be great to see an inspirational, iconic cycle bridge across the bypass. This would there to be seen as a symbol of Midlothian’s and Edinburgh’s desire to be attractive to cyclists. Instead of a cycle path that has to wind itself along the road and roundabout, do 180 hairpin turns to gain height, why not a cycle bridge to be proud of which takes cyclists on a direct route high above the bypass.
Recent bridge building in Midlothian, with wooden decked bridges across both the Dalkeith bypass and the Bonnyrigg distributor road, show that imagination is possible on bridge design, so let us see such imagination applied to Sheriffhall. Imagine an iconic cycle bridge welcoming visitors to the area.
In order to help support the case the Gorebridge Community Trust are calling on resdients to sign the petiton in order to show that people want change and they want cycling to be supported.
The petition can be found HERE.
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