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(Long post, sorry) Right folks, what can be done to improve Lothian Road? A wee video, and some comments following. Seem crazy we can have a six-lane highway in the centre of the city, and still not properly accommodate walking, wheeling, cycling and bus users.
Interested in the view of @cuthbertneil who (rightly) pointed out that the short section of SfP on the street had removed a bus lane. As everyone will see in the video, the loading bays have been retained, so pedestrians then lose the SfP, and the bays were being used by...
.... two private cars (i.e. I suspect not loading), including one encroaching on the cycle lane. The next section has no SfP, but that doesn& #39;t protect the bus lane (despite this being one bit with six traffic lanes). Large truck unloading, 1 private car, 1 taxi...
.... Again, suspect neither of those were loading, but again removes the facility from buses (and from experience that& #39;s most of the day). Next section (past the filmhouse) we& #39;re down to & #39;only& #39; 5 lanes. Bins in the bus lane (perhaps the most easily sorted)...
Further down a truck in the taxi rank. So part of the problem, certainly, is people parking where they shouldn& #39;t. I& #39;d suggest shops there DO need loading - the side streets are & #39;problematic& #39; in layout (though a holistic approach would sort that).
But parking by other drivers needs to be enforced. I& #39;d argue there was space for extending the eastern footpath for pedestrians (it narrows a lot at bus shelters), with a protected bike lane both sides, and & #39;proper& #39; floating bus stops. Declutters the pavement for walking nicely.
With central hatching on the street removed, and pedestrian crossings made single crossing (the one at Bread Street is, so why can& #39;t the others?), pedestrians then have safer crossings, AND there& #39;s more road space. So bus lanes can be retained either side.
A traffic lane heading south, especially outside New Uberior House, could easily be sacrificed with little impact on traffic, if the light sequencing to go to Lauriston and Brougham was made the same (so one lane going to both).
The Western Approach junction needs some serious thought - I& #39;ve seen a car and bus collide there before on the big sweep, and the crossing for pedestrians on the west side is truly appalling, with informal 3-stage leaps engineered in.
I& #39;m still left with the problem of loading. More road space & #39;might& #39; allow them to the left of a bike lane, but again this is where we shouldn& #39;t just tinker with one little thing, and should be thinking of the city as a whole.
External delivery hubs, shifting to last-mile delivery solutions, means smaller vehicles and that then does open up possibilities of areas, at specific times, on side streets, and the use of trolleys. Of course trolleys having wheels, the pavements would need to be improved.
So again pedestrians can gain (and, selfishly, my good mate who lives in Tollcross and is in a wheelchair can venture further afield more easily to meet me for a coffee). When the SfP came in the query was, "How does this benefit public transport?"
It& #39;s a correct (if deflectionary) question, but one that does need to be answered, but not just in the context of SfP, because SfP didn& #39;t & #39;actually& #39; make that street any worse. The section without & #39;any& #39; SfP makes that abundantly clear with the bus lane unusable.
We need a collaborative, joined up, approach. It& #39;s not & #39;trying to please everyone& #39;, but rather adopting @LivingStreetsEd& #39;s hierarchy of provision, starting with pedestrians and working from there. And that& #39;s not just "let& #39;s fix the pavements".
If we think differently about how we get people to shops, and think differently about how shops get their goods, improvements are a natural by-product. Lothian Road has SIX traffic lanes. Surely it& #39;s the perfect place to start?
But to do that we need all of the & #39;differently& #39; thinking people - the EV supporters, the bus user groups, the committed and the wannabe cyclists, the disabled groups, the pedestrian advocates, to realise that those interested only in the status quo have divided to conquer.
However we all want the same thing. Safer, easier to use, more pleasant streets. And while this is about Lothian Road, we need more than a shiny flagship. We need this in the whole city.
I& #39;ve had some really REALLY interesting discussions in the time I& #39;ve been away from this account, and I& #39;m thinking a lot differently. With especial thanks to @HalOsler for an immensely informative (and at time honestly challenging) couple of hours of her time yesterday.
It got me thinking about the standard of city we should be aiming for. @POPScotland had an aim of infrastructure that could be used independently by someone who was 9 or 90.
Yesterday I got to thinking about having pedestrian provision that can be navigated safely, and most importantly easily, and independently, by someone who is blind. More than ever now we need to think of others. I& #39;ve always said this provision isn& #39;t for me.
I& #39;m lucky in health and fitness. Some day I might not be. Others at the moment are not. We care about children being fed during the current crisis, we need to care about our children wanting to stay in this city.
And if you got this far.... Well done.... 
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