Edinburgh tram tracks "lethal" before the trams even run

[Sam Wilson]

Hot on the heels of featuring the Cycle Facility of the Month in
September[1] the poor design of Edinburgh tram tracks has now made the
news[2]. I cycled into Haymarket station just a couple of weeks ago
(left of the bollard in the video, avoiding the tracks) and thought it
was a very poorly thought out layout. Perhaps cyclists are supposed to
take the short length of cycle track and stop at the lights rather than
be treated as first class road users.

Sam


[1]
<http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/Septembe
r2013.htm>
[2]
<http://road.cc/content/news/96857-video-cyclists-hurt-lethal-edinburgh-t
ram-tracks>

[The Real Doctor]

Post by Sam Wilson
Hot on the heels of featuring the Cycle Facility of the Month in
September[1] the poor design of Edinburgh tram tracks has now made the
news[2].

The first example seems rather silly road marking but I think the second
is simply user error. You can't cross tram rails at a small acute angle
on a bicycle. Continental cities with trams do not seem to be full of
people falling of their bikes.

That said, the idea of rubber inserts sounds worth exploring.

Ian

[August West]

Post by The Real Doctor

Post by Sam Wilson
Hot on the heels of featuring the Cycle Facility of the Month in
September[1] the poor design of Edinburgh tram tracks has now made the
news[2].

The first example seems rather silly road marking but I think the
second is simply user error. You can't cross tram rails at a small
acute angle on a bicycle. Continental cities with trams do not seem to
be full of people falling of their bikes.

Do continental tram tacks cut across the traffic lanes at small acute
angle? That seems to be the problem outside Hamarket station, by the
taxi rank. In effect, anyone on a bike followign the line of the riad
will be, effectively, guided to cross tram rails at a small acute angle,
unless they veer sharply into the road to cross the tracks, which is
equallly dangerous.

I notice that yellow signs have appeared in the last few days, warning
cyclists of the presence of the tram tracks.

[Julian Bradfield]

Post by August West

Post by The Real Doctor
The first example seems rather silly road marking but I think the
second is simply user error. You can't cross tram rails at a small
acute angle on a bicycle. Continental cities with trams do not seem to
be full of people falling of their bikes.

Do continental tram tacks cut across the traffic lanes at small acute
angle? That seems to be the problem outside Hamarket station, by the
taxi rank. In effect, anyone on a bike followign the line of the riad
will be, effectively, guided to cross tram rails at a small acute angle,
unless they veer sharply into the road to cross the tracks, which is
equallly dangerous.

Indeed. I do that route every day, and it's a bugger
already. Haymarket junction is bad enough (though, ignoring tramlines,
better than it was), but avoiding a small acute angle AND the traffic
accelerating up behind you is awkward - normally, of course, I avoid
the traffic by taking primary, but the tram tracks force me to the
left until I can swing to cross them (especially if I'm towing).