Edinburgh cross-city cycle scheme CCWEL proving successful, says report

The City Centre West East Link (CCWEL) goes from Roseburn to Picardy Place through central Edinburgh and was officially opened in March 2024.

And monitoring of the first six month's operation of the scheme found mostly positive results.

The west end of the CCWEL route in Roseburn showing bollards protecting the cycle lane from other vehicles. Picture: Lisa Ferguson. | TSPL

A report to the transport and environment committee on Thursday, January 30, says: "Compared to pre-implementation monitoring undertaken in 2020 and 2021, there is evidence that the street improvements have resulted in increased numbers of people cycling, increased pedestrian satisfaction with the local environment, improved perceptions of safety among pedestrians and cyclists, positive impacts for local businesses through increased footfall and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with travel due to mode shift for some journeys from car/van to bike."

The report says the number of people cycling on the streets affected by the scheme had increased considerably, particularly at the weekends.

Pedestrian satisfaction on key streets had increased notably, with the largest increases at St Andrew Square and Roseburn.

“Overall satisfaction levels for shoppers on affected streets increased. Meanwhile satisfaction levels for shopping streets which were not affected by the project decreased.”

The report says most residents who took part in a household survey supported the scheme and the level of support had increased since pre-construction from 49 per cent to 64 per cent. Meanwhile the level of opposition remained roughly the same at around 10 per cent.

“The proportion of residents living near the scheme who cycle as their main mode of travel to work increased from 8 per cent to 12 per cent. If residents who work from home are removed, the increase is even larger, doubling from 8 per cent to 16 per cent.

“Children at Roseburn Primary School were more likely to report that they usually cycled to school - p from 13 per cent to 24 per cent.”

The scheme includes several continuous footways, where pavements extend across quiet side roads with the intention of encouraging motorists to give way to pedestrians. But these have prompted concerns from groups representing people with visual impairment, who may not be able to tell when they have come to a road.

Special monitoring was carried out on these footways. It found that before the introduction of a continuous footway, only around 10 per cent of motorists stopped or slowed down in advance of the crossing point to give way to pedestrians. But once continuous footways were installed, the figure increased to between 60 and 80 per cent.

The report says: “It is considered that continuous footways have generally been successful in establishing priority for pedestrians crossing side roads where they have been introduced, with impressive results from most sites in terms of changing driver behaviours, although some issues have been encountered, particularly at busier junctions.

“It is acknowledged that concerns remain in relation to the use of continuous footways by people with visual impairments, due to the lack of distinction between footway and carriageway.

“However, provided that continuous footways are only installed at locations where the volume of traffic on the side road is appropriate, this monitoring suggests that the risks to pedestrians at this form of infrastructure are extremely low.”