Spaces for People schemes extended - your views online

Councillors have voted to go ahead with plans to extend controversial Spaces for People schemes across the Capital. A total of 37 projects, including cycle lanes and road closures, first introduced during the pandemic, will now be taken forward under Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs).

Tony Ward: What is so frustrating is that removal of the “temporary” Spaces for People impositions was not on the transport committee agenda.

Martin Clubber Laing: Get those barriers off our roads. They're more of a hindrance than a help. As a cyclist I hate them.

William Hatton: I think the comments show just out of touch the councilors in Edinburgh truly are. Nobody wants them, cyclists, emergency services, bus drivers all find them actually very dangerous. It's time these were removed, not more put in. Edinburgh City Council needs to listen to the public they are meant to represent. On paper it looks like a good idea but in practice they are actually extremely dangerous.

Spaces for People measures have proved controversial since their introduction

Colin Gilbert: You're in a nice wee echo chamber. The comments are consistently out of line with reality. It's you who is out of touch. The councillors are trying to do what's best for the city and for the majority of residents.

Billy Young: If they were to do what’s best for the majority of the residents then the Spaces for People scheme wouldn’t have been put into action. The trams wouldn’t have been built either. It shows they don’t listen to the public and do what they want to do. 95 per cent of cyclists I’d say – including me – and most car drivers don’t want Spaces for People. The measures are very unsafe and have caused loads of accidents already and will only continue to cause accidents. For cyclists the council needs to remove dangers, not add more at the cost of your tax money which could be getting spent on much more useful things like filling in potholes.

John Mcnicoll: How about doing the basics of a council job. Empty the bins and repair the potholes in the roads. That way the roads will be safer for everyone – pedestrians cyclists and drivers. This should be a priority over all their pet vanity projects.

Aileen Rutherford: I really hoped this new council would correct all the anti-car measures the last council had put in place. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case. The money should be spent repairing the roads and pavements.

Jim Merilees: I met an American couple here for the Festival. They commented that Edinburgh was the most beautiful city they had ever visited, and they had been around the world… but why, they asked, are the roads in such a bad state of repair and why are there so many roadworks and bollards everywhere? Back home, theys aid, they put up bollards, fix the road and in a day or two tops everything is back to normal. What can you say?

Dianne Freeman: The potholes, especially at the edge of the roads, are a massive hazard on a bike and impossible to avoid when there are barriers separating the bike lanes from traffic.

Graham Gray: Scrap the whole lot. All it’s done is cause massive pollution levels, and the frustration of having to drive extra miles to get from A to B. Ambulances have been massively delayed too.

Susan Swan: No-one wants these measures. No-one wanted the trams. We want you to pay the workers to go back to work on the waste collection. We want you to fix the potholes. Why not start serving the public as you are elected to do?

Flower power

The man who’s helped create the floral clock in West Princes Street Gardens for more than four decades is hanging up his trowel. David Dorward retired earlier this week.

Sandra Fraser: It was always an adventure to see the new flowers and my greatest pleasure was to show it off to two American ladies who were very impressed indeed. They were even more impressed when they were told it was different every year.

Betty Bryce: I’m originally from Edinburgh, but left 50 years ago. I was there last October and the clock still looks fabulous. So many happy memories from my childhood.

David Lyle: Thank you for all your work and expertise, Mr Dorward. Seeing the clocks each year gives so much pleasure to so many people. Enjoy your retirement.

John Adamson: It’s always been a joy to see each new design over the decades. Thanks for being part of that.