Notorious Leith Walk cycle lane obstructed once again – this time by Just Eat bikes

Leith Walk cycle path obstructed again weeks after changes were made following criticism from bike users

A temporary cycle lane on Leith Walk which was refurbished by Edinburgh City Council after complaints were made has come under fire again due to Just Eat Cycles obstructing the path.

When photos first emerged of the newly-painted lane, which runs alongside the ongoing tram extension works, there was outrage from bike users as it was obstructed by street lamps and bins.

Following an article by the Evening News, the council took action to refurbish the lane to add wider sections for cyclists and directional arrows guiding users around obstacles.

When the lane was first introduced at the beginning of July, Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “The temporary cycle lane on Leith Walk has been redesigned to better accommodate cyclists and pedestrians in the limited space available, while retaining essential street lights during construction work."

She added that the council wouldd ‘continue to monitor its use, making tweaks to the design where necessary’ and that there was a longer term plan to build a permanent cycleway.

On Thursday morning (July 30) a new image emerged of the lane which shows a fully occupied Just Eat Cycle hire point with several bikes lined up and others which did not have a space at the hire point abandoned across the path and causing an obstruction.

Just Eat Cycles, run by Serco on behalf of the council-owned Transport for Edinburgh, recently revealed it's seen double the amount of bike hires each month this year compared to last, with 100,000 bikes hired in 2020 up to the end of June - 80 per cent as many as the whole of 2019.

The troublesome cycleway was littered with Just Eat cycles on Thursday morning

However, bike thefts and vandalism - to both bikes and stands - is a problem in the Capital and Edinburgh Cycle Hire say they are working with police to catch those responsible with the aid of CCTV.

Alex MacDonald, General Manager of Just Eat Cycles, said: “We are seeing phenomenal use of the scheme over the summer as more people take to cycling in the city. Leith Walk is one of our most popular hire points where users can dock bikes physically and virtually by leaving them to the side of the hire point when it is full.

“When there is a surplus of bikes at a hire point our team is incredibly efficient at redistributing those bikes to other locations. Our drivers begin redistributing bikes at 6am. After Leith Walk was flagged as being full at 6:45am on Thursday 30 July it was serviced within 30 minutes and the obstruction was cleared minutes after the image was taken.

“We aim to ensure that users dock their bikes in a safe and orderly fashion, but unfortunately this hasn’t happened on this occasion. We will continue to remind our users to dock their bikes in a considerate way. Because of the new temporary cycle lane on Leith Walk which runs through this hire point we are engaging with Transport for Edinburgh and the City of Edinburgh Council to look at alternative locations and hope to relocate this within a week.”

The original cycleway was obstructed by lampposts, bins and signs

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