In Edinburgh there’s no shortage of ways to travel around the city, however, cycling can be made tough.
One way of helping cyclists and encouraging more people to travel via bike is the construction of bike lines and while most of these do help bikers get around, one in the city was previously branded the “worst in the world” by cyclists.
As reported by the Daily Record, one user on Reddit shared a video that harshly criticises the Leith Walk cycle lane. Shared onto the forum’s ‘bikecommuting’ community, the clip was titled ‘I rode the ‘worst bike lane in the world’.
The video was published by Shifter, a website devoted to urban cycling and bike commuting.
It explains how and why Leith Walk was previously dubbed the “worst bike lane in the world” by specialists at Discerning Cyclist.
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In the clip, Shifter’s creator Tom Babin travels to the city before along Leith Walk himself and offering his own verdict.
Babin remarks: “It zigs and zags all over the place, there are bus stops along it. It’s also built at the same grade as the pedestrian space, with not real clear delineation between the space and so I was constantly worried about missing one of those zig-zags and ending up on the sidewalk.
“Pedestrians were constantly wandering into the bike lane, not aware of what they were doing. It really felt like not a great experience if you’re just trying to get somewhere safely on your bike.”
After the video was shared online, fellow Reddit users were swift to offer their views on the lane.
One user lamented: “I use it daily–its a shambles. What isn’t mentioned is the surface, for whatever reasons they didn’t use proper/ heavy enough roller, so when you go east (downhill) and get above say 10mph/15kph it shakes you to bits.
“As a result lots of bikes use the road, which annoys the cars etc…and so on.”
Another concurred: “I use it to visit my partner and despite only using it every few weeks, I have a lot of issues with it.”
However, another Reddit user countered: “Yes it’s windy, but I feel like it’s better than all the ones in the UK that last for 17m in the middle of nowhere then spit you out onto a dual carriageway roundabout.”
You can watch Shifter’s full video on YouTube.
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