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Edinburgh hosts its first car-free dayVictoria St (via City of Edinburgh Counccil on Twitter)

Edinburgh hosts its first car-free day

Scotland's capital is having an 18-month trial of car-free days on first Friday of each month...
by Simon_MacMichael
Sun, May 05, 2019 20:43
4

Streets in Edinburgh were given over to people on bikes and on foot as Scotland’s capital today became the first city in the UK to join the global Open Streets movement.

The city’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was closed to motor vehicles, enabling people to enjoy a traffic-free Canongate, Cockburn Street and Victoria Street, among other roads in the historic centre.

City of Edinburgh Council’s transport and environment committee gave the go-ahead in February, to an 18-month Open Streets initiative that will see a gradual building of closed streets on the first Sunday of each month in the Old Town.

The city’s transport and environment convener, councillor Lesley Macinnes, said: “I’m delighted that Edinburgh will very soon be joining cities around the world to reap the benefits of Open Streets.

“We’ve seen how successful similar schemes internationally have proved by encouraging active travel, improving air quality and creating a safer, more relaxed atmosphere so I can’t wait to see this take shape in the capital.

“Climate change is a real threat to society, it’s clear that we have to act, and Open Streets is undoubtedly a step in the right direction,” she added.

Grace Martin, deputy director of Sustrans Scotland, added: “The Open Streets scheme showcases Edinburgh as a city that puts people first. Helping make the city centre more accessible to users of all abilities to walk, wheel, cycle, relax and connect.

“Evidence is very clear that vehicle dominance of our urban environment is a major cause of air pollution.

“In areas where pollution exceeds legal limits, 80% of harmful nitrous oxide gas comes from transport.

“Closing streets to traffic does have a big and positive impact. As an example, last year’s London Marathon, which includes road closures across the city, coincided with an 89% drop in air pollution in central London,” she continued.

“Open Streets is a great initiative to make our city centres healthier, greener and safer places for everyone.”

Edinburgh
Scotland
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

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OldRidgeback | 5 years ago
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It's just the Old Town that's closed to traffic. 

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NPlus1Bikelights | 5 years ago
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Not enough roads but better than Norwich who are doing a voluntary one. Should be criteria met to use the name.

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BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
2 likes

Car free days are only any good if those roads are free of motors from where people live to where they need to go. So if you don't have that then you're massively restricting who will want to travel by bike, for instance from the outer edges of a town/city. Having those roads only motor free for people who live in a very small area whom are more likely to walk to work anyways doesn't really make to have the same impact as other roads from areas where people travel further using a car most of the time.

yes it will reduce local pollution but you'll probably find greater pollution outside this zone because it's a very concentrated area that has the motor free zone so people are more likely to drive and park up just outsid this zone as opposed to driving all the way.

Make certain roads motor fee permenantly, that go from residential areas to industrial estates, go in straight lines right across the city/town and ensuring priority when it junctions with roads that do have motors is the only way to get any decent level of cycling in our cities/built up areas.

This might be a start but it doesn't go anywhere near far enough IMHO, Paris for instance had a 40 square mile area that was motor free, every single road in that area not just a select few!

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crazy-legs replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
1 like

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

This might be a start but it doesn't go anywhere near far enough IMHO, Paris for instance had a 40 square mile area that was motor free, every single road in that area not just a select few!

Yeah but Paris too rolled that out over a number of years and iterations - they didn't just say "right, this is closed". It went through a whole load of variations to end up where it is now.

There's a lot to consider with car-free days: what other options are you giving people to travel (especially people who live within the car free area), consultation with shops, cafes, restaurants etc within that area around deliveries and refuse collection and the political implications of these proposals.

Propose anything too draconian (or at least, things that are perceived as being draconian) and you'll soon find yourself voted out of office, the new incumbent will have been elected on a promise of ending the "war on motorists" and you're back to square one.

Do it gradually - adding a car free street here or removing a few parking spots there - over a period of a couple of years and you're likely onto a winner.

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