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8 comments
Thoughts with the person injured. Could have been a patient, hospital visitor, nurse...
Do they mean "Walter Scott Avenue"? If so the junction is here on Streetview.
For those not local this is a busy road. Important access (to the main hospital). Even though cycle lanes were installed and more recently part-protected (covid-era) it's not a pleasant cycling environment. Average speed cameras have been fitted - which tells you something. Plenty buses (because hospital), traffic at all hours (ditto). It is "narrow" in the sense that the lanes of traffic are just bus-sized and no more. Pedestrian refuges - needed - act to push vehicles towards you. The cycle lane protection - if still there - only appears on the "uphill" side of the road and is frequently interrupted by bus stops, side road access and at pedestrian refuges. If there it'd be on the opposite side to Walter Scott Avenue.
Looking left (north) from Walter Scott Ave - Google shows the lane protection (March 2021) and also gives an idea of the road width.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was either a left hook or a pull out of the junction when cyclist hadn't cleared it.
Pure speculation...
They can't know whether they'd be surprised or not?
is that not allowed? My speculation, which i didn't claim to be anything but, was based on looking at the junction with its crappy murder strip encouraging cyclists to be riding right next to it rather then wider to be safer.
Unless the streetview camera is distorting the image it looks total insanity to try to cram 2 bike lanes down that road. (I'm assuming that bit on the far left is a murder strip style bike lane.)
Yet plenty of green verge on one side that could have been co-opted.
I had a look at this a year back and the short answer is that there's potential but it would likely involve *lots* of money and negotiation. Simply following the main road (doing this properly) isn't likely to happen. The usable width (between outer edges of footway) is in places pretty tight. Buildings on one side, up against the road, old wall on the other (with steep bank behind).
I should say that there *is* currently a route you can work to the hospital from town which is largely off-road. (Innocent railway path / Craigmillar Castle Road paths). I'm not sure it's signed as a route to the hospital, it's slightly indirect (about half a mile more from town) but it's not "convenient" - a fair bit of navigation, you have to get onto roads, off, cross them etc. Also you're up a hill (170ft of ascent). Other routes have both less climbing and are less steep.
Wider view - any way you go about it it's going to involve wiggling about and might need you to cross the Old Dalkeith Road. To the west there's a park (Inch Park) for part of it then a housing estate, but going that way puts you quite a bit out of the way and you'd need to cross Dalkeith Road. The east side initially looks a better bet - there's Craigmillar Castle park most of the way. However the North end is constricted (a car salesroom!) and it's lumpy and also would need wide detours - effectively pushing you back almost as far as the existing "alternative" route above.