Petition against West Coates Track - is now reopened at Change.org (see below)

As an occasional cyclist it annoys me that CEC think they are helping cyclists by playing silly buggers by painting bike lanes all over the place,while ignoring the road surfaces all over the city. This not only damages car suspension,but gives me sore hips and shoulders. The money squandered by CEC is nothing short of grotesque.

I've lived in the area for the last 6 years and use the shops at Roseburn frequently. To my mind this idea for a cycleway is ridiculous. Firstly the bottleneck at Roseburn is awful as it is and that will only increase, meaning more polution on a main highway. Secondly it will kill businesses (any argument against this is deluded) as no one will be able to stop and shop. The chip shop, the cake shop, the roseburn fry, scotmid will all have to close (people don't park elswhere and walk to use these shops - there's nowhere to park anywhere else and it's easier to drive 2 mins along the road and use another shop that you can stop at). This is purely a box ticking exercise by the council - if they were serious about cycle lanes they would (and should) have built one that runs along next to the tram line which would have been safe, secure and no traffic. Even if they go ahead with the roseburn part that doesn't solve the problem of actually getting there - i.e before you get to that part you have to cycle along St Johns road which is highly dangerous, so unless you cycle path the whole of st johns road then what's the point of a little bit from Roseburn into haymarket?! I cycle a fair bit and stay off the main roads, using the existing cycle paths, it doesn't take much longer and it's far safer. They should be encouraging people onto the existing cycle paths instead of building new ones.

Roseburn is a community and one of Edinburgh s urban villages. It relies on its local shops and facilities to define its character and community. Without visitors to these shops and facilities being able to be stop outside these shops and facilities they will not survive. Also,other than stopping outside these units there is no way to service the retailers and cafes. The area also has quite an elderly element to its population who depend on the convenience of the local facilities. Please do not make matters worse when there is a sensible alternative for the cyclists. Thank-you.

I can understand the business owners' concerns, but if I had a shop there I would starting to get worried that this campaign is doing more harm than good. At such an early stage in the planning, working constructively with the council in the consultation surely leads to better results than an overblown protest with increasingly absurd and aggressive arguments. Shop owners all over the world see the benefits of improving their street, and the Roseburn business people certainly can contribute good concrete ideas to the consultation on how to make it more attractive to local customers. The road is not going to be closed, it just gets a bit of bike lane, wider pavements and better pedestrian crossings. Overall this should be an improvement over the current situation. Polarising and aggressive language, as we see it in this protest and petition, is never good for business as you will annoy quite a lot of your own customers and certainly not attract new ones.

I live in Roseburn and have done so for the past 8 years. I am totally opposed to narrowing the road, the main access road from Glasgow and Stirling into Edinburgh and which already has one of the highest levels of pollution to put in a cycle path when a far better proposal via Balbirnie has been put forward. The traffic will not lessen that much - there are no other routes that it can take and a lot of buses use this route. As it inevitably slows up, the air pollution will increase even more. The shopkeepers will lose so much trade that some may have to close and we should be trying to improve communities, not destroy them. I am all for trying to make cycling safer, but it has to be appreciated that Edinburgh does not lend itself easily to cycling and there have to be compromises. The Balbirnie route is a really good option and healthier for the cyclists as well, rather than breathing in the traffic fumes. In my opinion, the cycle route through Roseburn is an insane idea and the sensible idea would be to enhance the Balbirnie route.

This path is about saving lives. Build the path and saves people from having to fight for road space with 25tonne lorries. Build the path and saves lives! Health benefits include tackling obesity once people ages 8 to 80 feel safe cycling in Edinburgh. It's not a petition against a segregated cycle path that you need, it's an education!

For what it's worth, I support the scheme and have compiled a short document to explain why it's important, and why the existing route via Balbirinie Place and Haymarket Yards is not fit for purpose: http://www.chrispaton.co.uk/documents/TheimportanceoftheproposedRoseburntoHaymarketcycleway.pdf . I can see why there are concerns at the Roseburn Terrace section in particular, and clearly the council will need to take these into account as part of their final route and detailed design.

What's the point in adding to the bottleneck at Roseburn AND adding to the risks cyclists face with extra traffic entering and exiting Wester Coates when the new Donaldson's development is opened. (Building works have started already). This is a classic case of non-joined-up thinking: why move cyclists from a safe route to the busiest and most polluted route in Scotland? And if you doubt that last bit, why don't you come along any day and find out how many of the parked taxis are keeping their diesel engines running while they queue - there's usually at least ten in the queue, which sometimes stretches back 200 yards.

I have lived in Murrayfield for 20 plus years and as a resident I totally oppose the cycle lanes on Roseburn Terrace - being unable to stop outside these small local shops will crucify these businesses and rob the shopkeepers of their livelihood....some of which have been trading for 30 plus years. The alternative route via Balbirnie is by far the most sensible and safest option.

The proposal is for much needed improvements for people walking to the shops as well as people cycling along this major route. The existing National Cycle Route 1 is not a quiet route (Russel Rd is a dangerous rat run), many sections are too narrow and lead to conflict with pedestrians, and the route also leads people away from the shops. The plans have very little impact on car traffic but will make the area much nicer for people on foot or on bike, which surely must be a great thing for the coffeeshop owners in Roseburn Terrace.

There is no evidence that this will reduce local shop business. Delivery vehicles don't have the right to block traffic at a=ny time

I am a shopper but support businesses on this busy street. These should be encouraged and not have obstacles put in their way

Agree with all points as the safest proposal for cycle traffic for access to Haymarket.

may jeopardise local businesses with lack of parking!

it's completely unnecessary to make a new cycle track here when a better alternative already exists; maybe the planners hadn't noticed it?

This idea will lead to more congestion. More pollution and will in fact be more dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.

More cycling lane lunacy from stalinist council

I own a property in this area and I also use the shops and local facilities. The road through Roseburn is a main arterial route into and out of town and is extremely busy with buses, cars, vans,taxis and cyclists. To condense the motorised traffic into 2 lanes will cause utter chaos and frustration for all non cycling people trying to go about their normal business. I am utterly opposed to this protected cycle track idea.

Cyclist, Shopper

Shopper, resident