Perspective
The Unlikely New Bike Lanes Gracing the Scottish Capital
Edinburgh’s new cycle tracks took a decade to install, but their mere existence shows that bicycle infrastructure can happen anywhere.
New cycling infrastructure slices through the narrow streets of grand terraces in Edinburgh.
Photographer: Laura Laker/Bloomberg
Edinburgh’s longest cycle lane, opened recently, was a decade in the making. And if it can happen in this hilly, windswept northern city, well, it can happen pretty much anywhere.
In that time the two-mile, £23 million ($29 million) City Centre West-East Link has been dogged by backlash from local businesses over the loss of parking, a six-year consultation process, compensation claims, and, eventually, further delays when asbestos was discovered midway through construction.