Cycling, walking and safer routes across the county
Taking full advantage of Scottish Government funding, East Lothian Council’s Active Travel Team has been busy taking forward projects which benefit everyone walking, cycling and wheeling around the county.
A path under the railway at Monktonhall Place in Musselburgh[1] has been surfaced, creating a high- quality link between that part of town and the university and rail station, and construction of a new route to school at Fa’side Avenue North in Wallyford[2] will shortly get underway. The other Wallyford route to school, along The Loan[3], was in place in time for Rosehill High School opening in August, and numerous other schools and high streets have seen the installation of new cycle racks.
The following smaller projects are also scheduled to be constructed over the winter period, weather permitting:
- Crossing of A199 at Pinkie Playing Fields, Musselburgh
- Path to Journey Hub at Mid Road, Prestonpans
- Link Path on Gardiner Terrace, Prestonpans
- Crossing of Summerfield Road, Dunbar
- Raised table at junction of Quality Street/North Berwick High Street
- Enabling works at the south access to Dunbar Station
- Creation of an accessible route to Preston Tower Primary School
The Active Travel team are also teeing up projects for the next few years and those which are being taken forward through extensive public consultation to full design include:
These activities sit alongside ongoing work to develop a network of active travel routes through Musselburgh Active Toun[4], and projects being taken forward by housing developers such as Hargreaves’ plans to build a path connecting Blindwells to Prestonpans[5] station. East Lothian Council is also working closely with Scottish Borders Council on a Workforce Mobility project which seeks to develop a network of Journey Hubs to improve access to public transport.
Additionally, the projects below are progressing with concept designs, with a view to reaching out to local people for comment and working up full designs in the new year.
Projects at even earlier stages in the pipeline include high-level studies of route networks such as the studies around Belhaven in Dunbar[6] and the Prestonpans/Tranent area and these will be published in the new year.
Councillor John McMillan, Cabinet Member for Environment, Economic Development and Tourism said: “It is exciting to be delivering on our commitments to improve health and well-being, through the reduction of carbon emissions resulting in improved air quality. Across the county we are delivering high-quality infrastructure for walking, cycling and wheeling.
“Our Active Travel team has working closely with the Area Partnerships to identify local priorities for improvements going forward and to make the most of the external funding available. I would encourage anyone interested in the development of active travel in East Lothian to go online and discover what has been delivered or planned for their local area.”
“The new website at www.eastlothian.gov.uk/roads[7], contains up-to-date information about all local major walking and cycling projects. To suggest new projects in your area you can get in touch with your local councillor[8] or Area Partnership[9] representatives.”
References
- ^ path under the railway at Monktonhall Place in Musselburgh (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ construction of a new route to school at Fa’side Avenue North in Wallyford (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ route to school, along The Loan (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ Musselburgh Active Toun (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ path connecting Blindwells to Prestonpans (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ Belhaven in Dunbar (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ www.eastlothian.gov.uk/roads (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ your local councillor (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)
- ^ Area Partnership (www.eastlothian.gov.uk)