Skip to main content
Site logo

Main navigation

  • Home
  • About Sue
  • News
  • Advice surgeries
  • Campaigns
  • Current Issues
  • Assisted Dying Bill
  • Contact
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
Site logo

Heavy £70m cost of cycle lanes

  • Tweet
Saturday, 11 April, 2026
  • Opinions
Sue Webber

Driving back from the Gyle last week, traffic was at a standstill. The bane of every road user, three-way temporary lights mean it could only be roadworks.

Was it another water mains upgrade such as is currently causing chaos in Gorgie? Or maybe it was resurfacing or new fibre cables or gas connections being laid?

None of the above, which might be welcome once the work is done, but the construction of the West Edinburgh Link (WEL) to build cycle lanes between The Gyle and Clovenstone, tying in Bankhead, Sighthill, Wester Hailes and the Calders.

I don't know how much demand this will meet, although an educated guess from observation is very little.

This project won a competition run by the Scottish Government-funded charity Sustrans in 2017 and is estimated to cost up to £16 million. All public money of course, when the condition of the roads in the area leaves a lot to be desired and is crying out for investment.

Quality road repairs benefit all users, as in the case on the recently repaired Gilmore Place.

But with the East-West cycleway, plus the crazy paving on Leith Walk and the Roseburn-Union canal project, Edinburgh will have spent the best part of £70 million on bike routes alone, when regular cycling is declining.

You may also be interested in

A tram

Careless tram talk costs money

Saturday, 18 April, 2026
Maybe the Fringe has started four months early, judging by the comic debate over the proposed expansion of Edinburgh’s tram system between Labour, the Lib Dems and SNP hopefuls.In particular, it takes a special sort of cynicism for the Lib Dems to accuse the SNP of electioneering for their oppositio

Show only

  • Articles
  • European News
  • Holyrood News
  • Local News
  • Newsletters
  • Opinions
  • Reports
  • Senedd News
  • Speeches
  • Speeches in Parliament
  • Westminster News
  • Written Questions News

Sue Webber Scottish Conservative candidate for Edinburgh South Western

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Sue Webber
Scottish Conservatives
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
Promoted by Daisy Horrobin on behalf of Sue Webber, both of 16 Quality Street Lane, Edinburgh EH4 5BU
Copyright 2026 Sue Webber. All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree