Edinburgh bypass on the news this morning

[Gav]

Its not just me getting peeved by the congestion. it reached the news this morning and someone was pleading for hard shoulder running....

That wouldnt work just now, not enough of the road has a hard shoulder and this would led to congestion at where the hard shoulder ends. No piecemeal wont work here its too critical a road to be doing such measures. by all means have three lanes but make it three lanes from sheriffhall through to the A8. Do not skimp.

M8 has to be three lanes till past the Livingston turn. And the M8 spur / M9 three lanes to the M90.

Identify where the traffic gets congested through selfish drivers and work those sports out - traffic blocking others on the roundabouts. The Gyle a nightmare. It really needs three lanes on the A720 approach with the left lane becoming a filter to the A8. The city bypass isnt too constrained, there is room to expand it, and sort it out and yes it may need some revision around some of the bridges but thats what happens when the road needs to expand to cope with the traffic that uses it.

And a last thing to consider stop the cranes and other slow traffic using the bypass at peak times.... that is a killer that is.... inconsiderate to the extreme.

[Burns]

That all sounds too complicated. Just get rid of Edinburgh instead.

[Berk]

Indeed. I’m not being funny, but we don’t all of us live in Edinburgh, y’know. Much less zone 9...

[Duncan macknight]

Yeah hard shoulder running would be a great idea, it's just what to do when it stops! I dont often use the bypass and have rarely been on it but it's always busy or trundling along at 50-60mph as there's the inconsiderate lane 2 hogger and the whole thing comes to a stop at Sheriffhall anyway. However at the A1 junction that flows well compared to the A8 junction. I have been unfortunate as trying to get into the bypass southbound by joining at Hermiston Gait...on a Friday.

[jackal]

Yeah hard shoulder running would be a great idea, it's just what to do when it stops!

They could perhaps do three narrow lanes like the Newcastle/Gateshead western bypass. You'd be surprised what you can squeeze three lanes through nowadays with creative use of concrete barriers and paint

[Osthagen]

Grade-separated D3 throughout & hard-shoulder running. That would be a necessary improvement for this road.

[GrahameCase]

I think we are all in agreement that the A720 needs work - It’s not a straightforward thing to widen it though - lots of constraints in the section near Currie/ Lanark Road. While we are at it can we get a full free flow on Hermiston Gait M8 Junction ?

I never travel the bypass weekdays as i Just don’t need the stress

[Mark Hewitt]

I’ve always got the impression that Scotland’s roads are always under provisioned just because it’s Scotland and ‘they’ don’t need anything better. That’s changing of course but there’s a long way to go.

[GrahameCase]

I’ve always got the impression that Scotland’s roads are always under provisioned just because it’s Scotland and ‘they’ don’t need anything better. That’s changing of course but there’s a long way to go.

That was certainly the feeling that percipitated throughout the 80s and 90s thankfully with devolution it’s finally changing. Transport Scotland are really pushing forward with upgrades of the transport network

[Ruperts Trooper]

I’ve always got the impression that Scotland’s roads are always under provisioned just because it’s Scotland and ‘they’ don’t need anything better. That’s changing of course but there’s a long way to go.

Since Devolution it's been up to the Scottish Parliament where to spend its money, other than "reserved matters" - it seems that the A9 is higher priority than the A720.

[Andy J]

I’ve always got the impression that Scotland’s roads are always under provisioned just because it’s Scotland and ‘they’ don’t need anything better. That’s changing of course but there’s a long way to go.

The status of the A1 either side of the border would suggest that England's roads are more under provisioned.

[Mark Hewitt]

I’ve always got the impression that Scotland’s roads are always under provisioned just because it’s Scotland and ‘they’ don’t need anything better. That’s changing of course but there’s a long way to go.

The status of the A1 either side of the border would suggest that England's roads are more under provisioned.

True. But one could argue that the A1 in Northumberland is in quite a rural area especially compared to the central belt.

[Bryn666]

In an ideal world it would have been a D3M M70 with direct connections onto the M90 and A1.

Alas we now have another classic bodge.

Remember Edinburgh is a hotbed of Beggism - the notion that instead of improving infrastructure we all just travel less. Probably explains why the trams were such a fiasco too.

[GrahameCase]

Remember Edinburgh is a hotbed of Beggism - the notion that instead of improving infrastructure we all just travel less. Probably explains why the trams were such a fiasco too.

Oh B**g is a swear word - , the guy responsible for all the traffic calming measures plaguing Edinburgh, they don’t work they just add to frustration

[Andy J]

True. But one could argue that the A1 in Northumberland is in quite a rural area especially compared to the central belt.

Those of us south of Scotch Corner would be unlikely to use the A1 in the same sentence as the central belt. The borders of Scotland are pretty much as rural as Northumberland. We used to travel up the east coast sometimes to get back to Aberdeen in the early days (well, the A697 usually), but the Edinburgh ring road now makes this less appealing unless the beauty of the Northumbrian coast calls us for a short break en route. Not that the A66 is a much better alternative TBF. The A720 is a bit of a pain in a country of otherwise in general great driving conditions.

[jackal]

I’ve always got the impression that Scotland’s roads are always under provisioned just because it’s Scotland and ‘they’ don’t need anything better. That’s changing of course but there’s a long way to go.

This is a somewhat eccentric view. If anything Scottish roads tend to be better provisioned than English counterparts with similar traffic volumes. The city bypass is the exception that proves the rule.

[wrinkly]

The fact that the A74 was upgraded to motorway 20 years before the A1 in North Yorkshire, though the latter has more traffic, is an example of jackal's point.

[Bryn666]

Scotland built the bulk of its motorway network before 1980, and as a result it appears naff, but they had motorways being built before far busier places were.

And since the completion of the A74(M)/M74, Scotland has been filling the gaps and improving the network way beyond anything England has done.

[paully]

I reckon the best the A720 will see will be something similar to the A1 around Gateshead/Newcastle: an upgrade to D3 within the same space, with a 50 limit and narrow lanes through junctions etc. The route badly needs upgrading, and other than a few sections around Baberton/Calder/Hermiston it shouldn't be too difficult to do.

[A9NWIL]

I reckon the best the A720 will see will be something similar to the A1 around Gateshead/Newcastle: an upgrade to D3 within the same space, with a 50 limit and narrow lanes through junctions etc. The route badly needs upgrading, and other than a few sections around Baberton/Calder/Hermiston it shouldn't be too difficult to do.

Thats fine for local traffic but long distance stuff really needs a new route!

A better option would likely be a new D2M link from the M8 at the point that the M9 connects to it heading on a new alignment to the A1, perhaps using part of the A68 and A697 corridor to get round to just south of Berwick Upon Tweed. It wouldnt need that many junctions, only intersecting the major roads it passes by.
It could be called the M7!

That would leave the A720 as a local bypass of Edinburgh, which would then be much less busy.