My top ten (i.e. worst) street obstructions

I strongly believe that the best way to encourage people to walk is to make streets nice places to walk in. But our streets are full of obstacles which make using them less pleasant, easy and safe places to use. Walking is the most inclusive, sustainable and healthy way of getting about and it is fundamental to getting our cities towns and villages working as communities. If we removed the clutter on our pavements, it would be a real ‘quick win’ to encourage more people to use our streets more often. 

This is my current top ten ‘hates’ of clutter encountered on the streets, mostly from near my home in Edinburgh. I could possibly stretch to a top 20 I have missed out some obvious candidates like waste bins, unprotected scaffolding and minor irritations like urban runners (the Royal Mile is not the place to go for a run)…

Number 10: Flappy cables

This is a relative new menace to our streets - cables hanging from buildings, often flapping loose in the wind. Often they are attached to nothing, and probably serve no useful purpose. They don’t do much aesthetically for a street either, but no one seems to see them as their responsibility…?

Number 9: Guardrails

New street design guidance - both locally in Edinburgh and nationally - has a presumption against railings. But they seem to hang on tenaciously, more frequently stopping people go where they want to than protecting them, I think. I was pleased to see them being removed in Tollcross last year - and less pleased to see them then replaced by a brand new new lot. Our risk-averse engineering culture means they are here for a while yet…

Number 8: Phone boxes 

​I have already complained about the curse of unnecessary phone boxes, which are really just advertising boards.  So I’ll not harp on about them again. But along with cash machine kiosks and other such stuff, they (mostly) need to go.

Number 7: Cycle parking 

​Cycling is on the increase: good. Bikes on the pavement are also on the increase: not good. Keep them on the road please, preferably in well-designed cycle parking. Or if cycle parking must be on the pavement, please put them in suitable nooks and crannies, well away from the desire line of people on foot…

​Number 6: Vegetation 

​Overhanging trees and especially protruding hedges are everywhere. It is not uncommon to see the space available to people walking halved by encroaching shrubs. How often do council inspectors knock on a door and draw this to the attention of their owners? Never, I would think…

Number 5: (Highway) rubbish

Rubbish in the street is not nice for anyone, but can also be hazardous. Mattresses and such like are frequently dumped, sometimes blocking the whole footway. To be fair, my council (Edinburgh) usually removes this kind of thing fairly quickly, and it would help if people stopped anti-social fly-tipping. But worse is the rubbish left by the council and its contractors itself: the traffic cones and all the other highways rubbish that seems to perpetually litter our streets - sandbags, barriers, and such like. They are everywhere. And they shouldn’t be.

​Number 4: ‘A-boards’ 

There currently appears to be a retailers’ “arms race” going on - more and bigger ‘A-boards’ and similar clutter filling up pavement space which is meant for people. The worst offenders often seem to be not your local independent shop, but high street giants like Sainsburys, Greggs and Costa. Check these out for size!  No wonder Living Streets Edinburgh has started a campaign for a wholesale review of policy and practice.

Number 3: ‘Temporary’ road signs on the pavement

​Into the top three now; yes these are my top hates at the moment: Roadworks signs on the pavement. They are supposed to comply with the statutory Code, but often don’t. They also often linger long after their original purpose has expired. Special mention must go to “diversion” signs…in my own street, I have seen a sequence of signs reading: “diversion”, “end of diversion” and then, surprise, surprise, “diversion” again. And worst of all are signs mounted in 900kg concrete blocks, taking up half the pavement which seem to be everywhere. Ban them; put temporary signs on lamp posts instead.

​Number 2: Signage poles

​I am known for my dislike of signage poles, I confess. Poles with parking signs, poles with signs directing you (ie motorists) to an amenity…above all, poles with nothing on them whatsoever. Design guidance couldn’t be clearer - signage should be minimised, and where it is needed, it should be mounted on lamp posts, buildings or other infrastructure.  But old habits die hard. We are still sticking new poles everywhere, let alone de-cluttering our streets - every new initiative (safe routes to school, trams, parking zones) brings a new clutch of signs and poles…

​Number 1: Pavement parking

And so to Number One. Parking on the pavement is not on. But in Edinburgh, while you are pretty much guaranteed a parking ticket if you overstay your time limit in a controlled parking zone bay, no one seems to take responsibility for vehicles parked on the pavement. Let’s hope the promised  Footway Parking and Double Parking (Scotland) Bill will really put an end to this. ​