Leith Walk's entirely disposable cycle lane

Like all cyclists who regularly use Leith Walk, I have got thoroughly fed up with vehicles parked in the bike lane, especially in the stretch between Iona Street and Dalmeny Street, on the southbound carriageway.

When I took this picture showing numerous vans and cars parked in the bike lane this morning, I was all ready to tweet it at various authorities, as I had understood that this week was to be the beginning of the long awaited enforcement measures. In fact, twitter, and Greener Leith, had been misinformed by a city councillor, and enforcement only starts next Monday.

Anyway, it is good to have taken this picture as a comparison basis to see whether the enforcement makes any difference.

After I had taken the picture, I got back on the bike and cycled up this stretch - inevitably out in the main carriageway because of the parked vehicles. A police car overtook me and - blow me - parked in the cycle lane ahead of me. When I caught up with it, I asked the lone occupant whether he was stopping in the bike lane in order to try and make the situation worse, or better. He informed me that he was there to carry out an emergency call nearby. Hmmmm. I didn't think the police attended emergencies on their own. And there was no sign of blue lights and sirens. This is not the first time I have seen the police parked in the bike lane in this section, on both the northbound and the southbound carriageways.

Well, let's see what happens.