16 December (Part 2) - How to fix Bexley’s traffic problems
Fifteen years ago, as noted yesterday, Bexley Council paid the
transport consultants Parsons Brinkerhoff four million pounds to fix the borough’s road traffic
problems. Obviously it was money down a blocked drain.
Having been engaged with my new regime of four return trips to Bromley each week for
two whole months I feel I must be well qualified to offer my transport advice for free. Not
four million pounds, not even twenty grand a month
to keep their cinema alive
after the owner went bust. Free.
There is of course an element of tongue in cheekedness about what follows but traffic delays are
a serious problem which affects us all and the economy of the borough.
My journeys are all at peak hours and at this time of the year that means in
darkness. Bromley is always busy in the same place every single day. There is
always congestion where Bexley meets Bromley at the Queen Mary Hospital
roundabout but it is short lived. Once the road drops down from two to one lane
progress may be slow but it is steady.
Bexley on the other hand has random gridlock and the
problem is multi-faceted. We have a Highways Department which is headed by a man prepared to lie to cover the tomfoolery of his political
masters. I don’t need to repeat the Transport Research Laboratory story that
resulted in the creation of Bonkers do I? More recently the same team came up
with the crazy AW1 controlled Parking Zone, some of which makes no sense
whatsoever. And the Cabinet Member didn’t notice because he lives in Bexley Village.
Penhill Road we know was designed with
traffic aggravation in mind. Everyone will have
forgotten but during the time of the Labour administration the big roundabout
just south of the A2 underpass near Danson Park was improved to benefit traffic
flow but in 2007 under the Conservatives the exit from Penhill Road was reduced
from two to one lane for little benefit to pedestrians and by so doing causes
regular massive tail backs and making the SL3 Express bus route something of a joke.
It’s not just my view; one of the Highways people emailed me at the weekend describing them as ‘clowns’.
Some of the congestion one sees is created by idiot drivers some of whom I
assume passed their driving test in Mogadishu. I like to be courteous on the road
especially towards bus drivers who are attacked daily by Bexley Council and
deserve better. A few days ago I stopped at the top of the steep straight part
of New Road to allow a bus a clear run up the hill while his side was obstructed
by parked cars. Someone overtook me and headed straight into the path of the bus
which was forced into a small gap in the line of parked cars. WTF as they say.
Mogadishu or Calcutta presumably?
Speaking of New Road, the ‘clowns’ redesigned the junction with Abbey Road a few
years ago such that most double deckers mount the kerb when heading towards
Bexleyheath. There is plenty of pavement space; why doesn’t Bexley Council fix it?
The image above is of one of Bexleyְ’s perpetual holes. New Road again. This one has been opened up three times over just a few weeks.
As noted before, too many drivers don’t indicate at roundabouts or anywhere
else, and far too many have faulty lights or even none at all. At least they
probably don’t park on the wrong side of the road with headlights on. Car
crushing seems reasonable to me. Second offence, driver included.
Pedestrians in black clothing cross the road within yards of a proper
crossing. A mother and two children in Brampton Road only yesterday. Immediate
Social Services investigation please.
Monday morning journeys are particularly
bad because the Country Style truck goes up and down Footscray Lane stopping
alongside as many pedestrian refuges as it can. The homeward queue can extend
all the way back to Rectory Lane in Sidcup. There is no one at Bexley Council
with the brains to keep the trucks on minor roads until 9:30. They would rather
wreck the borough’s economy.
Parking should be severely restricted on all A roads.
Delays are very often due to idiots who park legally in silly places. Absolutely no parking except in
off peak hours on straight roads which have a minimum of two carriageways in each
direction. The same should apply to designated B roads which are also bus routes. It would
be just another way of reducing car ownership which every politician appears to favour. So why not?
I actually got slightly lost on my journey home from Bromley recently. There was
a diversion so I decided on Avenue Road rather than Brampton Road. It was close
to midnight and with no traffic and a faded yellow box to mark the turning I
missed it. To get back on course I found two width restrictors over a weak
railway bridge in just one direction. WTF again. Do we really need a restriction
to protect a bridge from people driving in the wrong direction of what is in
effect a one way street?
Oh, I forgot. Mogadishu again. I don’t think he reads Bonkers but I have a
friend who is a driving instructor. He has boat people on his books. I didn’t dare ask who is paying.
If/when Reform UK takes over in Bexley in only six months time there will be plenty of work for them to do.