29 January (Part 2) - Take a hike, courtesy of the Bashing Streets kid
Anyone who sends me correspondence which includes the name Andrew Bashford in the first paragraph is virtually guaranteed to be welcomed here, for it was Mr. Bashford from the road wrecking department who told me the big fat fib that spawned Bonkers.
His
name has cropped up again in connection with the pedestrian crossing at the top
end of Townley Road where it is currently affected by the
partial Albion Road closure.
It is probably sensible for pedestrian crossings that have a centre refuge
not to facilitate mad unthinking fools who dash straight across and to that end a
small dog leg is usually provided to slow them down. However in Albion Road it is not
exactly a small dog leg, it’s more a giraffe leg on growth hormone. There is a
considerable detour from the end of Townley Road to even get to the crossing.
At one time the over generous detour may have been justified by the exit of
Trading World’s car park but that is long gone so a local resident suggested to
Bexley council that now might be a good time to rationalise the situation. Oh dear no!
They don’t want that.
Whilst the infirm, the disabled, the buggy pushers with shopping bags and kiddies in tow are
engaged in a fifty metre total detour, the energetic and foolhardy hop over three sets of
railings or walk from Townley Road on the wrong side of the railings. I saw a pair jump the
barriers as I was removing my camera from its case. The unsuitable crossing creates its own danger.
The
council’s objection to © ‘Listening to you’ and ‘Working for you’ is said to be cost
and their explanation provides an interesting insight as to why tax in this
country is so ridiculously high.
Mr. Bashford says that such a change “would need to be designed, safety audited and
programmed with Transport for London” whereas you or I might simply buy a hack saw.
Maybe if Bashford hadn’t wasted so much money building
cycling hazards in nearby Oaklands Road he would have had the money to do the job properly.
Bashford : Biting the hand that feeds it.