Local readers will probably be familiar with the pair of bus stops opposite Bexleyheath police station. A short stretch of bus only road consisting of two north bound (†) carriageways services buses which either continue in a northerly direction from one of the stops, and those due to turn right and head eastwards, using the other.
On
the other side of the junction and for reasons far too complicated to explain, all
buses heading south turn right across the path of buses leaving the pair of bus
stops. For obvious reasons the traffic lights were phased such that when buses
left those two stops, nothing else was allowed to move. It was a sensible systemwhich worked well.
Then Mike Frizoni and his crew came along. As an ultimately temporary but nevertheless
long term part of the Bexleyheath regeneration programme the lights have been set to allow
buses heading in opposing directions to move at the same time and interfere with
each others’ movements. Together with the adjacent lane reduction to the west, the
potential for chaos is considerable.
I observed it on a trip to the Civic Centre one evening and a reader suggested I
get back there with my camera. I did three times but traffic was always light
around lunchtime. Then last Thursday evening I went to the Civic Centre by bus
again, and although the driver expertly manoeuvred his vehicle to minimise its impact on other road
users, and took a short cut at one point to avoid more chaos, he experienced a very
considerable hold up outside the cop shop. I hopped off at the Clock Tower and
walked the rest of the way or I would have been late.
I
realised I must be at the junction when traffic is heavy and this I did on
Saturday. However the traffic,
whilst heavy was still running freely. The reason wasn’t hard to find, there was a man on
old fashioned point duty in the middle of the road. When did you last see that?
He was thankfully wearing a bright yellow jacket and happily countermanding
Frizoni’s idiotic traffic lights to miraculous effect. Click the final image to
see who was using their initiative to overcome another of Bexley council’s long
line of failures. Well done Arriva.
† North East for the pedants but that description is complicated enough already.