11 April - Crossrail lives up to its name
You
always know when there is little new to report about Bexley council when
Bonkers falls back on the Crossrail project developing almost on my own doorstep.
In the past and for about three decades rail users and residents had to put up
with constant flooding outside Abbey Wood station but it would appear that
Crossrail is taking no chances. A massive storm drain has been dug deep into the
ground. Why it needs to be quite that big I have no idea but a construction
worker told me it will connect into a network of underground tunnels.
The
project necessitates the regular arrival of large vehicles and construction
plant in Wilton Road which is a small but busy shopping area. Last weekend while
in Malmesbury I received two messages to get myself to Wilton Road quickly to
record what was going on there. It transpires that lorry drivers had taken over
the road using their own cones and forbidding parking by the general public.
I have heard that car drivers who were reluctant to move their cars were
approached with heavy construction tools, bolt cutters and the like, threatening
words and racial abuse. The police were called and are still pursuing enquiries.
I have been promised some photographs and if they support the stories provided
by local traders you will of course see them here.
Note: A subsequent investigation showed that the
construction vehicles were working on behalf of BT, not (Balfour) Beatty as
originally alleged.
More Crossrail related blogs.