8 April - Jam today and jam tomorrow
It doesn’t matter which part of the borough you live in, Bexley’s road network is a
mess. Major disruptions are the norm but maybe in this election period Bexley council is
keen to show impartiality. It is currently dishing out
traffic misery to all three parliamentary constituencies.
Sidcup’s
year long nightmare continues with another road closure. I do not understand
why a junction (Station Road/Hatherley Crescent) that normally delivers four streams of traffic becomes so chaotic
when it is able to deliver fewer vehicles to the same place but presumably there
are experts around who could explain it. But not within Bexley council evidently
as experts might be expected to come up with
a better system of traffic control.
Note that absolutely no one is working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
In the centre of the borough the
£3·2 million 2013 Bexleyheath Broadway regeneration is being ripped up where the road surface
prematurely failed under the weight of traffic. Once again Bexley’s Public Realm
department is found lacking. Fortunately, unlike in Sidcup and Northumberland
Heath, progress has been quite rapid and should be completed on schedule.
In the far north, as if Abbey Wood had not suffered enough already, Harrow Manorway, the main access road into Thamesmead is at a near permanent standstill. A roundabout
is being installed to give access to the new Sainsburys store.
The traffic queue frequently extends back to the foot of Knee Hill.
The project is not being pursued particularly vigorously and the traffic lights are
not intelligently programmed. They turned red as I approached at seven minutes
to midnight last night and in the four
minutes I sat there waiting not a single vehicle passed in the opposite
direction or came up behind me.
Partly because of the time taken to get around town there has been no time to put the usual fare on line - but there is another council meeting tonight.
Bexley’s cabinet is to discuss how they can make motorists’ lives even more
miserable by fining them for minor driving indiscretions. They have to pay for
their decision not to cut their generous allowances somehow.
All photographs taken today.