18 May (Part 1) - It’s chaotic by design
Just
when you think access to Abbey Wood station can’t get any worse along comes Network Rail and proves you wrong.
This morning the old walkway over the Harrow Manorway flyover was sort of closed. The old metal
barricade had been replaced by plastic cones and the official route transferred
to the eastern side of the flyover.
The able bodied coming from Felixstowe Road will have an even longer walk to the station and
those in wheelchairs or with buggies too big to carry down the Gayton Road stairs must not
only take the half mile detour but cross the main road twice.
But don’t bother, the path is not wide enough for a wheelchair anyway. (Photo 2 above.)
Similarly anyone finding themselves near to Sainsbury’s requiring a bus into Thamesmead
will have their short walk to the bus stop doubled in length and complicated by
a double road crossing. Or alternatively take the unauthorised (old) route ‘at your own risk’.
I was tempted to title this blog ‘Utter lunacy’ or similar but as I have yet to
come up with a better solution I’ll refrain from doing so.
Presumably the coned off walk way will have to be retained to allow contractors
into the high level station site but it’s not the easiest of routes for those
wishing to merely cross the flyover on foot without disrupting the traffic flow.
There are places where pedestrians and road traffic are forced to share the
same space. See Photos 5 and 6 of those below.
All the best viewing areas are even less accessible than before.
Maybe it’s a good excuse to give up on
photographing progress.
From a brief observation this morning bus drivers might not yet be fully
acquainted with the revised situation. Several went straight past the new stop
(only one) and were unable to use the old ones (two). Maybe no one wanted to get off but that would
be unususal before eight in the morning when these pictures were taken.
I suppose it has got to be done but it is not surprising that people have been
saying at the Liaison Panel meeting that it’s a lot easier for Thamesmead
residents to get the bus to Woolwich and forget all about Abbey Wood.
The traders in Wilton Road have been saying much the same thing at their
Association meetings too and they get no compensation for their loss of business.
