6 February - Harrow Manorway flyover. Far too slow and far too quick
Bexley Council held a joint Adults’ and Children’s Scrutiny meeting last night which went on for an astonishing 172 minutes. Interesting stuff but condensing it into a few paragraphs presents something of a problem especially when this afternoon is going to be mostly taken up with preparing for this evening’s Abbey Wood Traders’ Association meeting. Being at that meeting will prevent me attending the Budget Scrutiny meeting tonight which is a big disappointment and if the technical issues with the webcast remain it will prove to be a total disaster as @bexleynews will be able to lie about it for ever more unchallenged.
As a quick and easy filler Bonkers will return to something bonkers. The
ongoing saga which is the Harrow Manorway flyover.
Reconstruction was supposed to be completed by Summer 2018 and more recently
someone passed on to me a Council email which said
it would be finished my mid-December.
Then another that it would be completed by the first week of January and then
last week a third that said it would be finished “this week” which in my naivety
and having looked at the state of the flyover I assumed must mean the end of this
week, 8th February. But no, it was confirmed they meant 1st February.
Yesterday Bexley Council announced that the bicycle rack and Poundshop bus stops “will
be up and running shortly” with no hint of an apology for the six month delay.
For the bus shelters to be useful the eastern footpath will need to be opened which may not
be difficult; there is no obvious reason for it not to have been opened a week or more ago.
Yesterday I discussed the matter with a lady emerging from Sainsbury’s and walking slowly with a stick. She
said that to get home Bexley Council was unnecessarily making her use the
western footpath and then cross three lanes of traffic at a necessarily slow
pace. It is not a route I have to take so for me the dangers had gone unnoticed.
It is the same junction point about which a cyclist complained at the Transport Users’ meeting.
For them it is incredibly dangerous and now
a stick reliant lady is saying the same thing.
However it is not always a lot better for motorists.
I drove over the flyover in a southerly direction soon after 8 a.m. this morning and stopped at the pedestrian
crossing outside Sainsbury’s. The driver of the white Audi A1 (LY15 GGJ) behind me was not happy
about that, I got a blast from her horn.
When the light turned to green I made a quick get away but was blasted by the horn
of the tailgating Audi again. A glance at my Head Up Display speedo (bragging, sorry) said I was doing 28 m.p.h.
which in my opinion is quite fast enough on the flyover.
Having since looked up the specification of a 1·4 litre Audi A1 LY15 GGJ I know I could have left
it for dead if I had a mind to but I am too old for boy racing so merely continued on my way.
As I approached the Knee Hill roundabout the Audi shot past
me on the inside and then violently changed direction as it headed towards Abbey Wood Station.
Ladies on sticks would not have stood a chance.
I followed the white Audi along Wilton Road and waited behind it while the
driver ran into the station and the passenger slipped into the driving seat. I
am pretty sure it is the same pair of bottle blondes who unleashed a stream of
obscenites at me for taking photos on the flyover a year ago. They were blocking the
traffic on the flyover while they performed the same stop and swap manoeuvre and I was
merely waiting for a clear view of the station.
I really should get myself a dashcam.
