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News and Comment January 2024

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28 January - Buses and bikes

Following on from Railway Matters a lady from TfL updated the Committee on buses. The most recent statistics available were from the June/September period of last year when route 51 was badly affected for most of the time by temporary traffic lights in Orpington. 482, 286 and 469 weren’ְt good either because of road closures. Route 160 performed poorly towards the end of that period.

At the previous meeting TfL had been asked to provide Bexley specific ULEZ scrappage data but they were reluctant to make the numbers publicly available. (For Councillors only.) Councillor Hinkley admitted to being one of the beneficiaries albeit after rather too many delays and “chase-ups”.

A study is being made into whether road casualties are linked to deprivation but the web link was only given to Committee Members - and they call it a Public meeting!

Chairman June asked if there were any road casualty statistics available with direct links to buses but as one might guess the TfL lady was only able to make enquiries on behalf of Councillor Slaughter and get back to her.

Councillor Patrick Adams asked for more details about the proposed DLR extension to Thamesmead. “Is there a predicted completion date?” He was given an immediate “No”. The extended explanation revealed only that the Government had approved the business case.

Highways Manager Andrew Bashford regretted that ULEZ cameras were being placed on top of traffic lights with the result that traffic lights are out of use for days (particularly in Bromley) when the ULEZ vandals cut the poles. Have separate ULEZ poles been considered? Another question to be taken away and “discussed off-line by email!” TfL are really not keen on openness and transparency are they?

Dylan from the Youth Council appears to be a cycling enthusiast as well as railway enthusiast. “Are there any plans for protected bicycle lanes to be extended into Bexley?” Another one that TfL will come back on to say what is being considered. Mr. Bashford said nothing and cycle lanes require borough co-operation so maybe the answer is “none”.

The Chairman diplomatically said that the TfL input was “very helpful” and moved on to police matters.

A few locations had been identified as the site of multiple collisions. One was Bexley High Street. The police officer had looked into an allegations of speeding between the Cob roundabout and the Morgan pub (Bronze Age Way to Eastern Avenue) which is a short section of dual carriageway including a bus stop and a light controlled pedestrian crossing but found little evidence of it. This may have been due to the complainant believing that a 30 m.p.h. limit was imposed when in fact it is 50. Both the police officer and the Highways Manager put forward convincing cases for why that is reasonable.
Eastern Way

Where has all the traffic gone?
Vacant cob site on the right. Notorious Morgan so called restaurant centre left. Yarnton Way to Abbey Wood, bottom left.
Westbound bus stop in lay-by hidden by trees.

The police were then dismissed and Mr. Bashford took centre stage. Cycle training numbers are good, 1,400 children trained last year with a small drop in adult numbers after the bumper Covid years.

100 new electric vehicle charging points are to be rolled out within the next couple of months, mainly on lighting columns or associated nearby posts. The Council is not making a significant financial contribution and does not expect to make much money out of them unless they prove to be very heavily used.

“We have resurfaced 23 roads this year” (2023 presumably) and there are more in the pipeline. £275,000 funding has been provided to fix potholes in the remainder of this year “and we will do our best to spend it” and a further £275,000 for next year.

Road casualty numbers are steady with children up slightly and pedal cyclists down.

A collapsed culvert in Bronze Age Way may cause it to be closed southbound for three months in the Summer. Road gritting has been “quiet” this Winter. Councillor Hunt said that Winter road maintenance had been “superb” this year but maybe communications could be improved as residents seemed not to be aware of it.

Mr. Heywood, the cycling representative, then made his previously reported complaint about things discussed at public meetings which never actually reach the public domain. Offers to answer later or discuss privately are not very helpful. The Chairman said “it is a fair point”.

Dylan on behalf of the Youth Council said that there were no zig-zags or barriers to protect SEN pupils attending Cornerstone school. Mr. Bashford said that SEN pupils are usually dropped off inside the school and do not use the road outside. There had been no representations but he will look into it.

Dylan was also concerned about flooding in Pickford Lane but it was explained that some of the oldest drainage systems rely on soakaways  and short-term flooding can occur.

The Chairman asked Mr. Heywood why the Albion Road cycle lane was so rarely used. He went over the same ground as he did in 2020 when he told a Transport Committee that it was dangerous with a very coarse and uncomfortable surface and had already put six cyclists in hospital.

Councillor Hinkley asked if the £275,000 for potholes could be carried into the next financial year as so little time had been allowed to spend it. Mr. Bashford hoped it would be as resurfacing larger areas to gobble up the money more quickly was not very sensible.

And with that Councillor Slaughter resumed her hunt for an earring which made its escape when she removed her scarf. (Eagle eyed Sally found it.)

 

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