4 March (Part 2) - Slow & Late (3)
The
SL3 Limited Stop bus service is probably a good idea in principle but it could be argued that the Thamesmead to Abbey Wood
section is superfluous to requirements. TfL thought so but Bexley Council
believed that there might be electoral advantages in extending SL3 over a route
which is already served by two high frequency buses over two miles of bus lane.
Fortunately that section is unlikely to suffer long delays except at the
Sainsbury’s pinch point where the bus lane ends. It is along the roads to
Bexleyheath Station and the Library and out to Chislehurst where problems are near certain.
My regular visitor from Petts Wood phoned hands-free this morning to say she was
stuck outside Chislehurst station from where it later transpired that traffic
was queued all the way to Sidcup. She dodged some of it by doubling back to the Crittall’s Corner roundabout but normally she follows the SL3 all the way to
Abbey Wood except for using the direct route via Crook Log rather than take in Bexleyheath Library.
Even so it was 62 minutes after passing Chislehurst station that she showed up
here where her first words were a very unladylike “F***ing Bexley Council!”
something I am sure we all will have said at one time or another.
One must wonder how long it will be before Sadiq Khan is saying the same and
contemplating how best to tackle Bexley’s road system. (Don’t tell me! It will be road charging.)
I asked the family transport expert if there has ever been any thought given to
matching bus routes to vehicle length and maneuverability and the risk they
might pose when mounting kerbs at corners. I did get an answer but maybe I shouldn’t say what it was.