has anyone else seen the mess the authorities are making of the roads around junc 11 of the m4
perfectly good roads being "thinned", some look like they are going to be blocked altogether...
road works with no lights = accidents
pedestrian crossings with bus stops instead of zig zag lines ?
short cuts being shut to force more people onto the main junc 11 roundabout
this is madness, total madness...
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I haven't seen this particular mess, but just round the corner from where I live (SW London), a pavement next to a bus stop has recently been extended outwards into the road for no apparent reason. The pavement wasn't particularly narrow as it was, and now it looks very odd with this 'bulge' sticking out into the road. Result - the bus stop has been narrowed to less than half its previous width (of the original 'BUS STOP' marking, only the letters S and P are still visible); hence the buses have to park up further out into the road, and traffic has to queue behind them, whereas before it had room to pass.
Bogush mentioned in an earlier post that this was one of Ken Livingstone's proposed changes to London roads, but I didn't think it was happening already! Can anyone think of a good reason for doing this, or (puts paranoid hat on) is it a cynical ploy to obstruct private transport?
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They did the "extend the bus stop into the road" trick on my local high street. Done correctly it doesn't obstruct traffic and has the effect of discouraging cars from parking in the bus stop. This was previously a big problem as there was a McDonalds and a Blockbuster next to the bus stop. When there where cars parked there the bus had to stop in the middle of the road which stopped traffic completely.
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you should see newcastle, its full of one way roads, zebra crossings next to roundabouts, speed bumps, speed cameras everywhere, and strangely a roundabout that has a walk way through the middle???
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Good point - I never thought of the problem with cars parking at bus stops. However, there are no shops particularly near the bus stop I'm thinking of - it's in more of a residential area, but the road's still busy enough for a stationary bus in the middle of the road to cause delays that didn't exist before. The stop was altered at the same time as an adjacent block of flats was being completely refurbished, so I don't think anyone realised what was going on until it was finished and all the cones were removed! Ho hum, just another example of poor traffic management, I suppose.
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Ian
I think the answer may be in your comment about the flats being refurbed. If the flats are now containing disabled residents the kerb may have been extended so that wheel chair users can get on to some of the new low floor buses. This would obviously be a major problem if the original stop was designed poorly so that the bus could not get alongside the existing kerb. Not definitive, but just a thought.
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Well, I had a stroll past last night, and the flats look suspiciously like yuppie apartments rather than accommodation for the disabled/elderly, but I can't be sure, so in this case, I'll give Wandsworth Council the benefit of the doubt. (I'd phone and ask them, but even a routine enquiry means hanging on hold for 10+ mins...)
You'll have to excuse my over-suspicion on this one, but after only after a year of living and driving round here, I've become accustomed to their arsenal of anti-car measures. Huge speed humps, loads of hassle and red tape involved in obtaining a resident's parking permit, incorrectly-issued parking tickets, and even scrap car removal notices stuck on cars that are clearly displaying a valid tax disc and permit, are but a selection of the ways they have to thoroughly hack the motorist off. Glad I'm moving soon!
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no after some walking around, its the start of some major road "improvements" around and about this junction
the roads are being thinned and some blocked i think "to stop rat runs" and to force people onto the already overcrowded roundabout (which also looks like the road is going to be thinned on...
the roads in the vicinity are also being thinned for no apparent reason, the road parrallel to the motorway looks like its being thinned for no reason other than job creation
and pedestrain crossings with bus stops instead of zig zags in one corner which leads to poor visibility for pedestrians and cars when there is a bus on the stop...
madness pure madness
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