Was it really necessary to shut central London down for 2 days cycling?

Tinuel

Edit: Double post
Mod, please delete or merge with the thread in the motoring section.

wealdroam

There have been plenty of signs across London for weeks now warning of this.

I am surprised your friend in North London didn't feel it necessary to warn you.

I am not sure Boris reads this forum, but please remember to post his replies to your questions.


Or perhaps you meant to post on The Praise, Vent & Warnings Board.

Tinuel

Disclaimer: I am also a cyclist!

Today was probably one of the least enjoyable days to drive in London. Scrap least enjoyable, it was a nightmare.

All well and good to hold events to promote cycling, but a few things that were poorly planned:
- Why not have the race on the same day (maybe a different route) as the free for all event on Saturday?

- Was there really a need to shut most of the bridges, effectively cutting off the link between North and South London?

- The bridges that did remain open, were almost of no use. As soon as you crossed it, one would find heavy traffic or road closures around it.

- Why is the route of these events always by the river, when there are plenty of other roads in London ?

- Why close the Southbound Blackwall tunnel section on the same day?

- If the needs must and the bridges had to be shut, why not re-open the roads and bridges as the race progressed? Why keep it closed for the duration?

- Most bridges were shut from 5 freaking am till 19:00

Unless proper planning and thinking goes into this, I don't want this stupid 2 days event again next year. Or I will make sure I stay well away.

For the inevitable replies of "take public transport", I had to deliver 3 large bits of luggage to a friend in North London. A 40 minutes car journey, ended up taking a lot more than that.

By the time I got back home, I had to rush to get to work (1 hour late).

Yes Boris, unlike you, some of us do work Sunday evenings!!!

londonTiger

dont understand the fuss. You had plenty of warning not to drive to central London. Can't you go without driving for a weekend?

Tinuel

londonTiger wrote: »

dont understand the fuss. You had plenty of warning not to drive to central London. Can't you go without driving for a weekend?

Some car journeys are unavoidable. Some people have to get to places, some people deliver things, other use it to carry heavy items, others to take people to hospital, etc, etc.

Yes, there was plenty of warning, and I did re-route my normal route according to the warnings, but once across the "open" bridges, most of the roads around it were closed and the traffic was very heavy.

Giving plenty of warning does not mean that all is top notch planned.
They could have ended the race in a different part of central London, and opened the roads as the race progressed (as soon as they were confident that all cyclists had left the area).

The Blackwall tunnel is already a nightmare in it's normal state, was there really any need to shut it down?

smashingyour...

I see you're not to busy at work to have a whinge.;)

WolfSong2000

The race didn't just affect central London...they also closed part of the A29 in Surrey where I live for most of the day, meaning I've been stuck indoors all day and unable to leave the house...there were around 30+ police on motorbikes involved with the race, plus policemen patrolling the village I live in. Dread to think how much all this has cost!

Tinuel

smashingyour... wrote: »

I see you're not to busy at work to have a whinge.;)

I am good at multitasking.

smashingyour...

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

The race didn't just affect central London...they also closed part of the A29 in Surrey where I live for most of the day, meaning I've been stuck indoors all day and unable to leave the house...there were around 30+ police on motorbikes involved with the race, plus policemen patrolling the village I live in. Dread to think how much all this has cost!

About £100 an hour per officer. Good value I think as it made for a decent day on tv.

GAZ237

Tinuel wrote: »

Disclaimer: I am also a cyclist!

Today was probably one of the least enjoyable days to drive in London. Scrap least enjoyable, it was a nightmare.

All well and good to hold events to promote cycling, but a few things that were poorly planned:
- Why not have the race on the same day (maybe a different route) as the free for all event on Saturday?

- Was there really a need to shut most of the bridges, effectively cutting off the link between North and South London?

- The bridges that did remain open, were almost of no use. As soon as you crossed it, one would find heavy traffic or road closures around it.

- Why is the route of these events always by the river, when there are plenty of other roads in London ?

- Why close the Southbound Blackwall tunnel section on the same day?

- If the needs must and the bridges had to be shut, why not re-open the roads and bridges as the race progressed? Why keep it closed for the duration?

- Most bridges were shut from 5 freaking am till 19:00

Unless proper planning and thinking goes into this, I don't want this stupid 2 days event again next year. Or I will make sure I stay well away.

For the inevitable replies of "take public transport", I had to deliver 3 large bits of luggage to a friend in North London. A 40 minutes car journey, ended up taking a lot more than that.

By the time I got back home, I had to rush to get to work (1 hour late).

Yes Boris, unlike you, some of us do work Sundays evenings!!!

Tinuel wrote: »

Some car journeys are unavoidable. Some people have to get to places, some people deliver things, other use it to carry heavy items, others to take people to hospital, etc, etc.

Yes, there was plenty of warning, and I did re-route my normal route according to the warnings, but once across the "open" bridges, most of the roads around it were closed and the traffic was very heavy.

Giving plenty of warning does not mean that all is top notch planned.
They could have ended the race in a different part of central London, and opened the roads as the race progressed (as soon as they were confident that all cyclists had left the area).

The Blackwall tunnel is already a nightmare in it's normal state, was there really any need to shut it down?

And Breathe.

londonTiger

muppets on LBC have been whining about this all day today, despite the fact that the same radio station warned everyone in advance to not drive this weekend.

You work and livbe in London, you are well away that just 1 roadworks or blocked road can wreak havoc all around that area. So magnify that with several road closures - what do you expect?

There is also plenty of public transport in London, you can make your essential trips via tube if you want to