Greenwich foot tunnel - bikes

Retrogamer · 11 May 2016 at 1:19PM

fred246 wrote: »

Where I live the path would be split into two. Pedestrians on one side and cyclists on the other. The pedestrians would then walk all over the cycle path and the cyclists would then have to go on the pedestrian path to get past them. I always wonder if there's some science behind the reason why pedestrians always seem to walk on the cycle path.

There's a section of cycle route near me where it's exactly that. One side of the path is green with signs before entering the tunnel saying cyclists and pictures of white bicycles painted on the path at intervals.

The other side is red and for pedestrians and both are seperated by a thick white line.

I've been cycling it for years now and not once have i been able to cycle down it and not have to get out the way of a pedestrian in the wrong side. Even if it's dead and only a couple of people walking there, they walk on the cyclists side.

Some even get abusive when you advise them it's only for cyclists.

I'm sure not all pedestrians are idiots though and only a few ruin it for the majority

benjus · 16 May 2016 at 11:18AM

I used the Greenwich Foot Tunnel regularly from about 2007 to 2014 as part of my commute to Canary Wharf. I didn't cycle through the tunnel - I walked my bike through.

Back in the days when there were lift attendants, few people cycled as they would be told they weren't welcome in the lift and to carry their bike up the stairs. Quite a few people "scooted", with a foot on one pedal - this was regarded as being more acceptable as you just have to hop off the pedal if you need to stop and switch back to walking.

However, since the lifts were refurbished and the lift attendants removed, almost everyone seems to cycle through the tunnel. I don't know if there have been any accidents down there, but it doesn't feel safe - some people go pretty fast, and it's a very confined space.

scd3scd4 · 7 September 2017 at 5:57PM

The fine is set at £1..........the by laws will soon be changed to allow cycling. We won. ;-]

jon81uk · 8 September 2017 at 10:19AM

scd3scd4 wrote: »

The fine is set at £1..........the by laws will soon be changed to allow cycling. We won. ;-]

Its actually looking unlikely the by-laws will be changed, Tower Hamlets council is against the change

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/plans-to-break-ban-on-cyclists-using-greenwich-foot-tunnel-sparks-crossriver-row-a3624111.html

Surely if the fines are too small to be worth applying, it would be better to increase the fine amounts?

maisie_cat · 8 September 2017 at 10:29AM

JackieO wrote: »

ah the great and wonderful 'pipe' of my youth.I like most London children who lived nearby loved to run and whoop and make as much noise as possible running through the 'pipe' Takes me back well over 60 years .Nowadays I could neither run nor whoop .Back then kids had few pleasures in life especially after WW2 and that was one of them ,along with riding the free Woolwich ferry across the river to the strange land on the other side :):):) Bikes ? we certainly couldn't afford those luxuries :):):) shanks pony got my generation around

I was just thinking the same! Saturday free entertainment, getting the bus, my dad was a bus driver and we'd try to get his bus so we didn't have to pay. Then deciding whether to get off at the ferry and ride across or stay on until Greenwich for the tunnel.
An alternative was going onto the Woolwich arsenal land and digging up old glass bottles, such good memories!

scd3scd4 · 8 September 2017 at 1:01PM

jon81uk wrote: »

Its actually looking unlikely the by-laws will be changed, Tower Hamlets council is against the change

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/plans-to-break-ban-on-cyclists-using-greenwich-foot-tunnel-sparks-crossriver-row-a3624111.html

Surely if the fines are too small to be worth applying, it would be better to increase the fine amounts?

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/15429724.You_will_soon_be_able_to_legally_cycle_through_Woolwich_Foot_Tunnel/

I think they will. They have been monitoring it for a while now and there are notices up saying they are looking to change the by-laws right at this moment.

If they don't, then people will continue to cycle like they have been doing. I have been using it most days for 4 years. There is little they can do to stop it so its makes sense to try and manage it safely. They need the same agreement to increase the fine. So if they dont agree then thats not going to happen.

Agree or don't agree. People are cycling through and from what I see it is nearly all.

[Deleted User] · 8 September 2017 at 1:20PM

Bollotom wrote: »

It's a ban because the bye-laws say so. Nothing to do because the few spoil it for the many.

That's like arguing that theft is illegal because it's illegal, and nothing to do with theft being socially and economically destructive.

Laws are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

Hutchch0920 · 8 September 2017 at 1:30PM

I've cycled through it a couple of times, it's far to far to walk in metal cleats - painfully so.

I don't see the problem if you cycle through it slowly and carefully, giving way to pedestrians wherever necessary.

scd3scd4 · 8 September 2017 at 1:34PM

Hutchch0920 wrote: »

I've cycled through it a couple of times, it's far to far to walk in metal cleats - painfully so.

I don't see the problem if you cycle through it slowly and carefully, giving way to pedestrians wherever necessary.

I agree in part. I am in it most morning at about 5.30.........very few people..........few more at 18.45 Mon-Fri.

Sat or Sun in the summer you do need to be more careful. Lots of children, some in prams and some pets.

scd3scd4 · 8 September 2017 at 7:16PM

Should really have clarified I use the Woolwich which is a little different as you don't have the tourist in the same numbers.

Greenwich foot tunnel - bikes

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