Plumstead to Woolwich's £1.2m road upgrade – consultation this Weds
Greenwich council have released details of the TfL funded major road upgrade to be undertaken next year between Plumstead and Woolwich, on Plumstead Road dual carriageway. The plans look promising and restore the road layout to its former state with a continuous bus lane which existed before alterations 10 years ago.
One added improvement above the former layout is a segregated cycle lane beside the road that is separated from bus lanes and stops, with the stops located in islands between the road and cycle lane. Paving is very wide along most of the road so a segregated lane is an obvious move to prevent cyclists (and those put off) dicing with buses and car parking.
Parking along the road frequently obstructs both the cycle lane and bus stops. Even with a separate cycle lane, Greenwich council will have to enforce parking obstructions more strictly than they have, and look at extending no parking times.
Crossings are also being widened along the road. Some of the extensive foliage in the central reservation should also go. It’s often covered in rubbish and the council claim cleaners cannot access. No big loss. It just looks scruffy.
This work should increase bus speed and reliability, massively improve cycling links and civilise the road somewhat, so it no longer resembles a motorway but an attractive urban thoroughfare as high density housing and retail increasingly line the street over the coming decade.
A workshop to discuss proposals will be held at Greenwich Community College from 2pm to 6pm on Wednesday 9th December 2015.
An online questionnaire can be found here.
Isn’t this a bit pointless though if the road then narrows, as it does, into Lakedale? That bottleneck is a always going to be a problem.
An extra 500m of bus lane will help. It won’t solve everything by a long shot but taking away only that stretch did a lot of damage 10 years ago. It would also help if Greenwich council fined people blocking narrow Plumstead High Street when they park and prevent buses getting by.
I welcome the work. I only hope it will put an end to double (and sometimes triple) parking near the shops at Plumstead Bridge. Of course, it would also be nice if the council repaired their “super crossing” at the old entrance to the Royal Arsenal, near the indoor market as it is frankly dangerous at present. I see they have replaced it outside the DLR already – great start!
I worry that this will not help traffic flow overall as the bottlenecks are still in Plumstead and the going West road outside the Leisure Centre where busses park. i have approached TFL twice about this as the road suddenly goes from two lanes to one as you exit the roundabout. They didn’t care and fobbed me off each time.
However, if there can be one uninterrupted run of bus lane and proper two lane road between Plumstead Bridge and perhaps even beyond the Ferry roundabout (even to Charlton?), then it can only be a good thing.
I am opposed to cycle lanes. They don’t work here in the UK like they do in Amsterdam for example as the British mindset is firmly rooted in cars as a status symbol. The residents of Amsterdam take a more enlightened, non materialistic view on these matters. If cycle lanes only work a bit here and a bit there, they are pointless.
Nice to see some sensible work being carried out for once.
People do park how they want and where they want by the shops near Plumstead station. Without enforcement unnecessary delays will continue and safety affected.
The odd thing is Greenwich’s parking budget is millions in the red this year as well as last. Continual finance reports have it as a severe problem yet they seem to continue allowing people to park in some areas with impunity. The shortfall in income will be hurting budgets elsewhere. Why pay for a permit when people can park off road and not be fined? Why pay for town centre parking if stopping anywhere goes unpunished? Also, allowing masses of free parking at retail parks in Charlton hurts income in places like Woolwich.
It’ll be a slow process with cycling but there’s no harm in doing the easy things first where disruption will be minimal. The pavement is very wide along that stretch so sticking a lane on that space doesn’t really hamper anyone. I can see reservations where bus lanes are given over eg in Stratford.
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