Greenwich sought to remove east Greenwich bus lane under street plans
Documents revealed in a Freedom of Information request show that a failed bid from Greenwich Council to TfL would have seen a bus lane removed on Blackwall Lane in east Greenwich.
Greenwich did not reveal this information to the public and were forced to reveal it – along with much else – after residents requested documents.
The lane they sought to remove was the southbound bus lane as part of improved connections between east Greenwich and the Peninsula though work would have stopped before the large junction near the Greenwich Centre. A two-way cycle lane would have been installed. I rarely take buses that way so I’ve no idea if a good idea or not. Please leave comments if you do use buses in the area.
There’s also the possibility of course that it would only have been temporary while bus capacity was reduced. Work on Blackwall Lane did not include this junction:
Perhaps that will come with any later TfL work.
In terms of bus lane removal, Creek Road in Deptford also sees plans to remove a bus lane and Greenwich borough had no issues with last year and that road is heavily congested on a regular basis which buses can currently avoid by using the lane. I covered the bus lane issue here. In that consultation Greenwich’s only comments were to keep railings and outdated street design. TfL ignored them, but did listen to Lewisham borough requests for feeder cycle lane, and Lewisham gained funding.
Other changes were minimal and included slightly wider crossings at a roundabout on the Peninsula though they still misunderstand human behaviour. The crossings are not at the mouth of approach roads and pedestrians / cyclists have to deviate some way from direct routes to use them – so often people do not. Putting obstacles and diversions for pedestrians and cyclists when going from A to B is dated thinking. It doesn’t entice people to ditch cars.
John Harrison Way would have seen lanes removed for cyclists.
One big positive was removing railings blocking cyclists from Tunnel Avenue when they reach Blackwall Lane. This is an extremely cheap measure and ideally would be carried out regardless.
No clutter however was to be removed at the pretty awful area under the Blackwall approach flyover. Without making this area more appealing it would likely have failed anyway.
In terms of the east Greenwich plan a lack of immediate consultation – or at least waiting to hear results – can be understood given the urgency of the situation to enact measures before traffic built up again. However that ship has well and truly sailed now. Traffic in the area is gridlocked every day.
Those authorities who have set up consultation websites generally did state urgent work would be undertaken before feedback received and then over a six month period it would be noted, changes made and after six months projects either removed or retained. The websites are to get the ball rolling and in some areas did see changes before implementation. Greenwich Council still have no website established.
Various projects were not only kept secret but the authority have continually refused to let the public know, despite being drawn up many weeks ago.
I don’t know what their reasons are for removing the bus lane, but it does have a problem. In order to get into the lane to go to North Greenwich buses have to leave the bus lane and go across the traffic queuing to get into the tunnel – lots of holdups! If they made a central lane for the buses – and maybe all North Greenwich bound traffic – the buses wouldn’t be able to stop at two bus stops. So its not good!
I once saw a woman at school run time with one of these oversize vehlcles full of kids driving the wrong way up the bus lane to get to Christchurch School.
The Blackwall approach flyover has been dreadful from day one. To get from the old library to Sainsburys/IKEA meant waiting at 10 pedestrian crossings until consistent pedestrian destruction of the barriers to the slip road to the A102 next to the old library and death defying leaps into the slip road forced the council to put a crossing in.
Although the problem is with the northbound – I don’t know about the southbound. TfL have a depot under the motorway under the flyover. The really scruffy bit of land – with a locked gate to it – is theirs.
and by the way – the crossings by the library were all designed and insisted on by DOE/TfL predecessor. There is a whole saga about them. TfL resisted the crossing which is there now for years and years. And – Murky – don’t you dare say it was’t TfL – because I happen to know it was.
Why do RBG think it fit to hold so much information from the public who they represent.and are funded by through Council Tax and the Government Treasury by way of our taxes.
They really must become transparent with residents and businesses of the Borough.
RBG ought to understand the additional monetary costs of having to process FOI requests for information that should be simply accessible on their website. I have no figures to back that up, but the time and staff used to administer an FOI is not free.
RBG’s attitude in not providing details of what they plan to do with the streets is poor – as are many of the streets highlighted on this site. They really need a rocket up their rear ends as they are consistently showing how little they care about their residents.
The South bound bus lane in Blackwall Lane is needed but only during rush hour Monday to Saturday. As there are bus lanes in both directions, cyclists are provided for.
RGB missed some great opportunities in recent years to make improvements for cyclists, they could of made new building developments stay back from the pavements and leave rooms for cycle paths.