No through route at Loughborough Junction

[Townleygreen]

well said wulfhound and rodneybewes etc. Some sanity here at last.

[rodneybewes]

Townleygreen Wrote:

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> well said wulfhound and rodneybewes etc. Some

> sanity here at last.

I'm not sure it's sanity, it's just the usual when it comes to self-interest. It's very easy to live inside your own bubble. It's like the people who want a better health service for all and quality of life for pensioners but vote against actually paying for it.

People want to be able to get around in their cars quickly and easily in an expanding modern conurbation - but also want to minimise the risk of their kids, family and friends getting hideous diseases.

It's fine when you just run along as usual, not looking outside your environment. Then something awful happens - lung cancer, kid run over, cyclist crushed, annual season ticket makes your work more and more uneconomical.

At the end of the day the whole debate doesn't really matter - they aren't going to build an underground for south London, or miraculously improve congestion, or find a cure for cancer etc. They are going to close roads, increase the cost of driving, tax pollution and extend the congestion charge. The question is - how much pressure can we bring to bear to improve our mass transit and alternative provisions for pedestrians and cyclists. Closures around Loughborough Junction and a whole load of junctions around London like Bank are going to happen, we already know that.

[rodneybewes]

wulfhound Wrote:

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> > Creative solutions= spread Boris bikes further

> south. Extend tube lines south

>

>

> Road pricing that takes in to account the 200+

> deaths per year from air pollution in Lambeth and

> Southwark, and the hundreds of injuries caused by

> vehicles on the road? The true costs imposed in

> terms of kids' loss of freedom of movement, blood

> pressure from constant noise, social losses from a

> population that shuts itself in private cages to

> move around the public realm?

>

> All of a sudden, that ten minutes of time saved,

> or that feeling of being in a nice snug cocoon

> with a stereo instead of freezing your arse off on

> a bike at 10pm, or that made-it-in-life feeling of

> being able to show off in your SUV bought on cheap

> credit, won't look so attractive.

>

> Also need to be smarter about light mobility in

> general. Some people can't cycle or find walking

> middling distances hard, but that doesn't mean

> they need a two-ton car to trundle a mile or two

> to the shops or the doctor. Electric mobility

> scooters should be subsidised to the point of

> being effectively free, and should be allowed

> anywhere that bikes are.

>

> Did notice our MP tweeting her support for the

> road being reopened - the day after attending a

> climate change meeting and demanding urgent action

> on CO2. 2+2=5.

Very much agree with improving pedestrian mobility and alternative electrically-assisted para-pedestrian mobility.

[davidk]

Agree with most of the above. How is extending Boris bikes further South the solution when the environment is so hostile to cycling? Typical of the kind of tinkering around the edges that we've been doing for decades to no avail.

[wulfhound]

Boris Bikes are good for getting to the station, because you don't have to worry about some little scroat nicking your ride while you're at work - the town centres with the best rail connections around here are also hotspots for petty crime. So for people who won't cycle more than three/four miles, but are OK with the roads, they do help.

Given that most of the anti's seem to be people in their 50s, 60s & early 70s who insist that the roads are absolutely fine, and that "all that's needed is a dose of common sense", it might be useful for PR purposes if nothing else.

The Boris Bikes do seem to have created a couple of new cycling cultures in central London (home counties commuters cycling the last mile or two, and young tourists out enjoying themselves), but they're a fiendishly expensive way to do it.

[Scootingover]

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Council has a better discussion with residents because they were not consulted properly and are not supportive. This is not the 50-70 something landscape by any means. Where is the evidence for that?

On the bus the other week, I was held up because residents had barred the main road by moving the barriers. They said that they were fed up with being blocked in when others on the buses could move easily and they wanted to make their views known.

[davidk]

I don't get this idea that residents weren't consulted properly. The Council held a series of forums and a massive leaflet campaign. I remember contributing to an online consultation a good 12 months before the changes went in. To say the residents are not supportive is wrong. There are plenty of residents in support. Clearly just not as many or as vocal as those in opposition.

But anyway, it's done now. Like you I'll be interested to see what alternatives they come up with. Maybe they can find a way to monetise all that lovely through traffic that has returned?

[Earl Aelfheah]

wulfhound Wrote:

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> Boris Bikes are good for getting to the station,

> because you don't have to worry about some little

> scroat nicking your ride while you're at work -

> the town centres with the best rail connections

> around here are also hotspots for petty crime. So

> for people who won't cycle more than three/four

> miles, but are OK with the roads, they do help.

>

> Given that most of the anti's seem to be people in

> their 50s, 60s & early 70s who insist that the

> roads are absolutely fine, and that "all that's

> needed is a dose of common sense", it might be

> useful for PR purposes if nothing else.

>

> The Boris Bikes do seem to have created a couple

> of new cycling cultures in central London (home

> counties commuters cycling the last mile or two,

> and young tourists out enjoying themselves), but

> they're a fiendishly expensive way to do it.

Unfortunately Boris Bikes (like the tube and cycle superhighways) don't exist in SE London.

[first mate]

Wulfhound,

Possibly cycling is not quite so attractive to those in their 50's, 60's and 70's.? On a lovely sunny day perhaps but otherwise age can sometimes get in the way a bit. Tut those pesky older people.

BTW what do you make of recent comments that many cyclists are choosing not to use the super highway and continuing instead to ride on the roads and pavement?

[davidk]

The only one of the new superhighways that is actually open is the CS5 Oval > Pimlico, and even that isn't properly finished yet and won't be until the link to Nine Elms is complete.

As far as I can see, the reports of cyclists not using it come mostly from an extremely dodgy bit of journalism by LBC (quelle surprise!). I ride through there twice every day and it is already chocka with cyclists at peak times. Might be sensible to wait until the North-South and East-West schemes are complete and in use before rushing to judgement.

[wulfhound]

Six of one, and..

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/bin-lorry-uses-brand-new-cycle-superhighway-designed-to-protect-cyclists-from-hgvs-a3121051.html

[Hooch]

Have the roads been re-opened yet ? Loughborough Rd was still shut this morning when I passed through the Junction at around 6am

[Siduhe]

The note from Lambeth said that closures would remain in place until Weds 25th (i.e. today) which could mean beginning of today or end of today in the way that it's drafted. Should be open tomorrow.

[MellowYellow]

I think it has all reopened - I drove past at 7am and it was incredibly clear (hurrah) and the signs seem to have been removed! I scoured the news and twitter and came across this

http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/11/lambeth-council-u-turn-on-the-loughborough-junction-road-closures-sees-loughborough-road-reopening/

Does this mean my commute is going back to normal? *crossing my fingers and toes*

[Rockets]

Yes it has been open since Wednesday - the huge majority of South East London drivers celebrate and flick the Vs at Lambeth council!