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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that the current traffic restrictions are fucking ridiculous

325 replies

Gobelinoisawitchescat · 19/09/2020 15:49

I live in SE London - and since these sodding barriers have gone up all over the place the roads are just completely blocked with traffic.

While I know someone is going to come on talking about climate change etc - am not sure how directing all the traffic to one location makes a damn bit of difference - the cars are still on the roads, they’re just concentrated in certain ones.

Am I missing something?

OP posts:
cyclingmad · 20/09/2020 00:14

Urgh it takes forever to get anyway, the traffic is so bad its unbelievable 😫 actually gives you road rage!

Winter is coming shortly all these new cyclists will not be cycling out in that weather trust me so there will these temp cycle lanes barely used

bookmum08 · 20/09/2020 00:23

@BackforGood there is a online newspaper called MyLondon which has had lots of stories about this stuff. You might find some information there.

Username6210 · 20/09/2020 00:25

I'm in Ealing and everyone loves them. Lovely quiet streets for people to cycle on and for kids walking to school. Neighbours chatting happily as they tend the plants in the planters.
Best thing that's ever happened.

Original poster
Gobelinoisawitchescat · 20/09/2020 00:28

@Dillydallyingthroughlee high road is now a complete gridlock and I so feel for your friends.

OP posts:
Brockleygirl46 · 20/09/2020 08:09

@Username6210

I'm in Ealing and everyone loves them. Lovely quiet streets for people to cycle on and for kids walking to school. Neighbours chatting happily as they tend the plants in the planters. Best thing that's ever happened.
Doesn’t seem to be everyone’s happy in www.change.org/p/ealing-council-objection-to-ealing-s-lower-traffic-neighbourhood-ltns/c
SE3mum · 20/09/2020 08:34

@Gobelinoisawitchescat but in fairness to those on the private estate they had to move pretty quickly to protect their roads when South Row was closed. Did the council even speak to the Cator Estate management beforehand? Where else did they think traffic would go?
Those are private roads, the residents pay for them!
Apparently though Lewisham didn't even consult Greenwich and it is on their boundary - Kidbrooke Gardens has a weight limit too due to the railway line running below.
There were whispers on a local FB page that one local councillor lives in the South Row area and benefitted from the closure but I can't seem to find anything concrete on that.
I have no idea what they are doing with South Row now, what an utter shambles that was. I sympathise as the traffic there in the morning is awful - the queues of traffic trying to avoid the A2 and go through the village instead. I would have thought making it one way (Blackheath to Kidbrooke only) would have been simpler? No problems then for Morden College or the Prep.
I am not even sure that was LTN related or whether it was brought in under the guise of Covid social distancing (which would be a joke considering the Heath is on one side).

ValancyRedfern · 20/09/2020 10:08

Lee High Road, Hither Green Lane and Springbank Road now car parks. I hear you OP. It's a nightmare. I feel so sorry for the people who live on those roads. Who of course are poorer and less likely to own cars themselves than those who live on the LTN roads.

cyclingmad · 20/09/2020 14:01

Khan has been a disaster of a mayor

ivykaty44 · 20/09/2020 14:06

yes your missing something

Just like smoking was eventually banned from inside pubs, (and the arguments raged on but now everyone is used to the idea and pubs are pleasant to visit) driving all the time for every single journey has to be stopped and for the very same reason

Squidsister · 20/09/2020 14:33

My issue with the road closures is that I think they have been implemented without looking at the whole picture of an area, and it has diverted funds from other schemes.

So for example, near my DCs school a road has been closed to traffic supposedly to encourage cycling and walking. This will have the effect of pushing traffic on to the main road which happens to go right past my DCs school. Considering that the kids are being encouraged to walk and cycle to school, this seems contradictory as they are even less likely to do this now that the road is busier!

However the most frustrating thing is that there was a TfL budget earmarked for building a pedestrian crossing on the road outside the school. Currently there isn’t a proper pedestrian crossing, and it’s a busy road. People have been hit by cars and even killed on this road. However when I asked what was happening about the crossing the Council told me that due to all the Covid road measures, this budget has been pulled .... so no pedestrian crossing. This is utter madness. Yes, try to reduce traffic, but not at the expense of pedestrian safety!!

Squidsister · 20/09/2020 14:35

PS south London too.

doubleshotespresso · 20/09/2020 14:43

@ivykaty44

yes your missing something

Just like smoking was eventually banned from inside pubs, (and the arguments raged on but now everyone is used to the idea and pubs are pleasant to visit) driving all the time for every single journey has to be stopped and for the very same reason

I don't think smoking being put outside beats any relevance to gridlocking numerous postcodes and timing folks in the meantime? Anybody of sound mind as witnessed a serious ruse in pollution due to this and the majority are still wfh! Public transport is advised against currently- walking and cycling simply isn't feasible for many for all journeys, this really requires better thinking, better alternatives and above all consultation
Akire · 20/09/2020 14:45

Any other time this lack of planning would have been bad enough but in the middle of Covid! TFL have just gone from key workers only on travel and everyone else is asked to avoid peak times and they want everyone to abandon their cars and walk?? What practically are the majority of people going to do?? Yes this might get some single travellers with simple journeys able to get there by walking or cycling but to say to everyone else suck it up. Then pollute the air in poorer areas at the same time, while making it much hard for emergency services and essential services. Over all this isn’t going to be a win for the environment when things are balanced up.

Brockleygirl46 · 20/09/2020 15:30

Interesting read which confirms that it is all about nimbyism rather than what would benefit the community

onelewisham.co.uk/2020/08/17/response-to-make-lee-greens-mythbuster-part-1/

wightwine · 20/09/2020 15:40

all the side roads leading to blackheath have bene blocked. i don't remember any consultation on the matter. blackheath hill (A2) has traffic jams all day now.

Excited101 · 20/09/2020 15:45

I live near you op, it’s horrendous! Grid lock everywhere and perfectly good roads closed off, I see no benefit. One major junction that’s been closed off had thousands spent on it a year is so ago to make it bike lane friendly, utter bollocks.

ivykaty44 · 20/09/2020 16:32

walking and cycling simply isn't feasible for many for all journeys,

No one can ever walk or cycle anywhere, I wonder how the 30% without cars get by

FrankieFrankFrank · 20/09/2020 16:34

It is shocking isn’t it. Crystal Palace, Dulwich Village and East Dulwich are all at a stand still most of the time. There must be so much more pollution due to the traffic jams

RedRumTheHorse · 20/09/2020 16:42

I live next to two school streets.

The amusing thing is the only people causing problems on those streets are parents picking their kids up. Local people tend not to use those streets as short cuts as one isn't a through road, and there are lots of adjacent roads for the other where you don't have to deal with badly parked cars of parents.

The only thing I'm going to do is complain so parents who park on my road get ticketed.

ValancyRedfern · 20/09/2020 16:49

@ivykaty44

walking and cycling simply isn't feasible for many for all journeys,

No one can ever walk or cycle anywhere, I wonder how the 30% without cars get by

They (previously I) use buses a lot. Most of which are now stuck in the gridlock. In fact I still use buses a lot as I am trying to reduce my carbon footprint. The journeys are now taking longer so I'm more inclined to take the car as at least out of the gridlocked areas I can move faster. I'd always take a train if I could but it doesn't always get me where I need to go.
edwinbear · 20/09/2020 16:59

Greenwich is an absolute no go these days. We tried to get to Pizza Express there a few weeks back, we had to give up and go home in the end, it just wasn’t possible to get there. It will have a dreadful impact on small businesses and restaurants there Sad.

Brockleygirl46 · 20/09/2020 17:34

@ivykaty44

walking and cycling simply isn't feasible for many for all journeys,

No one can ever walk or cycle anywhere, I wonder how the 30% without cars get by

Perhaps they don’t need their car for their job (I’m an essential car user for NHS), work from home, don’t work, don’t have children. I didn’t have a car for years in London but circumstances change..
BackforGood · 20/09/2020 18:58

Thanks for the links @bookmum08 and @Brockleygirl46 Very helpful.

MadameBlobby · 20/09/2020 19:00

@ivykaty44

walking and cycling simply isn't feasible for many for all journeys,

No one can ever walk or cycle anywhere, I wonder how the 30% without cars get by

Well presumably they don’t need a car or they’d have one Hmm
ivykaty44 · 20/09/2020 19:51

That 30% without cars are still managing to get around, some will use bikes and some stay on busses or trains

Not everyone can afford a car or even to learn to drive. They do though manage without driving