Traffic Chaos London tomorrow

Traffic Chaos London tomorrow

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Discussion

Hoofy

76,377 posts

283 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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SidewaysSi said:
Indeed - plenty of events outside London so not sure why there needs to be one in the city as well.
I think the Brands Hatch one is a great idea...

Impasse

15,099 posts

242 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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First I heard about this was when the parents of my daughter's mate told us why it took over an hour to queue for the Blackwall Tunnel yesterday. Very helpful when we were moving her into her new flat and almost missed the estate agents who waited specifically to hand over the front door keys.

Still, later on the empty Olympic Velodrome looked pretty from the slow moving dual carriageway.

Hackney

6,850 posts

209 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Impasse said:
First I heard about this was when the parents of my daughter's mate told us why it took over an hour to queue for the Blackwall Tunnel yesterday. Very helpful when we were moving her into her new flat and almost missed the estate agents who waited specifically to hand over the front door keys.

Still, later on the empty Olympic Velodrome looked pretty from the slow moving dual carriageway.
Hackney said:
it's almost as if people don't think about their journeys and plan ahead, checking traffic information in advance.

Impasse

15,099 posts

242 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Hackney said:
it's almost as if people don't think about their journeys and plan ahead, checking traffic information in advance.
Like I said, it was the first I had heard of this event. No chance of having flyer stuck through my door or a bulletin on the local news about this down where I live on the south coast. Whereas, last night I was about ten minutes from being back at my front door and the overhead signs were giving me details of a delay on the M1.

Hangcheck

176 posts

123 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Is this animosity due to the seemingly prevalent hatred for anything regarding cycling that seems to be seen in posts on here?

Do you think all the people who are affected by Le Mans, Silverstone and Goodwood should have the events cancelled in future due to the inconvenience they endure once a year caused by people who are into motorsport causing chaos on their local roads?


Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

247 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Hangcheck said:
Is this animosity due to the seemingly prevalent hatred for anything regarding cycling
How about we shut the roads outside your house so that the local WI can hold their annual "knitting in the street" celebration?

valiant

10,251 posts

161 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Hangcheck said:
Is this animosity due to the seemingly prevalent hatred for anything regarding cycling that seems to be seen in posts on here?

Do you think all the people who are affected by Le Mans, Silverstone and Goodwood should have the events cancelled in future due to the inconvenience they endure once a year caused by people who are into motorsport causing chaos on their local roads?
You mean dedicated tracks that actually bring benefits to the local economy and have a long tradition of such events rather than a relatively new event that cuts a major city virtually in half, closing major roads and preventing many thousands of people going about their daily business?


Dick Turpin

258 posts

108 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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valiant said:
You mean dedicated tracks that actually bring benefits to the local economy and have a long tradition of such events rather than a relatively new event that cuts a major city virtually in half, closing major roads and preventing many thousands of people going about their daily business?
So how does something go from being a new event to one with a long tradition?

Also: "£7+ million was raised for charity making it the largest charity cycling event ever in the UK " and "There was £13.2 million direct economic benefit from the festival weekend"

Those figures are from the 2013 event.

How do you feel about the marathon?

Moulder

1,466 posts

213 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Hangcheck said:
Is this animosity due to the seemingly prevalent hatred for anything regarding cycling that seems to be seen in posts on here?
I like cycling and I like running so no, for me it is being told once a year that if I am not out by 7am then I am staying in the rest of the day. The Olympics as a one off is fair enough, but to repeat this once a year for an amateur event is taking the piss.

Hangcheck

176 posts

123 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Ozzie Osmond said:
How about we shut the roads outside your house so that the local WI can hold their annual "knitting in the street" celebration?
Because that's just the same thing isn't it? Everyone knows to do knitting you need to do it in the street.

Hangcheck

176 posts

123 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
valiant said:
You mean dedicated tracks that actually bring benefits to the local economy and have a long tradition of such events rather than a relatively new event that cuts a major city virtually in half, closing major roads and preventing many thousands of people going about their daily business?
As Dick Turpin put it so well above. The event raises lots of money for worthy causes and there are people staying in hotels, spending money in shops/restaurants etc which are helping thousands in their business.

I live in a town with a well known horse-racing event that causes traffic problems and parking issues for 4 days every year. It also means friends I know with bars and restaurants can afford to subsidise their business in quiet periods with the amount of money it can bring in. Is one day in the year on a weekend that much of a hardship?


Blib

44,165 posts

198 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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The event did affect the lives of many hundreds of thousands of people yesterday. Everywhere south of the river was borked at one time or another. Was it worth it? I've no idea.

Moulder

1,466 posts

213 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Hangcheck said:
As Dick Turpin put it so well above. The event raises lots of money for worthy causes and there are people staying in hotels, spending money in shops/restaurants etc which are helping thousands in their business.

I live in a town with a well known horse-racing event that causes traffic problems and parking issues for 4 days every year. It also means friends I know with bars and restaurants can afford to subsidise their business in quiet periods with the amount of money it can bring in. Is one day in the year on a weekend that much of a hardship?
Having attended most big race meetings I think the difference here is that they have infrastructure just it gets stressed on the days there is racing. If you have a rural pub/restaurant/shop that is on the route it sounds great, but if the only access to your establishment is a road that is closed all day/weekend then that is you effectively out of business for the the day/weekend.

I am sure it does on the whole raise money, but it is at a cost to some people.


Edited by Moulder on Monday 3rd August 15:57

Dick Turpin

258 posts

108 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Moulder said:
I like cycling and I like running so no, for me it is being told once a year that if I am not out by 7am then I am staying in the rest of the day. The Olympics as a one off is fair enough, but to repeat this once a year for an amateur event is taking the piss.
There was a pro race as well, after the sportive.

How do you feel about the marathon?

valiant

10,251 posts

161 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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The marathon is run in a relatively confined area in comparison and also runs through an area that is generally closed and a bit of a ghost town on a Sunday (Canary Wharf).

I don't think many people are complaining about having a cycle event per se, they are objecting to the routing of said event. Cutting London virtually in half from East London to Surrey is a bit much IMO. Had it followed the marathon route then there would be little fuss as disruption is confined to one area not an entire major metropolis.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

247 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Hangcheck said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
How about we shut the roads outside your house so that the local WI can hold their annual "knitting in the street" celebration?
Because that's just the same thing isn't it? Everyone knows to do knitting you need to do it in the street.
It's exactly the same thing - it's just that you don't like it. There are plenty of places to run cycle events which don't involve closing main roads for most of the day.

Mr Will

13,719 posts

207 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Yesterday lunchtime I drove from SE London, through the Blackwall tunnel, along the A1203 in to the city, across Westminster bridge and parked up on Lambeth High Street. It was fine. Later I drove back from Lambeth to SE London along the Old Kent Road. Also completely fine.

Obviously different people have different experiences but a lot of the road closures were short lived. The certainly didn't "cut London in half for a whole day". Personally the marathon causes me far more problems every year, but I'd rather that than stop these kind of events taking place.

braddo

10,500 posts

189 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Moulder said:
I like cycling and I like running so no, for me it is being told once a year that if I am not out by 7am then I am staying in the rest of the day. The Olympics as a one off is fair enough, but to repeat this once a year for an amateur event is taking the piss.
It's hardly that dramatic!

It's not a good day to drive, is all. There are still all the things to do and other ways to get around.

Dick Turpin

258 posts

108 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Some road closures and disruption for just one day in the year, and you'd think the world was ending.

anonymous-user

55 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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Moulder said:
I like cycling and I like running so no, for me it is being told once a year that if I am not out by 7am then I am staying in the rest of the day. The Olympics as a one off is fair enough, but to repeat this once a year for an amateur event is taking the piss.
If it is something sufficiently important, it's not hard to be out of the house by 7, is it?