Traffic Chaos London tomorrow

[Ozzie Osmond]

Greg66 said:

If it is something sufficiently important, it's not hard to be out of the house by 7, is it?

You have a perverse idea of what is "sufficiently important"!

[swisstoni]

I'm typing this from my bunker in Windsor. Is it ok to come out?

[Hangcheck]

Ozzie Osmond said:

There are plenty of places to run cycle events which don't involve closing main roads for most of the day.

There are but those would not have the support that these events gather from friends, family and total strangers who come out to cheer people on, spend their money in local shops etc and probably be inspired to dig deep to help a charity when they see people pushing themselves for no other reason than a selfless act and a day out.

If supporters had to somehow get to an embankment on a dual carriagway in the middle of nowhere without the transport network etc then it wouldn't be supported and wouldn't have as much of a benefit for the businesses/charities.

[anonymous-user]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Greg66 said:

If it is something sufficiently important, it's not hard to be out of the house by 7, is it?

You have a perverse idea of what is "sufficiently important"!

I'm referring to the thing that Moulder wanted to go to. If it is sufficiently important, it's not hard to be out of the house by 7 to ensure that you can go to it.

What are you referring to?

[Jagmanv12]

Hoofy said:

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...

Exactly, there are plenty of places designed for racing. Brands has hills, plenty of parking, main road access, etc.

Silverstone - wider than some of the London roads so less chance of accidents.

Accomodation for those wanting to stay in the area would be cheaper than London. Wouldn't involve the cost of road closures, marshals, extra police, etc.

A friend living in Leatherhead said the roads in his area were closed from 6am until midnight. Apparently 30,000 residents in his area signed a petition against closing the roads, etc so the event is far from popular.

[scubadude]

I find it mildly amusing since in East London we had to tolerate (and where happy to do so) the Marathon for decades yet just a couple of years of the same thing happening in West London and mountains of complaints because a few arrogant locals can't cope with reading signs for months before hand is too difficult from behind the iPads propped on the dashboard of the Chelsea tractors.

Also bear in mind the destroying of an industrial area.... sorry building the beautiful but useless Olympic park destroyed businesses and disrupted lives for a decade despite their being an adequate sporting centre in Manchester was dumped on East London without a moments consideration. I hope West London gets a 3rd and indeed 4th Runway at Heathrow and the 30yrs of disruption that will entail, frankly some of you deserve it for being so uptight about a few hours of cycling.

I might begin a petition for Ride London to be held twice a year since it'd so popular just to p*ss off more morons.

[croyde]

But the cycle route went from Stratford, East London, through the centre, out through West London, down through South West London and onwards across Surrey.

That is a big area to circumvent if you live one side of the route and have to get to the other side.

On Sunday morning my youngest had a very serious asthma attack and the ambulance took a long time to get to him. They apologised yet admitted that they were all screwed because of the closures.

St Georges was totally dependent on their only helicopter.

I am not against a cycle race but London is too big and too over populated to be cut in half for a day. It's bad enough when all the roads and bridges are open.

Thankfully my son was treated and recovered but I do wonder how many people may not have made it due to the ambulance delay.

[Mr Will]

croyde said:

I am not against a cycle race but London is too big and too over populated to be cut in half for a day. It's bad enough when all the roads and bridges are open.

Quit making things up to try and support your point. London was not "cut in half for a day". Everything east of Charing Cross was open before most people were out of bed.

[Hackney]

Impasse said:

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.

Based on your daughter's mate's parents moving house story there are several people who need to check traffic news before they embark on a journey, particularly one as time-critical as this appeared to be.
And to be honest the Blackwall tunnel can be a mess at the best of times, so it taking an hour to get through is not unusual.

Do you / they expect a leaflet through the door for every traffic jam?

[braddo]

Mr Will said:

croyde said:

I am not against a cycle race but London is too big and too over populated to be cut in half for a day. It's bad enough when all the roads and bridges are open.

Quit making things up to try and support your point. London was not "cut in half for a day". Everything east of Charing Cross was open before most people were out of bed.

Below is a link to the route of the pro race in the afternoon, which is only west of Charing Cross, so it must have been only the amateur/fund raising ride that went from Stratford and they were all past Charing Cross by what, mid-morning?

http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/Assets/Londo...

[Mr Will]

braddo said:

Mr Will said:

croyde said:

I am not against a cycle race but London is too big and too over populated to be cut in half for a day. It's bad enough when all the roads and bridges are open.

Quit making things up to try and support your point. London was not "cut in half for a day". Everything east of Charing Cross was open before most people were out of bed.

Below is a link to the route of the pro race in the afternoon, which is only west of Charing Cross, so it must have been only the amateur/fund raising ride that went from Stratford and they were all past Charing Cross by what, mid-morning?

http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/Assets/Londo...

Correct. The last of the amateurs set off from Stratford at 8:30 (IIRC) and the roads were opened shortly after they passed. Only to roads closed for the pro-race stayed closed longer.

[croyde]

Mr Will said:

Quit making things up to try and support your point. London was not "cut in half for a day". Everything east of Charing Cross was open before most people were out of bed.

Funny thing about PH these days, it gets so personal.

I wouldn't make things up, especially about my son's health and at the time of the ambulance call ie the morning, all of London was split and besides, the crew that made it to us were at Chelsea and Westminster, trying to get to us just over the river at Wandsworth. Going via Charing Cross would have taken too long plus the fact that the only bridge open to the East, according to the Prudential Site, was Blackfriars as the others were all closed until 1700 or 1900, again according to the site which I researched at length before my journey across London.

The only bridge to the West that was open was Hammersmith, hence that whole area was at a complete standstill and even as a motorcycle courier of 10 years, I found it very hard going trying to get back to south London.


'A number of bridges in central London
will be closed during the event on 1 and 2
August. Blackfriars Bridge will remain open
but may be busier than usual. Visit
www.PrudentialRideLondon.co.uk/roadclosures
for more information about river crossings
during the event weekend.'


That is my opinion formed by my experiences of the day so I trust that yours was different.

OK you don't know me and I don't know you so I could be making it all up, maybe I'll do that from now on just to fill my day

Edited by croyde on Tuesday 4th August 16:15

[Mr Will]

croyde said:

Mr Will said:

Quit making things up to try and support your point. London was not "cut in half for a day". Everything east of Charing Cross was open before most people were out of bed.

Funny thing about PH these days, it gets so personal.

I wouldn't make things up, especially about my son's health and at the time of the ambulance call ie the morning, all of London was split and besides, the crew that made it to us were at Chelsea and Westminster, trying to get to us just over the river at Wandsworth. Going via Charing Cross would have taken too long plus the fact that the only bridge open to the East, according to the Prudential Site, was Blackfriars as the others were all closed until 1700 or 1900, again according to the site which I researched at length before my journey across London.

The only bridge to the West that was open was Hammersmith, hence that whole area was at a complete standstill and even as a motorcycle courier of 10 years, I found it very hard going trying to get back to south London.

'A number of bridges in central London
will be closed during the event on 1 and 2
August. Blackfriars Bridge will remain open
but may be busier than usual. Visit
www.PrudentialRideLondon.co.uk/roadclosures
for more information about river crossings
during the event weekend.'

That is my opinion formed by my experiences of the day thus I trust that yours was different.

OK you don't know me and I don't know you so I could be making it all up, maybe I'll do that from now on just to fill my day

I never said you were lying about your son. I was just pointing out you were completely wrong about "London being cut in half all day". It wasn't and I don't like people spreading falsehoods (whether accidentally or on purpose). The last of the roads in central London were open by 10:45 (as detailed in the page you linked)

There were also measures in place to allow emergency vehicles across the course. Perhaps the crew of your particular ambulance didn't know about them, or perhaps they didn't think they were required for your journey. I can't say as I wasn't there, but the option definitely existed: "Emergencies will be treated as a priority in the usual way. If you require the emergency services, call 999. Emergency vehicle access will be maintained and prioritised throughout all of the Prudential RideLondon events.". I personally saw ambulances cross the route several times, with marshals stopping the riders until they were safely out of the way.

I don't know why people get such a bee in their bonnet about this event. Sporting events cause disruption across the country every weekend. What makes this one any worse than the F1, the marathon or a match at Wembley/Twickenham?

[nurseholliday]

Mr Will said:

I never said you were lying about your son. I was just pointing out you were completely wrong about "London being cut in half all day". It wasn't and I don't like people spreading falsehoods (whether accidentally or on purpose). The last of the roads in central London were open by 10:45 (as detailed in the page you linked)

There were also measures in place to allow emergency vehicles across the course. Perhaps the crew of your particular ambulance didn't know about them, or perhaps they didn't think they were required for your journey. I can't say as I wasn't there, but the option definitely existed: "Emergencies will be treated as a priority in the usual way. If you require the emergency services, call 999. Emergency vehicle access will be maintained and prioritised throughout all of the Prudential RideLondon events.". I personally saw ambulances cross the route several times, with marshals stopping the riders until they were safely out of the way.

I don't know why people get such a bee in their bonnet about this event. Sporting events cause disruption across the country every weekend. What makes this one any worse than the F1, the marathon or a match at Wembley/Twickenham?

One of my best friends made the mistake of having his wedding in the countryside near Silverstone this year the same weekend as the F1. 10 of us slept in his 2 bedroom house the night of the wedding because we couldn't find rooms in hotels, and where we did find some, they were over £250. Outrageous, hotel owners should be rounded up and shot, won't somebody think of the wallets, how can people be expected to have reasonably priced nights away from home when there's crazy events like that. F1 should be banned. etc etc etc

Turns out it wasn't a mistake, it was fine, the Red Arrows even did a fly past of the reception venue as he arrived with his new wife in his new FIL's AC Cobra. We all pretended like he had organised it.

[croyde]

Emergency measures to cross the course don't matter a jot when the roads around the area are gridlocked.

True some central London roads did open late morning but many remained closed including the bridges as the bicycle and hand bike races came back in the afternoon to finish back in central London.

I'm not knocking the idea of the weekend, just that the route should involved going under bridges so as not to close so many of them.

Maybe with my 35 years of driving in London, they should have consulted me about the route