Circumventing Olympic traffic disruption

daviesee

A precautionary word to those saying that it is not so bad after all - Maybe wait till the Games begin to make such statements?

TheStone

If there's anything in London you want to do, but is normally booked up or too busy, try it over the next couple of weeks.

I think normal Londoners have been scared away. Normal tourists aren't coming. Olympic tourists will stay as briefly as possible as everyone's jacked their prices up.

My normal tennis courts are all free (never happens). I reckon shows, museums etc will be empty. It could be a really good time to do non Olympic stuff in London, because no-one else will.

Nearly all the hotels in London (and even Stratford) still have rooms free. They may start dropping their prices very soon.

rick_chasey

rjsterry wrote:

Interesting that the traffic around PS is so time specific.

Who's still getting into work at 9?!?!

Even school kids are at school by then.

rjsterry

Rick Chasey wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Interesting that the traffic around PS is so time specific.

Who's still getting into work at 9?!?!

Even school kids are at school by then.

Those of us who aren't posting about their ride home whilst others are still at least one cup of tea from home time. :P

DonDaddyD

Rick Chasey wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Interesting that the traffic around PS is so time specific.

Who's still getting into work at 9?!?!

Even school kids are at school by then.

I rolled into work at 10.30am today.

Sewinman

Wrath Rob wrote:

Looks like I'll be OK until Millbank, I think I'll tough that section out before heading over Lambeth Bridge, round the back of Waterloo, back over Southwark Bridge and into the City. Not the most fun route but it will be (probably) safer than stop-starting through P'Square and then along the whole of Embankment. Plus I'll get to see how bad it is and then if its actually quiet, I can stick with the SCR.

I did this route today and it was busier than usual but certainly not 'carnage'. I think its a much quicker route than PS. Most of the games lanes open tomorrow though, I think? Calm before storm?

el_presidente

Rick Chasey wrote:

Was utter carnage at 8. Never seen it like it.

Probably took me around 6-7 minutes to get around.

A rider had been knocked off at the Whitehall junction at around 07.50, that's why. He was sitting on the floor remonstrating with the driver & police when I went by, the driver had stopped in the middle of the junction with his hazards on and it had completley fubared the whole square. Hope you're OK rider.

unclejimbo1983

rjsterry wrote:

Millbank looks to be the most dodgy bit of the traditional SCR route: the non ORN lane isn't quite wide enough for a car to safely pass a cyclist without crossing the solid white line. I predict a lot of too-close overtakes by grumpy drivers.

I thought that too as I rode Millbank this morning. One thing did strike me though - The "peloton" just expanded to fill the car lane, which is only slightly wider than the cycle lane anyway. Of course all the cars were in the olympic lane, but it could be interesting tomorrow if it happens again with the games lane closed. Frankly I wouldn't feel too bad about it if it happened - Most cyclists are doing well over 20 mph on that stretch, so it's hardly going to cause a huge amount of inconvenience to drivers. They'll hit gridlock 100 meters down the road anyway.

rick_chasey

el_presidente wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Was utter carnage at 8. Never seen it like it.

Probably took me around 6-7 minutes to get around.

A rider had been knocked off at the Whitehall junction at around 07.50, that's why. He was sitting on the floor remonstrating with the driver & police when I went by, the driver had stopped in the middle of the junction with his hazards on and it had completley fubared the whole square. Hope you're OK rider.

Ah, fair enough.

Still, the light sequence is weird.

bdave262000

Rick Chasey wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Lanes open tomorrow.

Its already Chaos around Parliament Square, Birdcage Walk and Whitehall

Yup.

We'll see eh?

Vicky embankment is super quiet.

I'm getting off and walking when I next get to parliament square heading West to East.

Have to say that PS (at just after 9) was busy, but no busier than a normal busy day. Just a matter of getting used to it.

Was utter carnage at 8. Never seen it like it.

Probably took me around 6-7 minutes to get around.

Yes, and some poor bugger got hit by a bus heading up to TS.

spen666

I'm amazed at people claiming it will make no difference and citing yesterday and today's traffic as example.

The ORN is by and large not in force until 0600 tomorrow.

Suddenly you will find the 50% reduction in road space does make a difference.

i also expect the accident rate, both m/v and cyclist and m/v and M/v to increase considerably over next 3 weeks as people realise at last minute they are in wrong lane/ cant make expected turn etc, let alone do to the frustration

DonDaddyD

spen666 wrote:

I'm amazed at people claiming it will make no difference and citing yesterday and today's traffic as example.

The ORN is by and large not in force until 0600 tomorrow.

Suddenly you will find the 50% reduction in road space does make a difference.

i also expect the accident rate, both m/v and cyclist and m/v and M/v to increase considerably over next 3 weeks as people realise at last minute they are in wrong lane/ cant make expected turn etc, let alone do to the frustration

Fair point and something I will take note of when the ORN goes into effect. But I still maintain that the initial effects of the 'Olympics and traffic' have been felt mostly on roads trying to avoid the Olympics and not those designated Olympic routes. It is possible and likely to change.

navt

Greenwich has been a mess since Monday. A200/Creek Road closed westbound. Didn't quite make sense, until I found out why yesterday... to convert the lane into a bloody taxi rank!

Applespider

They changed the light sequence on South Lambeth Road last week; there are now queues of traffic up to Stockwell which makes filtering to pass the buses a little trickier. On a standard crossroads with the roads numbered 1,2,3,4 (1 and 3 being primary), the lights used to have 1 and 3 go together followed by shorter phases for 2 and 4. Now we go 1 (southbound) for the old normal length, then 2 and 4 together, then 3 (the northbound busy primary) that lets about 4 cars through and back to 2 and 4. Nuts!

Aside from that, it's still normal summer traffic levels... blessedly quiet.

It's such a shame though that I'm going to cycle less during the Games than through the winter since the provisions for cycling to/from Stratford are so poor (ORN, Overground, bike parking and security restrictions) that I'm going to end up using the Games Travelcards and taking the icky Jubilee line!

greg66_tri_v2.0

Light sequencing has been changed a lot, and is backing up traffic methinks. Lombard Road onto York Road by Battersea Heliport was backed up into Battersea Sq this evening because the rephrasing has bollocksed the lights so they were stuck on red. Suspect a few sets have been rephsed to prioritise the Oly routes.

greg66_tri_v2.0

rjsterry wrote:

DDD touches on something I worried about and looks like it may be happening: everyone gets scared off the ORN, so the alternative routes (which were generally already pretty busy) become overloaded, while the ORN is eerily quiet.

Millbank looks to be the most dodgy bit of the traditional SCR route: the non ORN lane isn't quite wide enough for a car to safely pass a cyclist without crossing the solid white line. I predict a lot of too-close overtakes by grumpy drivers.

Interesting that the traffic around PS is so time specific.

I thought that had been fixed this morning: the solid white (eastbound) is gone and the CS8 signs have been covered up. Bottom line is everyone now has to ignore the blue paint from VB lights to LBR. A lot of cyclists were having trouble with going back to the good ol' days of sharing a lane with cars.

rjsterry

Greg66 wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

DDD touches on something I worried about and looks like it may be happening: everyone gets scared off the ORN, so the alternative routes (which were generally already pretty busy) become overloaded, while the ORN is eerily quiet.

Millbank looks to be the most dodgy bit of the traditional SCR route: the non ORN lane isn't quite wide enough for a car to safely pass a cyclist without crossing the solid white line. I predict a lot of too-close overtakes by grumpy drivers.

Interesting that the traffic around PS is so time specific.

I thought that had been fixed this morning: the solid white (eastbound) is gone and the CS8 signs have been covered up. Bottom line is everyone now has to ignore the blue paint from VB lights to LBR. A lot of cyclists were having trouble with going back to the good ol' days of sharing a lane with cars.

It had, but I saw several cars passing bunched cyclists by pulling partly into the ORN.

rubertoe

Well, that wasn't too bad was it.

Not overly busy, Olympic Lanes empty so over taking of buses and filtering on the outside was a doddle, and Whitehall was bliss, as it appears only to be open to buses, cyclists and games vehicles.

Not sure what all the fuss is about really.

Sharkyssurfers

I expect ddd to have something to say about that, Traffic was nice and clear till just after Ilford and then one long queue to Stratford, and then embankment westbound stuffed.

jzed

Traffic was backed up to the A406, solid all the way down to the Lea Bridge Road. After discovering yesterday they have Olympic Laned all my options through Leyton had to take a detour.

Whilst I'm looking forward to the Olympics, I cannot wait for it to leave town and things can get back to normal.

greg66_tri_v2.0

spen666 wrote:

I'm amazed at people claiming it will make no difference and citing yesterday and today's traffic as example.

It made a huge difference.

There was no one around. It was empty this morning. Magic.

Just like I knew it would be. Based on yesterdays' traffic as an example

Sharkyssurfers

just wait till hometime

rick_chasey

Seems the light sequences mean that the olympics routes are fine - as intended.

Those not on olympic routes are, in return, getting f*cked by the sequence.

So I guess it's best to stick to the olympic routes?

cookeeemonster

Sharkyssurfers wrote:

I expect ddd to have something to say about that, Traffic was nice and clear till just after Ilford and then one long queue to Stratford, and then embankment westbound stuffed.

what time was that? I was on there around 8ish heading west and it was just great especially with the traffic lights gone or on green.

pretty much all my route was either unaffected or quieter/quicker...not that I was that much faster

glad I wasn't on the A13 though, I rode past the 'parked' cars with a smile in the sunshine

Sharkyssurfers

CookeeeMonster wrote:

Sharkyssurfers wrote:

I expect ddd to have something to say about that, Traffic was nice and clear till just after Ilford and then one long queue to Stratford, and then embankment westbound stuffed.

what time was that? I was on there around 8ish heading west and it was just great especially with the traffic lights gone or on green.

pretty much all my route was either unaffected or quieter/quicker...not that I was that much faster

glad I wasn't on the A13 though, I rode past the 'parked' cars with a smile in the sunshine

I was on it from around 7:40 till 7:50ish, it was ok till just past temple then the traffic all moved left and couldn't get in the cycle lane, hence I had to move over the oly lane and then I could blitz through

jds_1981

Yes, when watching the news they explained a lot of the work has been to simply prevent large amounts of traffic from getting into London. If you're on the route already you're probably fine

Sewinman

Traffic seemed just fine this morning. Quieter than usual. Some people seem to want the Games to go wrong...so they can justify their moaning, negative views.

Specialized Needs

rjsterry wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

DDD touches on something I worried about and looks like it may be happening: everyone gets scared off the ORN, so the alternative routes (which were generally already pretty busy) become overloaded, while the ORN is eerily quiet.

Millbank looks to be the most dodgy bit of the traditional SCR route: the non ORN lane isn't quite wide enough for a car to safely pass a cyclist without crossing the solid white line. I predict a lot of too-close overtakes by grumpy drivers.

Interesting that the traffic around PS is so time specific.

I thought that had been fixed this morning: the solid white (eastbound) is gone and the CS8 signs have been covered up. Bottom line is everyone now has to ignore the blue paint from VB lights to LBR. A lot of cyclists were having trouble with going back to the good ol' days of sharing a lane with cars.

It had, but I saw several cars passing bunched cyclists by pulling partly into the ORN.

According to the temporary yellow sign (just before the Morpeth), the ORN along Millbank was open to all traffic this morning. Not that the vehicles overtaking the bunches of bikes necessarily read that!

The light timings on Vauxhall Bridge north side have been changed. The northbound lights were green extremely long this morning - presumably to allow the ORN from Vauxhall Bridge right on to Millbank.

Specialized Needs

Sorry to reply to my own post, but my brain just kicked in - Nine Elms, Vauxhall Cross and Vauxhall Bridge may be viable over the next month, as the phasing will unclog the bridge by the looks of this morning. The main problem will be filtering through the single lane of motor traffic over to the right hand turn lane at the Millbank junction, but at least that is now just a single lane raher than two, as in the past.

Paul E

Traffic around tower hill/bridge was screwed on monday, really screwed and it hadn't really got into rush hour, it also back down tooley street approaching tower bridge.

The only thing thats got me is the no right turn onto upper thames street from the slip road off london bridge, I might have to miss out london bridge, stay on the south bank and head over blackfriars instead and then onto the embankment that way and just dismount to get onto northumberland ave as there is not right turn there either