I mentioned TfL’s plans (strongly supported by the London Cycling Campaign) for replacing Aldgate Gyratory with a conventional human-scale road layout. Diamond Geezer has been there as part of his Olympic 2012 narrative, and has some pictures and an interesting article:
Deroundabouting is expected sometime next year. A new cut-through feeder road will be established, which will lead to the pedestrianisation of the whole of Braham Street, to be infilled with leafy public realm. To be honest it’s a wonder Boris hasn’t yet cancelled the Aldgate Masterplan, given the delays it’ll bring to his beloved traffic flow.
Very snarky.
However, I don’t think Boris can stop this one even if he wanted to, although it does include part of the second phase of the now-canned 100 Open Spaces programme - what will tell us more about his true colours are the other city gyratory systems, which like Aldgate are usually a nasty place for cyclists. I quote from a prominent cyclist, Mr. A. Gilligan:
You’re funnelled into one of the horrible main road junctions that guard almost all approaches to the Square Mile. This one, at Bishopsgate, isn’t even the worst. The two TfL-controlled gyratory systems at the Tower and Aldgate are among the very nastiest-cycle experiences in London, forcing you to ride with fast-flowing traffic either side of you.
I wonder what he thinks of the scrapping of the Parliament Square scheme - let me guess, it’s Livingstone’s fault.
The Tower scheme was considered to have capacity constraints in 2006, so I doubt anything can be done there under Boris. In fact, it’s worth keeping this list handy. As for the others, is Boris willing to inconvenience car drivers to reduce the risk to cyclists from death and injury? Another reason for conflict is found in the Masterplan:
However west of the junction, particularly, vibrancy decreases, due to a number of gaps where buildings have been demolished and the dominating effect of the gyratory traffic system.
…
In and around the gyratory system, the quality of the built environment is generally poor.
So keeping the traffic flowing on the 50s/60s traffic systems of the city is not only incompatible with cycling, it’s incompatible with the ideal of a thriving small retail sector, not to mention a beautiful city. These things are a dead hand laid on the city fabric and for that matter we should remove them where possible, and if this inconveniences the precious motorist, that’s the way it is.
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4 responses so far ↓
The big story over the coming year, (certainly after China’s remarkable opening ceremony) will be tensions between Coe and Boris.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/574c0a28-6581-11dd-a352-0000779fd18c,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F574c0a28-6581-11dd-a352-0000779fd18c.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fconservativehome.blogs.com%2F
I’m starting to wonder if Boris is thinking that the only way to score one over China’s opening ceremony is to make sure we have more PM10s inthe air than Beijing by 2012.
I cycle through this new system everyday, and it’s a absolute disaster for cyclists and motorists alike. The traffic is backed up for about 1 mile from every direction, and as you know, stationary traffic, pedestrians and fast cyclists are a dangerous mix - I’ve had a few near misses already when people step out from behind vans and lorries.
A really hate the inefficiency of the new layout - there used to be 3 or 4 lanes of space for car and bikes and buses and everything moved very well, considering it is such an important junction.
Tens of thousands of people are delayed for hours by these changes, for apparently no benefit. I hate to see unhappy people, whatever they’re doing. And what about business? How is anyone expected to arrive at offices in Aldgate when there are now traffic jams all around it? Not to mention the delays for buses and emergency vechicles - there’s a fire station on the Commercial Road. If they get stuck in this mess it could actually cost lives.
I going to ask Boris to change it back to a roundabout. Much better for everyone!
I must agree with Harry this dreadful new system is so much worse than the previous gyratory, smacks of the previous mayor. The fire station accessability to anywhere west or north should be of particular concern to TfL.