Tower Bridge openings - reform needed?

The bridge opening schedule is available at all times on their website. If you're looking to drive in rush hour, over Tower Bridge, without checking, I'd say that's your own fault.

Years back when I was a truck driver, if I "caught" the bridge going up, I just bit the bullet, switched off and read the paper. Later, as a Black Cab driver, if I saw it going up I would take evasive action, to save me the aggravation of waiting, and saving the job in the back, (if I had one), from watching the meter tick over while going nowhere.
After the "ring of plastic" was installed around the City, with various road closures, subsequent to the Bishopsgate bomb, evasive action became harder to take. You could no longer dive down Gt. Tower St. to Eastcheap then over London Bridge, you had to fight the Aldgate one-way system, then go via Fenchurch St. to Gracechurch St. to get to London Bridge, or sit in the queue along Lower Thames St., go left into Swan Lane, make a U turn then right into Lower Thames St. left into Fish St. Hill, to Monument St. thence to London Bridge. In short, it may have been cheaper to sit and wait. It's a pity that the shipping movements cannot be co-ordinated to open the bridge twice per day, at publicised times, but with the vagaries of tides etc. that's never going to happen. We'll just have to live with it, and it's a beautiful sight.

Surely it cant be blamed on you if your stuck on the Hihgway or Tooley st or TBR etc,you may of had no intention of crossing the bridge,and not eberyone will know the roads like Tom Pepper,I don't drive so it really doesn't bother me,it's just that we are constatntly being reminded (on here)that this is an international city blah blah,I agree there should be another crossing but until we get it couldn't we say 7am-9am and 5pm-7pm the bridge would not be opening?

When it does open I am always amazed by how quickly it is over...usually no more than about 20 minutes. The actual bridge rises and falls very quickly and the rest is ship dependent but they usually get through quickly. Yes it can be a bit frustrating but there are lots of things in life which are far more annoying than this and to be honest what it adds to living in our city is a magnicifcent sight rather than an annoying hold up IMHO. The issue really should be to reduce traffic over it before it vibrates to destruction and to build another traffic road bridge further to the East.

It's really obvious that we need another river crossing east of Tower Bridge; rather than expensive, pointless projects like the cable car a simple walking/cycling bridge between Rotherhithe and Limehouse or Canary Wharf would make it much easier and more pleasant for people living south of the river to get into the city without having to use the Rotherhithe tunnel. Tower Bridge opening is one of the things that makes London unique, and I wouldn't want to go without that.

urbanite wrote:

... The issue really should be to reduce traffic over it before it vibrates to destruction and to build another traffic road bridge further to the East.

My thoughts, exactly. I couldn't believe it when they made Tower Bridge a non-C-charge bridge.

The trouble is it fits a very nice ring road pattern and making it C-charge would have really messed traffic flows up big time. I get we have to tighten our belts these days but the cancelled bridge was such an obviously needed thing...I think Boris screwed up there.

It would help if there were "countdown" boards (e.g. 'Next Tower Bridge opening in 20 mins') at various approach points to TB, so people had a chance to divert to alternative routes, if possible. The problem is less the bridge opening during rush hour, and more the total gridlock it causes - right back along Grange Road, down to Brickmakers roundabout/NKR etc. - which takes ages afterwards to clear.

Remember when Clinton & Blair had dinner at Le Pont? The bridge stopped the traffic to lift exactly when Clinton was about to cross. Armed boyguards were everywhere thinking it was an ambush - no we are just lifting the bridge - he will need to wait :-) I thought it was lovely!

I think a board is a really good idea to tell us when it's going up, for those who like to watch as much as for drivers.