Tower Bridge Closure

The congestion and disruption to the surrounding area and Jamaica Road and the Rotherhithe Tunnel has been horrendous with dozens of accidents, and significant pollution. This should have been thought through more fully and TFL need to respond urgently, not simply cancel bus routes whilst suggesting 'it's not too bad'. It's horrendous!

EllieAnne wrote:

The congestion and disruption to the surrounding area and Jamaica Road and the Rotherhithe Tunnel has been horrendous with dozens of accidents, and significant pollution. This should have been thought through more fully and TFL need to respond urgently, not simply cancel bus routes whilst suggesting 'it's not too bad'. It's horrendous!

I hadn't noticed the accidents you speak of, but I don't doubt you, the scrum at the roundabout at the Tunnel entrance is heart stopping.
It's a case of S.A.S. mindset, Who Dares Wins, with the strident accompaniment of car horns.
My route to work used to be, walk through King Stairs Gardens to Paradise Street, then West Lane, cross Jamaica Road to Bermondsey station, Jubilee to Baker Street, coming home I'd often stay on Jamaica Road to the Tunnel, but you could choke on fumes after just 150 metres from Bermondsey station now.
Now I go to Canada Water coming home, switching to the Overground for one stop to Rotherhithe station, then walk around to St. Mary Church Street to my house.

Debrajoan wrote:

EllieAnne wrote:

The congestion and disruption to the surrounding area and Jamaica Road and the Rotherhithe Tunnel has been horrendous with dozens of accidents, and significant pollution. This should have been thought through more fully and TFL need to respond urgently, not simply cancel bus routes whilst suggesting 'it's not too bad'. It's horrendous!

I hadn't noticed the accidents you speak of, but I don't doubt you, the scrum at the roundabout at the Tunnel entrance is heart stopping.
It's a case of S.A.S. mindset, Who Dares Wins, with the strident accompaniment of car horns.
My route to work used to be, walk through King Stairs Gardens to Paradise Street, then West Lane, cross Jamaica Road to Bermondsey station, Jubilee to Baker Street, coming home I'd often stay on Jamaica Road to the Tunnel, but you could choke on fumes after just 150 metres from Bermondsey station now.
Now I go to Canada Water coming home, switching to the Overground for one stop to Rotherhithe station, then walk around to St. Mary Church Street to my house.

Good idea DJ, when I hung up my green badge, and quit driving a black cab,I virtually quit driving altogether.
The thought of driving somewhere and not seeing X amount on a meter, was to me tantamount to a mailman delivering letters 5 days per week, then saying, "No wages thanks, give them to charity."
I think what really did it, was the fact that when I approached a roundabout in the black cab, the traffic parted like the Red Sea, acknowledging the alpha driver approaching, but in my wife's Fiat, even though it's quite large, I'm treated as just another insignificant civilian, and have to wait my turn.
That, and being unable to use bus lanes any more is soul destroying.
Now I sit in the back, reading the i, and let her get on with it, occasionally saying, "You can use this bus lane, it's active from 4.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m., and it's 12.30 now."
This does not go down well.

No doubt someone will come up with a 'comparisons are odious' excuse, but I've just seen on the BBC news, a story about a sink hole in the unfortunately named city of Fukuoka, Japan, this month.
On November 8th. a 30m X 27m, 15m deep sink hole opened up on a five lane road, outside a railway station, causing damage to gas, water, electricity, sewage, traffic lights, and phone cables.
Taking a leaf out of the German, or maybe American book of doing things, the authorities got stuck in, repairs were carried out 24 hours per day, and the road was resurfaced, zebra crossing re-painted, and re-opened by November 14th.
Maybe I'm being unkind, but compare this with the 3 month closure of Tower Bridge.

Tom Pepper wrote:

No doubt someone will come up with a 'comparisons are odious' excuse, but I've just seen on the BBC news, a story about a sink hole in the unfortunately named city of Fukuoka, Japan, this month.
On November 8th. a 30m X 27m, 15m deep sink hole opened up on a five lane road, outside a railway station, causing damage to gas, water, electricity, sewage, traffic lights, and phone cables.
Taking a leaf out of the German, or maybe American book of doing things, the authorities got stuck in, repairs were carried out 24 hours per day, and the road was resurfaced, zebra crossing re-painted, and re-opened by November 14th.
Maybe I'm being unkind, but compare this with the 3 month closure of Tower Bridge.

On reading this, I Googled Fukuoka and visited a couple of sites which pictured the hole almost two thirds full of sewage which had to be syphoned out before work started, revealing broken pipes and electrical wires and tubes.
It looked like a regular dogs breakfast.
I can only assume that replacing the wooden decking on Tower Bridge is a more intricate and time consuming task than that which faced the workers in Japan.

Judging by the deafening silence on this, one can only assume that TFLs assessment manager, Mr. Mufu Durowoju's (perhaps that should be Mo'fu!) declaration that "congestion is not as bad as we expected, save for Jamaica Rd." was correct, lucky us.