The ways of London often puzzle me, so genuine question; wtf do the residents do with their cars outside 7am to 9am Monday to Friday?
Hadn’t been down to Greenwich for a few months, when last there the lovely flower planters blocked the road. Yesterday however, I notice they had been moved. A camera put up at said location and this sign. I wonder how long they brainstormed this idea for, rather than just saying access only between 7-9am, mon-fri.
Oh, I know why….
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The ways of London often puzzle me, so genuine question; wtf do the residents do with their cars outside 7am to 9am Monday to Friday?
Same thing here on this road.
Cooks Rd - Google Maps
The plant pots and road closed signs shown on 'street view' are no longer present.
Last week my nephew, a truck driver, had to deliver beer to a pub in Bethnal Green from the brewery in South Wales. He spent half an hour winding through terraced streets, cars parked on both sides, until his way was blocked by a concrete bollard that had been placed across the street and was not on his very up-to-date sat nav. Absolutely no way of turning around.
The upshot was, the police had to block streets and it took him over two and a half hours to reverse back to the main road and a series of vans had to take his load to the pub from a car park outside the area.
What price green measures? How many fumes were produced by his truck, the vans, the police vehicles involved, and the traffic blocked by the police so he could get back out. How many people held up in the resulting gridlock missed important appointments etc? What a ridiculous way to run a city!
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^^^^ He could have read the street signs? ^^^^
Actually I agree, it’s gone stupid. They’ve done it round our way on every street.
The 7am-9am will be because of a school.
I drove through one of these at 1 minute before the prohibited time ended when I took the car to a garage that’s about 5 houses down from the sign, i.e I drove about 10 yards in the zone. They stuffed me for £60. I wasn’t aware of the restrictions but I am now.
They recently redid a roundabout by our local hospital and added a bus lane that ends just after one of the exits but just before the right turn to the hospital. It’s probably a 20m stretch of bus lane. That little stroke of genius has netted the council over £1 million in the past year because people take the exit and want to turn right to the hospital but enter the tiny bus lane by mistake. It used to be two lanes - one to go straight on and one to turn right. I have no idea what use it is to a bus? Total scam.
The idiots have also done this coming out of Lewisham heading towards Catford. Its a ridiculously busy route, and was always 2 lanes, and a turning lane to the right. Inside lane a bus lane. In their infinite wisdom, they've made the bus lane wider, and now just one lane, which includes turning right at the head of the lane by the lights. If 2 or more cars are turning you have to wait for their filter to get them out of the way. lots of impatient motorists just nip up the edge of the bus lane to skirt past, but I assume the camera ensues the get a not very welcome letter on the doormat a few days later.
For reference, it right outside where Ladywell swimming baths where.
I'm best staying up North, I don't even understand the sign!
I’m not sure that I understand it either.
Does it actually mean that a motor vehicle can only be driven on the street between 7am and 9am Mon-Fri and not at all, anytime, on Saturday or Sunday? That would mean you could nip out at 7am, provided you get back before 9am, otherwise you need to stay away until the following morning. Unless of course you get delayed on Friday morning and you need to wait until Monday morning. Have I got that right?
That’s how I interpret the sign. Bizarre.
Indeed, to say he was wrung out after two and a half hours of reversing on a hot day is an understatement. Had to then spend the night in his cab instead of going home as he would have been over his hours. The lad was truly shattered.
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Ealing council have closed off all the nice roads to cars. Access only to residents, no parking etc. This pushed cars on to the main road where they sit in traffic jams cause by road works (The Main road has been constantly dug up for the last 4 years.) where they pump fumes in to the atmosphere. All enforced by… you guessed it a car sitting at the entrance with a camera on top.
In the poorer areas such as Greenford or Southall there are no traffic management measures what so ever. Go figure?
They are currently undertaking a consultation regarding the newly implemented (during lock down) traffic measures as there has been such a fuss made. So we shall see. I expect a compromise of the really posh roads with 2/3 cars on the drive being released and the roads with smaller houses being maintained in the traffic management areas. (Guess which one I live in)
It could be worse though. Check out how much revenue the box junction at the top of Wandsworth Bridge Road and New Kings Road in Fulham generates. It’s an awful junction where the lights change really quickly. The scam is designed to generate cash.
I live in South West London and the thought control police running our development have told one resident who has a Porsche GT3 that he is not to drive it in or out of the development before 8am or after 10pm due to the noise and if he doesn't comply he will be prevented from parking in the development (he owns a property in it btw!).
I'd understand if someone had a Merc E63 or whatever as those are very loud but the Porsche isn't all that noisy at the 5 MPH or whatever it is he'd drive in and out of an underground car park so I feel for him. He also got given a leaflet espousing the benefits of cycling - as if someone is weighing up in their heads a choice between a Porsche or a bike as a like-for-like alternative.
Sadly not isolated to the south of England.
I’ve encountered some ridiculously complicated signage in both Manchester and Leeds city centres. You get to a junction and have, as you mention, seconds to try and read and decipher some long complicated and caveated set of restrictions and conditions about what you can do, in what vehicles and at what time and on what days! You then have to work out how you can extract yourself from the flow of traffic that you fear may be taking you in the “wrong”
direction towards a fine.
I'm sure the top end cars like that have a button to open or close exhaust flaps and make the exhaust quiet.
I'm not against this approach. The management company are there to look after the interests of the residents as a collective, not just one who happens to consider their needs and not others.
I've lived in various places like this:
In one a neighbour's boyfriend (i.e. not a resident) used to leave in his TVR Griffith at c6am every weekday morning. Personally I loved the noise and would drift off back to sleep dreaming of cars.
In the same place I later had an M3 which would set off 2 to 3 car alarms most mornings. Fortunately this was in the adjacent car park albeit pre 7am, so not quite as disruptive.
Then more recently in another place a neighbour had a Harley, which you would hear on start up in the subterranean parking and then for the next five minutes as he/she worked their way around the car park, up the ramp and through the development. Very irritating. I don't mind the Porsches or Ferraris, but the Harley pissed me off. I've now moved and now none of my retired neighbours stir until well after I'm on the go.
So, in conclusion, having been an irritant myself on occasion, I think residents need to be considerate of their neighbours - it's what separates us from savages...
Do they also have a by-law that couples can't row or have loud love making sessions outside of "core hours" :) I'm sure the lease will already cover consideration for neighbours and all of these could be argued to be in conflict with the lease.
Most of these measures are sensible to be honest. They aren't just made randomly.
Since the advent of waze and similar traffic aware apps, the side streets have become rat runs all over London.
It might feel annoying, but making life harder for motorists and perhaps getting people to think about other modes or transport, or indeed other places to live is a good idea.
My street was used as a rat run and a free parking area for the tube even thought it's a 15 minute walk away. The introduction of permits has thankfully stopped the commuters using it as parking, but the folk who don't live on the road still treat it like a racetrack.
I'd love traffic calming measures and either a ban on through traffic or make it one way.
I also drive a fairly loud AMG, but have had no complaints as I don't start it in sports+ mode or gun it up the road. Why would you do that to your neighbours?
I think measures like these are ultimately good if they allow access for emergency vehicles and those with genuine need. The problem in London (and elsewhere I’m sure) is that people default to their car. My kids travel 1.75 miles each way to school everyday, we either cycle, scoot or walk, they are infant school age. On our journey we pass three state schools with roads full of cars parked on the pavement or on double yellows. Most of these people are just lazy, given the way school places are allocated you can’t tell me they all live more than a mile or so from the school.
People complain about traffic displacement but that misses the point. The measures are supposed to force people to consider alternatives to the car and in London there’s not really any excuse given how close everything is and the very good local public transport routes.
I leave the car at home as much as possible, as I find driving in London a ball ache and a very unpleasant experience.
I must admit I had not considered NI but I think not. I had considered and ruled out both Wales (I know parts of south Wales very well having lived there previously) and Scotland but NI had not entered my thoughts. However, now you mention it, I can sadly see too many downsides and potential downsides with NI. Luckily there are still many areas in England that can give me what I am looking for, at least in the medium term.