Author Topic: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes  (Read 27233 times)

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #75 on: 23 July, 2012, 12:13:04 am »
....eg, no right turns off the Embankment westbound at all !!....

I right-turned from westbound on the Embankment into Northumberland Ave this yesterday afternoon.
I is badass cyclist.
 :-[
Sorry, everybody, everywhere..

Regulator

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #76 on: 23 July, 2012, 07:09:16 am »
*hums the tune from The Italian Job*

Apparently they deliberately caused the traffic jams in Turin for that.  They just got the local police to block some junctions, and then filmed the result!


I thought they just filmed a normal Turin rush hour... ;)
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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #77 on: 23 July, 2012, 09:29:02 am »
The Speshact family cycled from Kennington to Trafalgar Square today. Bloody horrible. Going over Westminster Bridge there's no right turn to the Embankment there, then no bus/cycle right turn on Parliament Sq so you have to go around it. Whitehall stuffed with cars and buses so ended up walking as we neared the square as no room to filter. Coming back via the Embankment - it was stuffed full of traffic with limited space to filter.

It must have been complete torture in a car. I can't for the life of me understand why so many people chose to drive into central London today. I was sorely tempted to ask some of the car occupants as I filtered past what their thought processes were.
Sorry we drove from Ascot to Bloomsbury Central London Baptist Church (Shaftsbury Ave / New Oxford Street) yesterday morning (saw a PBP 2011 top between Chiswick and Sheppards Bush  :thumbsup: )
Then after serving Lunch to 70 people we drove across to South Ken to visit the Science Museum Turing Exhibition.
Doing that by Train / Tube is not easy as the first train of the day doesn't get in early enough to prepare Lunch before the service.

Psychler

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #78 on: 23 July, 2012, 11:13:42 am »
The Speshact family cycled from Kennington to Trafalgar Square today. Bloody horrible. Going over Westminster Bridge there's no right turn to the Embankment there, then no bus/cycle right turn on Parliament Sq so you have to go around it. Whitehall stuffed with cars and buses so ended up walking as we neared the square as no room to filter. Coming back via the Embankment - it was stuffed full of traffic with limited space to filter.

It must have been complete torture in a car. I can't for the life of me understand why so many people chose to drive into central London today. I was sorely tempted to ask some of the car occupants as I filtered past what their thought processes were.
Sorry we drove from Ascot to Bloomsbury Central London Baptist Church (Shaftsbury Ave / New Oxford Street) yesterday morning (saw a PBP 2011 top between Chiswick and Sheppards Bush  :thumbsup: )
Then after serving Lunch to 70 people we drove across to South Ken to visit the Science Museum Turing Exhibition.
Doing that by Train / Tube is not easy as the first train of the day doesn't get in early enough to prepare Lunch before the service.

Eldest daughter queued for over an hour at Stratford station yesterday, to buy a single train ticket to Shenfield.  No automatic machines working, one individual selling tickets!

I'm gonna limp to the pub and drink 'til the rest of me is as numb as my arse.

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #79 on: 23 July, 2012, 11:30:40 am »
Kingsway is a pain now, as there's no right turn anywhere along its length.  If I come up from Waterloo Bridge, the only legal way of reaching my work by bike seems to involve an extra mile via Bloomsbury Square and Procter Street.  One more nail in the coffin for my fading enthusiasm for limpix.

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #80 on: 23 July, 2012, 11:43:17 am »
Hopefully they will still include a pedestrian phase, not force everyone to use the footbridges.

I hoped wrong...

The ped crossings have nearly all had their lights fixed to green, and there are signs telling you how far to the working crossings. One says 560m. So that's a 1.1 km stroll to get from one side of the road to the other.
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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #81 on: 23 July, 2012, 11:46:38 am »
Hopefully they will still include a pedestrian phase, not force everyone to use the footbridges.

I hoped wrong...

The ped crossings have nearly all had their lights fixed to green, and there are signs telling you how far to the working crossings. One says 560m. So that's a 1.1 km stroll to get from one side of the road to the other.

But at least the Olympic Family won't be slowed while travelling from their West End penthouses to the events.  Let's just hope no one sabotages the routes with stingers or anything similar.
;D  Andrij.  I pronounce you Complete and Utter GIT   :thumbsup:

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #82 on: 23 July, 2012, 11:47:25 am »
Hopefully they will still include a pedestrian phase, not force everyone to use the footbridges.

I hoped wrong...

The ped crossings have nearly all had their lights fixed to green, and there are signs telling you how far to the working crossings. One says 560m. So that's a 1.1 km stroll to get from one side of the road to the other.
That's going to make all the tourists feel really good.  ::-)
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hellymedic

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #83 on: 23 July, 2012, 11:56:06 am »
Hopefully they will still include a pedestrian phase, not force everyone to use the footbridges.

I hoped wrong...

The ped crossings have nearly all had their lights fixed to green, and there are signs telling you how far to the working crossings. One says 560m. So that's a 1.1 km stroll to get from one side of the road to the other.

But at least the Olympic Family won't be slowed while travelling from their West End penthouses to the events.  Let's just hope no one sabotages the routes with stingers or anything similar.

The almost inevitable pedestrian casualty will jam traffic rather effectively... :(

Tigerrr

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #84 on: 23 July, 2012, 12:17:37 pm »
Very noticeable uplift in cycle commuter numbers this AM - probably combination of weather and limpic travel I think.
Addison Lee minicab was really menacing round Buck House - havent they got some sort of Zil contract with the event? Throwing their weight about a bit more than even the usual obnoxious level?
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hellymedic

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #85 on: 23 July, 2012, 12:58:59 pm »
First day of school hols for many, innit?

barakta

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #86 on: 23 July, 2012, 01:02:52 pm »
Hopefully they will still include a pedestrian phase, not force everyone to use the footbridges.

I hoped wrong...

The ped crossings have nearly all had their lights fixed to green, and there are signs telling you how far to the working crossings. One says 560m. So that's a 1.1 km stroll to get from one side of the road to the other.

One wonders if they have even considered folk who can't walk very far.  I'd struggle with an extra K walk on some days and would probably end up walking into traffic cos it'd be that or not getting out/towork/etc.

What utter bastards the Olympics effects are on normal walking and cycling commuters!

PaulF

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Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #87 on: 24 July, 2012, 07:14:29 am »
To lighten the mood a little :)




Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #88 on: 24 July, 2012, 07:48:18 am »

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #89 on: 24 July, 2012, 08:11:58 am »

But that lane (A40 near Marylebone) doesn't come into force until the 25th!!

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #90 on: 24 July, 2012, 11:29:38 am »

But that lane (A40 near Marylebone) doesn't come into force until the 25th!!

but that's just a practice traffic jam. Wait for the real thing  :)

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #91 on: 24 July, 2012, 11:44:10 am »
I'd suspect the lane would be packed with free loading IOC "families" and hangers-on on their way shopping and seeing the sights.

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #92 on: 24 July, 2012, 12:14:44 pm »
The Speshact family cycled from Kennington to Trafalgar Square today. Bloody horrible. Going over Westminster Bridge there's no right turn to the Embankment there, then no bus/cycle right turn on Parliament Sq so you have to go around it. Whitehall stuffed with cars and buses so ended up walking as we neared the square as no room to filter. Coming back via the Embankment - it was stuffed full of traffic with limited space to filter.


Sometimes after work I’m forced to use Whitehall if I want to get north, seeing as Horseguards is closed even to peds.  I always end up having to get off and walk before I make it to Traf sq. I really dislike filtering with limited space anyway, especially as my bike has a bit of a long wheelbase and isn’t what you’d call nippy.

A chunk of my commute is on the ORN so I suppose it could get hairy as all the normal traffic is forced into one lane. I thought about changing my route but I expect all the other traffic will have the same idea.

Re the ped crossings: When I’ve been on cycle protests that (wrongly in my view) didn’t stop at ped crossings (eg the one that went round Parliament square), lots of peds, perfectly understandably, got frustrated, took their chances and crossed anyway. I can see this happening, except it’s a bit more dangerous doing this with motorised traffic than it is with slowly moving bikes.


Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #93 on: 24 July, 2012, 05:39:55 pm »
I'm getting confused.  I've just had an email that tells me:

"Games time travel information 
 
As every day of the Games is different, during the Olympic and Paralympic Games we will be sending you daily email travel alerts with advice about key hotspots that you will need to avoid the following day
"

Wouldn't it be easier if they waited until the Olympics are over and then send us an email to tell us which hotspots to avoid in the past?

Si_Co

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #94 on: 24 July, 2012, 08:54:43 pm »
If everybody avoids the hotspots are they still hotspots?

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #95 on: 24 July, 2012, 08:57:20 pm »
If everybody avoids the hotspots are they still hotspots?

Best ask Michael Barrymore  ;D

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #96 on: 25 July, 2012, 09:18:38 am »
I came across an Olympic lane in the nearside today. There was no sign to say whether it was one of the ones that cycles were allowed in, but I vaguely remembered reading that it was the offside ones they didn’t want us in. I cycled down it anyway, it was only a bizarrely short lane and hardly worth changing lanes for.

Also the entire road where my office is looks like Olympic vehicles only, but I've already checked the website and cycles are allowed.

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #97 on: 25 July, 2012, 09:26:29 am »
I nearly came unstuck, in a flattened kind of way, yesterday.
Going west to east under the Woolwich flyover roundabout which is traffic light controlled, I had a green light.
What I wasn't expecting was the traffic across my path to have had their red light black bagged, and their stop line painted out and converted to a 'give way' line which they were happily ignoring.
No warning of this on approach to the roundabout (which already has one ghost bike attached to the railings).

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #98 on: 25 July, 2012, 02:22:32 pm »
I came across an Olympic lane in the nearside today. There was no sign to say whether it was one of the ones that cycles were allowed in, but I vaguely remembered reading that it was the offside ones they didn’t want us in. ...

I think pretty much all of the Games Lanes which are on the nearside, allow cyclists in them.  As far as I know, the only ones which don't, are in locations where cyclist are forbidden entirely (ie a handful of the seriously major roads, where you probably wouldn't want to cycle, even if it was legal).

I nearly came unstuck, in a flattened kind of way, yesterday.
Going west to east under the Woolwich flyover roundabout which is traffic light controlled, I had a green light.
What I wasn't expecting was the traffic across my path to have had their red light black bagged, and their stop line painted out and converted to a 'give way' line which they were happily ignoring.
No warning of this on approach to the roundabout (which already has one ghost bike attached to the railings).

That sounds extremely odd, probably dangerous, and quite possible illegal.  From your description it sounds like they've converted a light controlled junction into a mixture of light control, and "give way", which is insanely stupid if that's the case, and aside from the dangers to cyclists, is also asking for a motor vehicle to motor vehicle collision as well. :-\ ???

I'm very glad to hear you didn't manage to add to the Ghost Bike entourage.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Re: Cycling in the olympic VIP lanes
« Reply #99 on: 25 July, 2012, 02:49:05 pm »
A swarm of the lanes is being apparently planned on Twitter for tonight.

https://twitter.com/LDNBikeSwarm/status/227742467947102208/photo/1