Thames Cable Car?

[clarion]

Consultants employed by TfL have come to the conclusion that a new road bridge at Thamesmead is a baaaad idea (duh! ).

Something I disagreed with Ken on was the need to spend £500m on a road bridge.  But the transport analysts have suggested a cable car as the best option.

It would be significantly cheaper than a bridge, and would greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, encourage cycling and walking, and could be erected in time for the Olympics in 2012

[mark]

Bicycle racks on the cars (like ski resorts do in the summer for the MTB crowd) would be a nice touch.

[clarion]

...was my thought.

[Really Ancien]

...was my thought.

Sorry about that I was looking for a better picture of the suggested solution of combining all those little cars into one big one.
http://is.freefoto.com/images_d/BLOG/26_07_2004.jpg

Damon

[Greenbank]

I'm sure a cable car being smack bang in the Eastern approach to City Airport would be no problem at all. (You'd hope).

The Woolwich Ferry (or foot-tunnel) would only add 2km to your journey (although that's a bit trickier for pedestrians).

[clarion]

A Transporter Bridge gives better clearance for shipping, for a start...

I'm sure a cable car being smack bang in the Eastern approach to City Airport would be no problem at all. (You'd hope).

Is that where it is?  Clever.

Perhaps if we didn't have an airport in the centre of the city for the convenience of the ultra-rich folk who are clearly so much more important than the rest of us scum etc etc etc...

The Woolwich Ferry (or foot-tunnel) would only add 2km to your journey (although that's a bit trickier for pedestrians).

Yeah, but something a bit different could be a tourist attraction..

[ScumOfTheRoad]

There was at one stage some nonsense about a cable car to take gamblers from their offices in Canary Wharf over to the O2 when it was being touted as a casino.
No mention being made of the fact that the journey is one stop on the Tube.

[Greenbank]

A Transporter Bridge gives better clearance for shipping, for a start...

I'm sure a cable car being smack bang in the Eastern approach to City Airport would be no problem at all. (You'd hope).

Is that where it is?  Clever.

Google Maps Satellite View of the area

I'm not sure if that's the exact proposed site but that's the midpoint between Beckton and Thamesmead. The big runway thing just to the left of it is the problem.

Yeah, but something a bit different could be a tourist attraction..

If you moved the London Eye out to Beckton or Thamesmead I doubt it would be anywhere near so busy.

Still. It is better than a 6-lane car bridge. Traffic has a habit of increasing to saturate the road network at peak times. By building another bridge down there you'll only go and encourage the people who don't drive now because of the gridlock to get in their cars.

[rogerzilla]

IIRC the Transporter Bridge is b0rked at the moment, so not the best example 

[ScumOfTheRoad]

If you go cycling down in the Beckton area, near to where the big Tescos is, you can find the start of a road flyover which simply launches into space and stops. This was intended to be the link to the first bridge planned in that area in the 1980s (not sure of my dates). That was the bridge going over to link up to the A2 and having a big road carving through Oxleas Woods, which were thank goodness saved. Oxleas Woods being a good place to go cycling, and there is an excellent cafe at the top of the hill.

[juliet]

I want the bridge between Rotherhithe & Canary Wharf! 

(Yes, it's one stop on the tube, well, sort of, but it's a PITA on foot/by bike because you have to detour either to Greenwich or to Tower Bridge.)

[ScumOfTheRoad]

I want the bridge between Rotherhithe & Canary Wharf! 

The currently proposed location for that bridge is in the little park which was left behind after the Jubilee Line tunnel boring machines were lowered down. There is an air shaft/emergency escape there at the moment. Right near where I live - which would mean walking over to Canary Wharf. If only I had the sense to get a job there, instead of driving all over the country.

I got the ferry boat over to Canary Wharf yesterday, what a lovely way to travel. Then walked up the canal to Queen Mary College where we put in a new supercomputer.
I'd recommend the trip on the ferry, and they do take bikes. But it does cost a few quid (they charged 4.50 return).

[MSeries]

IIRC the Transporter Bridge is b0rked at the moment, so not the best example 

This one ?

[juliet]

I'd like a go on the ferry, but it's not exactly a practical commuting option (cost/speed). 

(Not that I do that commute - doop does, though.  But I'd like to be able to get to the cinema at West India Quays, or the docks that I learnt to sail on, without going right round the houses.)

[Martin]

Not a new idea; This has been going for ages, a genuine Swiss gondola, the spit in the middle of the river which it goes to is the most boring place in New Yoek housing just a psychiatric hospital IIR but it's a fun trip anyway

[nuttycyclist]

If you go cycling down in the Beckton area, near to where the big Tescos is, you can find the start of a road flyover which simply launches into space and stops. This was intended to be the link to the first bridge planned in that area in the 1980s (not sure of my dates). That was the bridge going over to link up to the A2 and having a big road carving through Oxleas Woods, which were thank goodness saved. Oxleas Woods being a good place to go cycling, and there is an excellent cafe at the top of the hill.

Here?

[PhilO]

IIRC the Transporter Bridge is b0rked at the moment, so not the best example 

This one ?

Unfortunately, he must mean this one. 



Unless they're both knackered, of course...

[border-rider]

The Bridge too Far Audax goes from the Newport one to the Warrington one, and back.   Last year it crossed the Newport one on the return.

And there's the Transporter 200 of course.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

If you go cycling down in the Beckton area, near to where the big Tescos is, you can find the start of a road flyover which simply launches into space and stops.

Here?

Yes indeed. Its an interesting area to explore.

[Martin]

but isn't that part of the original approach to the proposed ELRC? IIRC it was all set to go until someone pointed out that the Tall Ships would never be able to get in again after their visit in 1989*; and then City Airport happened and that was that.

* I think a cable car would scupper it too

[clarion]

I didn't know there were any Transporter bridges outside Middlesborough