Closed level crossings

[rogerzilla]

Level crossings are no longer built, and NR has removed hundreds over the years for safety reasons.  I went along this lane yesterday, broken in half during the 1970s, with a monumentally unattractive footbridge replacing it.

Stainswick Ln
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zU4rt2VH6wDVsRC76

Turns out this one was mentioned in the HoC by Airey Neave, Thatcher's Northern Ireland enforcer (later assassinated on the ramp of the HoC car park) and local MP.  He misidentifies it as Ashbury Lane (there is no Ashbury Lane) but the description makes it clear this is the same crossing.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1972-03-21a.1423.1

The Knighton lane did get its underpass and the Shrivenham bridge was upgraded and realigned, as per his statement (it was rebuilt again a couple of years ago, for electrification)   However, the ugly footbridge seems to have been the eventual solution to Mr Sheppard's animal movement problem.

Any cut-in-half roads near you?

[PaulF]

No, but I’d ridden past that lane many times and wondered where it went. Time never permitted me to satisfy my curiosity

[perpetual dan]

I can’t picture any cut in half roads (plenty of crossings though), but I can think of two cut in half bridleways. One near Wilmington, where the crossing is a footpath (with awkward barrier for cyclists). The other is a tangent to the topic, being cut in half by the A23 near Newtimber.

[grams]

The A414 cuts Panshanger Lane in half. I suppose it still counts as a level crossing:
https://goo.gl/maps/Tpwnzc8c9uejXV7h9

There's a footpath behind the Fiat with zero aid for pedestrians / cyclists wishing to cross.

The A1 Barnet Bypass cuts diagonally through what used to be a crossroads:
https://goo.gl/maps/8BE1ANdaNzSKmi1w6

For peds and cyclists there's a bridge. Known in our club as Horseshit Bridge. I think the concrete one you dislike is much prettier.

Oh, you were talking about railways?

[Mr Larrington]

Vague recollection of finding one bisected by the line up the Lea Valley while checking a route from central Londonton to the start of LEL 2009.

[grams]

Vague recollection of finding one bisected by the line up the Lea Valley while checking a route from central Londonton to the start of LEL 2009.

Yes. If you walk accross this one it disappears:
https://goo.gl/maps/87sfyxfJ46ACTdak7

There's probably loads along there that have been closed over the years.

Which reminds of this very retro one on the Enfield Town branch, which the Google car must have been one of the last to cross:
https://goo.gl/maps/LeEJCvZNET519JLJ8

It was smashed up by an MM in 2012 and is still "temporarily" closed to cars. You can still walk over it, last I checked.

[citoyen]

St Ann's Rd/Upper St Ann's Rd, Faversham - I'm assuming this was once a level crossing... there's now a footbridge over the railway here, but cars have to go a few hundred metres in either direction for a bridge to get to the other side.
https://goo.gl/maps/2PXsTyVwMUxYgKdx7


St Ann's Rd by citoyen, on Flickr


Upper St Ann's Rd by citoyen, on Flickr

[matthew]

They are in the process of closing the level crossing at Waterloo Road, Wokingham. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4082293,-0.8003125,15z?hl=en-GB

Unfortunately the developers have yet to build the southern distribution road that creates the vehicle bypass so when I start commuting to the office again I shall have to carry my bike up and over the footbridge, or divert via the A329. the diversion is Okish west bound, enter and first exit as everything is accelerating upto motorway speeds, but East bound is nasty as I will need the roundabout and almost all the traffic will still be at motorway speeds and wanting the slip left to bypass the roundabout.

[hellymedic]

For peds and cyclists there's a bridge. Known in our club as Horseshit Bridge. I think the concrete one you dislike is much prettier.

What do you get coming up from Trotter's Bottom?
Horseshit Bridge!

IGMC

[Lightning Phil]

The A414 cuts Panshanger Lane in half. I suppose it still counts as a level crossing:
https://goo.gl/maps/Tpwnzc8c9uejXV7h9

There's a footpath behind the Fiat with zero aid for pedestrians / cyclists wishing to cross.

That’s the A414 bypass built in 1993.  Crossing there is okay on the weekend.  Otherwise there is a paved cycle way further west , off the old rather quiet and pleasant A414 , that takes you from Letty Green to WGC via an underpass.  Then a short section of quiet leafy WGC and you’ll be back in the lanes to Tewin.

[Arellcat]

Gowanhill Farm Road/Newmills Road to the west of Edinburgh was once level crossable, but is now only accessible on foot or bike.

https://goo.gl/maps/DdRuqVAHtBRg9tcaA

Similarly, Baberton Road/Whitelaw Road was once a level crossing – somewhere I have a photo of it back in t'day – but it's long since restricted to foot or bike.

https://goo.gl/maps/GN3VHJUp4ULUuqxPA

While it's not closed closed, the level crossing at Haggerston is for diehard level crossers only.  It's on a rather fast bit of the ECML south of Berwick, and you have to manually open and close the big metal gates as you go.  I only used it once because it was so scary, even if it has a warning siren.

[citoyen]

By Teynham station (near Faversham) there's a house that's just the wrong side of the tracks (literally, probably not metaphorically). It's accessed by a user-operated level crossing. I have always assumed the crossing was retained because it was a dead end, but looking on the map, the road continues and joins up with another road further along, so if you lived there, you could easily go round the long way and use the road bridge - adds a few hundred metres to the journey but I expect that is still quicker than opening and closing the gates. I don't think I've ever witnessed the crossing being used.

In fact, there's a lot more going on over that side of the tracks than I ever realised - several more properties further along the road. You learn something new every day!

There are two automated level crossings locally that I cycle over regularly, on rural lanes. I'm always slightly nervous of using them because of the completely rational fear that one day the automation will break down... on the other hand, the alternative way round in both cases would involve cycling on the A2, and I'd rather take my chances with the trains, to be honest.

[Peat]

Not closed, but not automated either. A request crossing: https://goo.gl/maps/BexhG9okaTM1jqVb9

Last time i came across here, I had pressed the 'Press to Cross' button but nothing happened for a few minutes. Impatient, I picked up the phone and spoke to the signalman who explained that the anticipated train leaving Didcot had been delayed at the platform and the next window wouldn't be for another 7 minutes. I was cold and grumpy so cancelled the request and rode the 2km diversion route instead.

[ian]

There's a couple of level-crossing near me that I guess can't be replaced. The level of driver stupid is dangerously high (it's very common for drivers to simply queue over the tracks). One of the signallers was sacked a year or two back for bashing cars with the barriers to teach them a lesson (I have some sympathy, though evidently it's not allowed).

Then there's stuff like this.

[Peter]

Sickening, Ian.  I had an Astra for about 13 years; it always used to stop whenever I applied the brakes.  I'm wondering how someone can deny driving without insurance?

[L CC]

[I was accused of driving without a license or insurance when several years ago Cambridgeshire police misspelled my surname and so failed to connect a non-existent individual with either my address or my vehicle. I denied the charges.]

[Peter]

Oops, yes, of course - though I think it's meant that the car has no insurance.  I am feeling increasingly like a non-existent person, even though my car is insured...... I think.

[ian]

I seem to remember another story that said he didn't have a licence too (and of course, no MOT). I think at some point it becomes moot, he doesn't care and won't care. Driving bans in such situations are laughable. Knowing the road (it's Salmons Lane here) I can't even think how or the speed he had to be travelling to land the car where he did. I can only assume he took the corner from the A22 at extremely high speed and flipped the car.

Anyway, having spent a fair amount of time waiting for trains and observing the traffic at the crossing in the minutes before the train arrives, queuing across the tracks is a regular event, particularly for cars waiting to get out onto the A22. There's usually an impressive bit of a panic when the lights start to flash, cars trying to get onto the other side of the road and out of the queue.

The crossing is supervised by someone watching the CCTV so they don't bring the barriers down, and instead hold the train further up the track (the irony, of course, is that drivers didn't do this, there would be less of a precautionary wait – not mention extended schedule and waits for train passengers).

It's frightening how stupid some people are.

[citoyen]

I've been beeped at for refusing to enter the crossing when my exit wasn't clear. It's bad enough people taking chances with their own life, but they can fuck off if they want to take the same chance with mine.

[ian]

The thing is that it doesn't get them anywhere quicker, so I'm not clear what they expect to achieve.

[Kim]

The thing is that it doesn't get them anywhere quicker, so I'm not clear what they expect to achieve.

I think it's called Making Progress which is a special sort of driver impatience only loosely related to average speed that you can fail your driving test for not doing enough of.

[nuttycyclist]

Sickening, Ian.  I had an Astra for about 13 years; it always used to stop whenever I applied the brakes.  I'm wondering how someone can deny driving without insurance?

A relative of mine got fined and points for driving without insurance.

They did the correct thing by telling the AA that they were moving.  The AA wrote to their OLD address requesting confirmation of the change of address, and the new occupants put the letter in the bin.  The AA cancelled the insurance due to lack of response.   

My relative believed that they were fully insured, until the police stopped them as ANPR had pinged.

My relative appealed, but got nowhere, so had the points, fine, and inability to get insurance.  The AA admitted their mistake and were the only company that would insure them, at vastly increased premium 


(A few years later, as stupidly the relative also had house insurance with AA, they were burgled and the AA refused to pay out a single penny due to a technicality on how the burglars entered.  My relative locked the assessor out, while his laptop and personal possessions were indoors.   Assessor asked to be let in to collect belongings, and relative said no - they could let themselves in in the same way the burglars did.....   )

(I used to be a AA member, but the one time I needed recovery the b******s charged me £180.  It'd have been cheaper to phone a local garage.)

I refuse to touch the AA with a bargepole now.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I can't think offhand of any roads bisected by closed level crossings round here though I'm sure there must be some. In fact when the Swindon to Gloucester line was redoubled, some of the crossings were updated; the one at Minety was made automatic and the one at Purton got lights. And going back to Airey Neave's farmer, the GWML electrification involved rebuilding cattle bridges as well as road bridges.

There are loads of roads (and even more bridleways and footpaths) cut off by the M4 and M5.

We do have a station cut in half by lack of a footbridge at the village of Pilning. The footbridge between the two platforms was deemed corroded and removed but not replaced, so you can only get a train towards Bristol (I think the official procedure in the other direction is to carry on to Severn Tunnel Junction and return).

[Deano]

Gypsy Lane in Boro has a level crossing closed to cars, it makes it a decent cycling route. It used to be a horrendous rat run.

[L CC]

There's other crossings on that line that are now footpath only, to make up for it.