Tailback builds as Blackwall Tunnel closed
The Blackwall tunnel has been closed this morning in the northbound direction after a vehicle breakdown.
Jams extend back past Sun in the Sand towards Kidbrooke.
Today is also the first full day since signage was (mistakingly) removed at the West Greenwich Low Traffic Neighbourhood. All signs will eventually go, but Greenwich Council removed some before informing local residents of the exact day the would be taken down.
With cameras permanently switched off, the signs use are greatly limited in any case.
It’ll be interesting to see what changes now occur in the former LTN and on boundary roads, as well as areas like Maze Hill and Vanbrugh Hill.
Using the tunnel every day, three things happen on a daily basis that the police need to clamp down on, if they want to keep it running smoothly.
1. Roughly 2/10 drivers have a phone in their hand. The cars with the longest gaps ahead of them are the big giveaways.
2. Lot of drivers flash the car in front of them to speed up in the tunnel. The first curve is very poor especially if a truck or wide-body is taking the turn, and I see a lot of near-misses with drivers who are either unsure or inattentive.
3. Cars running with so little petrol that the exhaust looks like cigarette haze. Far too many drivers leave it too late to fill up.
It doesn’t help that the merge-in-turn sign isn’t displayed until the last few metres, or it would encourage drivers to use all lanes accordingly (the Hackney Wick turn-off has something similar, with two lanes onto Wick Road, but only the left ever filled).