Gridlock back again across Woolwich and Plumstead
After a relatively calm day yesterday gridlock has arrived again across Woolwich and Plumstead.
Roadworks at a bridge in Plumstead on Pettman Crescent where the one-way system meets the road to Woolwich near Plumstead station caused up to four hours of delays on Monday.
Greenwich council are in charge of work – though seem keen to make it seem TfL are – then changed the timings of temporary lights. I travelled through last night and there was three staff members beside each temporary light.
In a statement they claimed: “We called a meeting with Transport for London (TfL) today and have taken action to improve the situation” which suggest TfL have responsibility. Yet apparently not.
This morning I passed through again and it wasn’t too bad but things appear to have fallen apart again this afternoon.
In an update Greenwich council stated problems were “peak hours” on Monday only which was completely wrong. They also issued no apology.
Blaming TfL
Greenwich have a long history of buck passing and blaming TfL for issues under their control. They’d do it monthly at Highways Committee meetings until the current leader scraped them.
In their response to problems Greenwich noted TfL would monitor traffic lights. However that’s fixed place lights which TfL control, when the big issue is the temporary lights under Greenwich Council’s control.
Once again we’ve seen the council’s political leadership try to shield inept management from senior officers in the highways department.
If you want to know why TfL don’t invest in certain improvements in Greenwich borough – see the contrast each side of the Silvertown tunnel – then the council throwing them under the bus helps explains it.
As it is, some businesses have already ceased delivering to homes. One example is Iceland now cancelling orders for those in Thamesmead as the drive from Woolwich is too unpredictable.
On Monday some businesses couldn’t open all day as staff couldn’t get to work. Ambulances were held up in a heatwave. Greenwich’s leaders? It took them a whole day to respond – then tried to blame others.
Could this have been down to the closure of the M25 near the Dartford crossing because of the lorry carrying tyres catching fire?
No. The closure was north of the river and cars were able to divert to get to the crossing.
Murky is right. This is not TfL’s fault. Their bus routes are in a state of complete disarray. I saw four 53 buses at Blackheath Standard at about 1745 today. They were turning a couple around, I assume in an attempt to try and maintain a service on the route outside the Royal Borough of Greenwich!
From Thamesmead going to Woolwich is bad. You need to wait 5mins for the traffic lights to change. Woolwich to Thamesmead is fine as it moves slowly.
I see that Greenwich Council tried to take advantage of the less busy period which is the holiday season, less people on the street basically. But I think they didn’t want to prolong the renovation of the bridge road due to cost.
I don’t even know what the real issue is. Is the cause of the traffic the traffic light system? Of the fact that many lanes on the road are blocked!??
It’s the timing of the lights. There is a disproportionate amount given to the other sides which don’t need it. Majority of the time should be focused on the road coming from Thamesmead to Woolwich
Its just crazy and unorgnised near pettmen cresent you have the cars and buses frighting to get through one lane then you have 1 traffic light stuck on red so people are waiting without realising you have 1 contractor diverting traffic the buildup of cars and buses is crazy i have never experience this before now the council is trying to shift the blame instead of working together to slove the problem. Monday it took me 3 and a half hours to get home from a 40min trip from work Wednesday i spent just about 2 hours,
We’re gettin it dahn ere near Sarf Street. Us council tenants gettin all the traffic from the LTN them upper middle classes want n LTN doin works at n all. You can ardly get ahrt of ere by car nahadays.
What works are they redoing? Nothing once it’s done you’ll see nothing new but a bit of tarmac laid on the floor. The most brainless people on the planet