Monday, July 15, 2019
Tower Hamlets is implementing a Liveable Streets programme in 17 local neighbourhoods "to improve the look and feel of public spaces making it easier, safer and more convenient to get around by foot, bike and public transport." Residents are asked what they'd like to see, then plans are drawn up, trials undertaken and feedback requested before any permanent changes are made. Bow is first on the list with a one week traffic experiment, which launched on Saturday but which has already proved unexpectedly controversial, indeed it's already hit the skids.
To set the scene, Bow is a compact neighbourhood hemmed in by main roads, railways, Victoria Park and the Hertford Canal, with Roman Road at its heart. Driving round the edge is straightforward, except to the north, whereas few convenient accessible roads run through the centre. Several streets have been bollarded, blocked and one-wayed over the years, but those which remain clear are often used as ratruns. The Liveable Streets trial specifically seeks to restrict access to the pink area by cutting the number of access points from six down to four. Coborn Road gets blocked off beneath the railway line to make a north-south cut-through impossible - that's the first of the big red crosses on my unofficial map. The other cross marks a manual bus gate on Tredegar Road, operational between 7am and 8pm, to deflect A12 traffic whilst still letting four bus routes through.
I went out yesterday morning to see what was going on, and immediately noticed a lot more traffic than normal on Bow Road. This was obviously the intention, because the displaced traffic has to go somewhere, but I wasn't overly pleased to have more exhaust fumes outside my own door. Then I went to see what was happening at the Tredegar Road bus gate, and that was messier than I'd expected.
The bus gate comprised 100 metres of road with a moveable barrier at each end. Staff acted fast to allow buses to pass through, which kept them properly busy - by my calculations 44 buses an hour pass this way. But fending off other vehicles proved more difficult, particularly drivers who hadn't read the leaflet dropped through their door or who didn't live locally. Some spotted their normal route was blocked and turned away, whereas others hadn't got the message and blocked the roundabout while they tried to work out what to do next. Some then tried turning back the way they'd come or headed down the nearest cul-de-sac to reverse, while others dutifully slunk off and started out on lengthy detours.
The council's bespoke yellow signs didn't always help. Drivers aren't familiar with what a bus gate actually is, so telling them there's a Bus Gate Ahead only made them dither. Positioning a sign saying Bus Gate Ahead when the bus gate was actually round the corner was a rookie error. Also a contractor's truck which had been parked too close to the junction partially blocked lines of sight, and only one member of staff was focused on telling drivers to go away. I counted ten members of staff in total, which seemed a lot especially when most were only observing the action or interacting with passers-by, but that's Day One for you.
Bow's a wonderfully mixed neighbourhood, both culturally and economically, but the crowd hanging around by the bus gate seemed representative only of a traditional white working class demographic. They stood and glowered, they engaged with council officials and they offered their solidarity to drivers caught up in this shenanigans. One grandfather/grandson combo waved signs they'd drawn on the back of a packet of Coco Pops, directing folk to a petition they'd started on the internet. Nothing about the gathering was unpleasant or discourteous, at least not while I was there, but you could tell they'd assembled to show their disapproval of a proposal foisted on them from on high.
Over at Coborn Road things were calmer. This isn't a bus route, thanks to the low bridge, so this road could be properly sealed off for the benefit of the community. A stripe of astroturf had been provided, scattered with straw bales and empty deckchairs, and a table football game placed under the railway. I understand a bouncy castle turned up later. A sign plonked in front of a row of potted shrubs read Road Closed, with Except Cycles signed separately alongside in case the target audience thought they were banned too. Immediately to the south of the barrier the road was quieter and jaywalkable, but bemused drivers and erratic vehicles made things less attractive to the north.
My experience of Day One, based on very limited observation, was 'good try but could do better'. The experience of others became clear later in the evening when the Mayor of Tower Hamlets unexpectedly tweeted that the trial was to be suspended.
Re the bow liveable streets pilot, we are grateful for the residents feedback on the bus gate trial at the eastern end of Tredegar Road and I have instructed that it is suspended to consider outcomes of today, and prepare better proposals. Still thinking about coborn road.
— Mayor John Biggs (@MayorJohnBiggs) July 13, 2019
Some residents were jubilant.
• THE TRIAL BUS GATE IS CALLED OFF! ALL DONE IN ONE DAY! CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE TOWER HAMLETS RESIDENTS WHO STOOD UP AGAINST COUNCIL BULLYING.
• finally, someone is seeing some sense. I know no one likes traffic, but moving it away from one street onto others already busy streets is not only unfair, it does not work.
• Heads should roll really over how poorly planned these proposals were thought through. You have caused massive disruptions to people lives today, but you will just cover each other back I suppose.
• Don’t even think about doing anything to coborn road, you lost today and you will lose again four businesses down that road and you will kill them all,is that what you want ?
Others were aghast.
• Shocking that you have caved into the road lobby after less than one day. Opposite of leadership.
• Mayor, please reconsider. Any new car reduction scheme takes at least a year to bed in. People don’t like to change behaviour’ in this country you have to force them kicking and screaming. Our children’s lives depend on it.
• Closing access to the A12 was punchy but worth trying. I and many of my neighbours fully support the trial and the closures and are very very disappointed it didn't last a single day.
• Surrendered at first hurdle to the elitist blackcabs using our residential streets as toxic ratruns. Why do the imprisoned poisoned kids of Tower Hamlets have less voice than rich elite blackcabusers? @StopKillingCycl
The taxi lobby were particularly gleeful to see the trial ended, considering any attempt to seal off roads as a direct threat to their livelihoods. They'd also made their presence felt at the bus gate during the day, and were threatening to continue their protest throughout the week. The cycling lobby were angry and frustrated, considering any attempt to revoke environmental measures as witless capitulation. Some even demanded that additional entry roads be closed, despite the fact this'd make Bow vehicle-unfriendly to the point of impracticality. Other residents merely sighed at the fault line opened up amongst the community, and wondered why so much money had been spent for so little result.
Very disappointing that you caved in so quickly. You didn't get any useful data from the trial, yet stoked up so much anger and resentment in those few hours that you will now struggle to bring in anything but superficial changes. It's been a real lose-lose situation.
— Matt Hewitt (@matth81) July 14, 2019
The Mayor has since confirmed that the current trial will not continue and that poor planning was to blame, which would certainly match with what I saw on the day. Before naysaying meatheads cheer too loudly, he also added that no change is not an option, so Bow will somehow get its Liveable Streets. Personally I suspect the Coborn Road closure will return, because that's ultimately just a few bollards, but a bus gate is a resource-hungry monster and will prove too impractical to implement. Just don't expect Bow's car owners to go down quietly.
