The major roadworks at the Bow Roundabout, which were supposed to have finished by now, have not finished. We had high hopes because the yellow signs on the approach to the junction used to say'Improvement Works Bow Road Roundabout 30 Sep - 04 Feb', but with a few days to go they were replaced with new signs displaying a later date.
It's a bit naughty to pretend the roadworks started in January when in fact they started on 7th October, and it's a bit unfortunate that the new end date is 8th March because that suggests a five month duration rather than the proposed four. Expect another four weeks of coned-off carriageways, long queues of traffic and displaced buses, alas.
In good news all the drilling and reshaping is now complete. The roundabout now has a subtly different outline, on one side three lanes wide, all fully kerbed and tarmacked. As far as I can see just one patch of pavement remains unsurfaced, on the inside of the roundabout facing McDonald's, where the last of the utility hatches has been surrounded by tactile paving. It's been fascinating watching this transform from 'brick-lined hole in the ground' to 'lots of orange pipes thrust into the earth so the traffic light cables can communicate' to 'hidden vault covered by inspection cover'. These roadworks have provided considerable employment for companies specialising in temporary and permanent traffic light systems, should that be a career avenue you've never previously considered.
That is quite a shanty town growing under the flyover, now comprising a green tent and a substantial split-level wooden lean-to plus occasional tables, but I don't think it's where the contractors spend the night.
In further good news the ridiculous fiasco whereby Thames Water coned off Bus Stop M lasted only two days. They didn't fix the splashpool in the bus stop bypass so passing bikes are still diverting onto the bus stop island to avoid sending rainwater everywhere, but it's better than swiping another lane of traffic for a cycle diversion nobody'll use. I hope someone returns to sort the drains out properly because no Cycle Superhighway should include a permanent puddle.
