The major roadworks at the Bow Roundabout are so nearly complete. We have a reshaped roundabout, we have resurfaced roads, we have repainted lines and we have a new contraflow lane under the flyover.
What we don't have yet are newly-functioning traffic lights. They're all in place and have been for weeks, most subtly repositioned, but remain covered by orange hoods while the temporary lights do all the work instead. It does sometimes feel as if the lads dealing with the traffic lights have had more work to do than the lads drilling, spreading and repaving, and every time I think they must have finished tweaking the electrics a new hole opens up sprouting lengths of orange cable.
The resurfacing works that were meant to take four nights eventually took six, this because the condition of the road surface at the end of Stratford High Street turned out to be much worse than expected. An army of hot machines turned up and a lot of overnight traffic was deflected elsewhere. The end of the former contraflow lane was the last to be flattened and redrawn.
But full resurfacing is now complete, including three marked lanes in a couple of places where there used to be two, which ought to smooth any increased traffic flow when the Silvertown Tunnel opens in a month's time. It means the roundabout is ready to be used in its new configuration just as soon as someone's brave enough to take the cones away, which they haven't yet so lengthy queues continue to filter in single file from all four arms. I spotted all six affected bus routes stuck in a jam past Bus Stop M the other day.
Annoyingly local residents have just been sent a letter saying further work replacing Bow Bridge's expansion joints is due to take place tonight and tomorrow, closing the High Street eastbound between 9am and 5am. Eastbound works will be carried out using lane closures so should be minimally disruptive. But the day everything goes back to normal still isn't clear, with the yellow signs by the road saying 8th March, the workmen's signs saying 9th March and the official online roadworks portal now suggesting, sigh, 15th March.
I'll bring you a full report on the reconfigured roundabout when someone finally takes the covers off the traffic lights and takes the cones away, which should be next week, so there's something to look forward to.
