please empty your brain below

You've actually uncovered TfL's secret plot to make "London's most annoying blogger" finally start to appreciate the blue disabled blobs on the tube map.

I'd watch out if I were you.

Interesting. I suggest you write to TfL about this, or better still get one of your elected representatives to on your behalf (may get a more considered response).
There is a general move away from having secondary signals (as repeaters are known) on the other side if the road and having instead 'closely associated secondary) just a couple of metres downstream of the primary signals (the ones 1-1.5m past the stop line.
If there is no secondary at all you should flag this up urgently, as its presence is mandatory.
If there is one but it is closely associated and you can't see it as a pedestrian, complain. The general move away from them is a safety point, related to the problems caused by right-turning vehicles stranded ahead of the stop line getting confused about what to do if they have passed the stop line but are now faced by a red light. It's also because some drivers watch the other street's lights, and when they see it begin to change, they start moving, pre-empting, sometimes erroneously, their own green light. This change forces them to watch their own signal.
However, in your case, where pedestrians don't have a red/green man it could have particular unforeseen side effects. You need to write and point this out.

It looks like the new traffic lights are a temporary set; perhaps when the final permanent set are fitted they'll include red/green man indicators for pedestrians.

Don't hold your breath though; when very similar remodelling was done at the nearest road junction to me, it was over a year before they fitted the missing pedestrian indicators.


PS apologies for the typos above, tricky to see while typing on a phone

Equally annoying is the fact that the car drivers understand that a green light gives them the right to accelerate into pedestrians crossing the road.

"What are the rules regarding traffic lights?
The obligation on the motorist is to stop, unless the light is green, in which case you may proceed only if it is clear and safe to do so."

I just checked and it appears you need to raise your concerns with something your local council calls "Public Realm" - at Mulberry Place ......

I sympathise. The ones at Mile End are new and you can no longer see the newly angled Red/Green man display on the opposite side of the road which is generally where you are looking because other pedestrians are blocking the view of the shoulder level Red/Gree man on your side. You can't see what the drivers can see either as the traffic lights have "blinkers" on. They got rid of all the barriers though which was a positive.

Good on you DG; its my local road too and I care.

They havent even included the most needed cycle measure either which is the right turn out of Fairfield Road for cyclists onto Bow Road. So if you want to use the cycle superhighway you need to turn left out and then use the Bow Flyover Roundabout to come back which aint the most cycle friendly route.

Looking again at the picture now I am at a PC instead of on my phone, they don't appear to have finished installing the signals yet; the one on the island is indeed a temporary signal and a new signal post will almost certainly be installed on the far island which you will be able to see.

dg writes: The traffic light on the island in the photo is exceptionally temporary, and was only there to control the overnight resurfacing shutdown. There is no facility on the revamped traffic island for a new traffic light. They'd have to dig it up again to put one in. I am willing to bet money that no new traffic light is planned here. I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

Crossing Globe Road by Stepney Green station is already worse, since we don't have a refuge in the middle of the road. I have had many near misses there. If they remove the traffic light that pedestrians can see, I will have to find a different route to work.

Rest assured, life is pretty tough on a bike around there at the moment, too. Motorbikes are being mown down at a frightening rate, as well - the other week there were two serious accidents, one at this junction.

And of course, the ludicrous nature of what has happened: when you get over the flyover into Newham, where not only has there no provision for bikes in all the massive works that have been taking place (Newham mayor vetoed it) but the previous bus lane provision has been reduced.

And I think I've mentioned that the new "Super" cycle highway is worse than the old bike lane, as it no longer provides a clearly marked area that drivers can sensibly avoid.

The issue is not one junction, one road or one cycle lane. It is a short sighted transport policy focussed on car transport to the exclusion of all other road users, public transport, cyclists and pedestrians alike (and no, the superhighway is not proof that is not the case)

"I don't expect you to be interested.."

Got that right.

Signalled juctions with no pedestrian signals shouldn't be installed, I don't understand them...



Come up to 'Electric City' (TCR) to see more cycleway madness. Camden council have been busy putting in contra-flow cycle lanes in one-way traffic streets - Store Street, Bayley Street and Percy Street. The one in Bayley St., going towards Bedford Square goes about 25 yards and 'Ends' - what are cyclists supposed to (legally) do next ?. The one in Percy St. has no signage at the TCR junction to give unsuspecting pedestrians any clue of the existence of a contra-flow. Store St. has a contra-flow cycle way for part of its length, which apparently gives cyclists carte blanche to go the wrong way down the whole street. Camden has done well in putting in cycle routes, but if you're going to do it, do it properly and don't endanger pedestrians !

We're in the Victorian terrace on Fairfield Road right by the crossing - our whole house is shaking at night, pretty impressive. Good thing we're used to it from the bus garage...

The temporary traffic lights have caused mayhem including one placed in the centre of the W/B road and phased to filter traffic right into Fairfield Road but which was halting all though traffic and caused endless hooting all day and night. That's when I found that London Streets' have no 24hr contact number and you end up being put through (eventually) to TFL's premium rate Travel Enquires service.

I'm interested! That's part of my route to McDonalds on the (very rare, of course) occasion that I have a hangover.



That Bayley St contraflow doesn't end, it just switches to the other side of the road.
I've now become a big fan of cycle contraflows after cycling in Paris where they are everywhere.

I wish Barclays mony had been spent on those instead...

On street cycle lanes on busy roads? Whose idea was that again?!

The one that regularly gets me is the Station Road/Greenhill Way junction in Harrow. There's a repeater for the signal for traffic coming out of Greenhill Way on the opposite side of Station Road, but it doesn't include the left turn filter arrow.

Dan - it doesn't switch to the other side of the road, it ends !

I'm certainly interested, and I agree with SELondoner's excellent points.

Interested, I'm with Gordon though, I suspect (hope?) that there will be pedestrian walk-don't walk indicators added to the signals at some point.

And as a cyclist, I agree with Ham that the new CS 2 is very odd, n many places the road isn't wide enough for cars to go in two lanes without having a wheel inside the blue lane, which is rather confusing.

I love the fact that the lane won't open until next summer and already several of the CS2 white painted labels on the lane have already worn off.

Chris - I hope they don't add pedestrian walk-don't walk indicators to the signals, because that would keep the lights at the junction red for longer and greatly slow down the traffic on Bow Road - wholly unnecessarily, I reckon.

As for CS2, I reckon there's enough peculiarities along just the Bow Road stretch to provide me with a full week of blogging later in the summer when it finally opens.

Also live in the Victorian terrace near the lights. Hope they don't instal those dreadful new pedestrian signals at shoulder height, like the ones outside the court in Bow Road. Totally counter intuitive. You're safer as a pedestrian when you're thinking like the motorist. You need to see what the motorist sees.

I also live just off Fairfield Road so I use this junction on foot every day, and yes, it's absolutely lethal in its current form as pedestrians have nothing to tell them when it's safe to cross - you have to guess and hope that someone on a green light you can't see isn't going to hurtle round the corner into you.

And that's without cyclists disobeying the no right turn sign and plouging through crossing pedestrians anyway. I know it's a pain not being able to turn right, but for goodness sake get off and walk to cross Bow Road, rather than riding (quite often on the wrong side of the road) dangerously.











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