please empty your brain below
Are you sure the Stratford one way system dates from 1967?, bus station Mk1 (under the car park) only opened in June 1973 - prior to that they still terminated in Stratford Broadway as they had always done (so couldn't have done so if there had been a gyratory), and buses departing bus station Mk1 only followed the gyratory from September 1980 (this was when bus station Mk1 was first served by the 25 towards Ilford, prior to this it ran direct via Stratford Broadway as it had always done), the contraflow lane for buses departing bus station Mk2 (on the same site) dates from June 1995.

The mini one way system around the church had 'always' been there.

Athol Street | 02.11.16 - 7:41 a.m. | #

I'm sure Bert will be thrilled with today's post.

Thanks for the heads up, though. I often get frustrated with the gyratory when on my bike - it's currently two-way for cyclists *some* of the way round, but it's not very consistent.

martin | 02.11.16 - 7:56 a.m. | #

At a high level this looks similar to the replacement of the Lewisham roundabout with the 'Lewisham Gateway'.

CG | 02.11.16 - 8:08 a.m. | #

So the shops will still be "islanded" from the stations by the roads, but now they will all be two-way instead of one. This is an improvement how, exactly?

timbo | 02.11.16 - 8:11 a.m. | #

Oh! Stratford! Now I feel I oughta
Go and see you Cultural Quarter
Shall I go now so I can see
Your soon-no-more Gyratory?

Or shall I wait until the day
When all your roads become two-way?
Shall I not pass the twisty clock
Or mighty Westfield, where crowds flock?

Decision made. It's time to go
From (where else?) bus stop M in Bow
To get, before it is too late
Some culture on the A118.

W. T. McGonagall | 02.11.16 - 8:19 a.m. | #

Methinks this is a scheme to 'encourage' traffic not to go via Stratford. It might also discourage Westfielders not to venture on to the 'island'.

B | 02.11.16 - 8:49 a.m. | #

So they want to improve access to the town center by converting a busy one-way road system to a two-way road system - not sure how that achieves the objective. Surely this would be the time to pedestrianise the top-left corner between the station and the town centre, so joining them together ?

Jimbo | 02.11.16 - 9:18 a.m. | #

Thanks for the heads up on this. I live locally and could easily have missed out on hearing about it.

It sounds good at face value apart from the changes to the coaches - the West Ham fans get in the way enough as it is, I don't want them getting in the way of the National Express service too!

Lucy | 02.11.16 - 12:57 p.m. | #

I agree with Jimbo, make the top-left corner roads/area after the bus station as far as Angel Lane by the Picture House pedestrian and no traffic.
Before Westfields there was a subway from the station to the Shopping centre/market, then they put a roof on the shopping centre and the subway was removed, and since Westfield opened who, arriving by train, wants to cross a busy road to get to the old centre. If the top left was pedestrianised and landscaped it would be a nice way to join the two centres.
If I recall there was a butterfly park and a Job Centre just before the bus station back then. Long gone. I live in West London so maybe some older East Londoners remember more how it was.

John | 02.11.16 - 1:01 p.m. | #

Thanks for the tip off about this. It's a shame that the bus changes are not evident - even at a draft state - as that will be an important issue for a lot of people. People will want to understand if they're going to have longer or shorter trips through the town centre and/or gain access to the tube stn where none is available today.

While I suspect you are right about the banned turns being an issue I expect the traffic modelling will have shown that if turns are permitted then there will be queues blocked back across junctions. While the gyratory is not particularly pleasant it is able to handle most of the traffic that passes through it without excessive queues. The future layout quite clearly reduces capacity in several critical locations which will cause far more queues than now. Those will bog down the buses as will the extra raised junctions that are planned. The thought of being bashed up and down in a bus over these wretched junctions fills me with no delight. They should be banned.

PC | 02.11.16 - 1:04 p.m. | #

East London is forever; buses should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die.

Bert | 02.11.16 - 1:50 p.m. | #

The current road layout is awful. It has a motorway "feel", which encourages many drivers to drive at speed. Two way running will reduce speeds - a good thing in such a crowded area.

IslandDweller | 02.11.16 - 1:53 p.m. | #

For a lesson in "how not to do it" go to Lewisham. The new scheme has made congestion worse, removed bus stops, put pedestrian crossings away from "desire lines" and absolutely zero cycle lanes. It's a disaster.

IslandDweller | 02.11.16 - 1:55 p.m. | #

It's not a bad idea at all, though the devil will be in the detail as ever. Certainly the current situation isn't particularly user-friendly - getting on a westbound bus on the Broadway you often see confused passengers asking the driver where the station is.

I'm surprised at the removal of the Old Town Hall stop though - it's a very well-used stop, and useful to catch/alight from buses like the 276 coming from the West Ham direction which don't call at the preceding stop on the Broadway.

Moogal | 02.11.16 - 2:02 p.m. | #

Consultation reply already done. My major comment was regarding the northbound traffic emerging from Tramway Avenue. As soon as the lights turn to Green the lights around the corner about 15 metres away are Red. Consequently hardly any traffic gets moving, this causes severe queues at peak times in West Ham Lane/Tramway avenue.

To resolve this my suggestion put forward is that northbound traffic should be routed via West Ham Lane pass the Old Town Hall as it used to be years ago. Southbound via Tramway Avenue.

Probably far too sensible for anti-car Newham Council though.

Agent Z | 02.11.16 - 4:22 p.m. | #

There's a similar plan to turn the Wandsworth one way system into two way, although this will also include a small part of the southern section of Wandsworth High Street being completely closed to traffic. This is to allow the Southside Shopping Centre (aka the Arndale) to connect up with the old Ram brewery site currently being redeveloped along the Wandle.

JD | 02.11.16 - 5:36 p.m. | #

I wonder know how trying to look 2 ways is more safer to looking at one? For example, at Meridian Square, and I don't see the need to widen it. It is very wide already and people get lost in the middle.

Is there really any benefit for traffic coming out of West Ham Lane with all the banned turns, including from The Broadway to The Grove? That banned right turn is because of cyclists getting knocked out when continuing onto Romford Road. With band turns at West Ham Lane, I think it is wanting to make emphasis on Vicarage Lane.

Must admit, I like the fact Coaches are moving to Stratford City. My coach to Yarmouth went via the Olympic Village anyway. But I forgot about West Ham matches, that is making very concerned about them.

It is hopefully going to be beneficial to bus services. But due to banned turns and bus stop location, I think they are going to be worse. The addition of a southbound bus stop towards Plaistow will make it more difficult than now trying to get out of Stratford Centre. Also, the position of the new southbound bus stop concerns me. I wish I knew the bus changes before making a comment, but hopefully, all routes will stop at the bus station in both directions and have common routes with each other, e.g, 241 / 308, 425 / D8, 25 / 86, 69 / 257.

And Cyclists always benefit of course. Not everyone wants to cycle, and they made changes to help them already that they don't use, such as outside Stratford Library.

neyagness | 02.11.16 - 7:31 p.m. | #

The cycle lane outside Stratford Library is probably ignored because, like many cycle facilities, it doesn't join up very well with the adjacent roads. In fact, looking at it on Street View, it's not clear how you're supposed to get to it if you're travelling eastbound, or how you're supposed to get back off it at Park Avenue.

Hopefully the changes will lead to some more joined-up facilities which will actually get used.

martin | 02.11.16 - 7:52 p.m. | #

The council now have a video on YouTube with plinky-plonky music, showing a visualisation of the proposed changes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok5rObOnOps

martin | 15.11.16 - 9:38 a.m. | #











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