Clapton Pond Blog

The Hackney Buswall

A reader writes:

There have been roadworks at the corner of Mare St and Amhurst Road for about a week causing gridlock in Hackney - mostly buses. Given that there is regularly a buswall on the Narroway and often backing onto Lower Clapton Road even without roadworks, could it not have been anticipated that this would cause further problems and 1) re-routed some buses 2) have had less buses on this route (shuttle buses?) given that most are pretty empty as people who can have gotten off the buses and walked. I have seem ambulances stuck in complete gridlock a couple of times.

 

Are there any plans to allievate this situation longer term and re-route buses so the Narroway can be a pleasant shopping experience?  More cycling parking would help promote alternative means of getting to the shops and to Hackney Central. I've seen plenty of TFL people with clipboards recently - I look forward to hearing about improvements.

This is becoming quite an issue, one that Dalston resident Andrew Boff AM has raised at City Hall. I've more than once recently jumped off a jammed up bus at the top of the Narroway, taken to the pavement, walked past the "wall" and caught a different bus at the bottom end - in one case of the same number as the one I got off. I'm not sure what the answer is, though. I've mentioned it to TfL myself in the past. Inspired by this reader's letter I will try to pursue it further.

Hackney Buswall

You can't have too many London buses, except occasionally.

Bendy Beauty

From a certain angle, they're rather lovely don't you think?

Hell Is The S2 Bus Route

Reader Rosemarie writes:

"The S2 has to be the most chunderdelic ride in London. I can't think of S2 without gritting my teeth at the thought of its twirly bus route - three loops back on itself. By the time we have twirled around Bow, I feel like heaving. Only the considerable desperation which has driven me to take the bus in the first place enables me to tightly grip the remains of my stomach, close my eyes and try to think calm thoughts, and imagine the Hallelujah moment of finally arriving in Stratford. I hope the S2 gets its RIP a.s.a.p."

"Chunderdelic"? I like it.

New Bus Route

Transport For London explains:

"New route 425 would run between Stratford and Clapton. This would provide new links between Stratford, Bow, Mile End and Clapton. From Stratford Bus Station buses would serve Broadway, Bow Road (Bow Church), Mile End, Grove Road, Lauriston Road, Well Street, Homerton Hospital, Lower Clapton Road and Clapton Pond. Buses would run about every 12 minutes throughout the day."

They're also planning changes to the 276 and 488 (formerly S2) routes. Read all about it here and have your say here. Consultation closes on Friday.

[Thanks to Felix].

Crossrail 2

What is Crossrail 2 again? Ah, here we go:

"The Crossrail 2 scheme, also known as the Chelsea-Hackney line, is planned to link the northern Epping branch of the Central line to the southern Wimbledon branch of the District line with a new build tunnel across central London. The government describes it as 'very much in the long-term planning stage' with 'completion unlikely to be before 2025'. A small team within CLRL currently works solely on the project."

Holding our breath are we?

Eric On Ken

It is reported that Ken Livingstone "is planning to take congestion charging to the final frontier - with a £12million satellite to monitor motorists in the capital from space." Given that this news is brought to us by Metro I think I may suspend belief for the time being. But I do like the response from stalwart Hackney councillor Eric Ollerenshaw:

"Given that Ken already has embassies in Brussels, Moscow, Beijing and Mumbai, I assume space is his final frontier."

Discover more about Eric and his diverse talents here.

UPDATE: This story was on the front page of Metro's senior partner the Standard yesterday. More here.