28 October (Part 2) - Snakes alive!
The bridge over the river Cray in Bexley has faded from most people’s consciousness but
it is still there being regularly shaken by buses and overweight lorries which ignore the 7·5 tonne limit.
Bexley council says it is a police job to enforce the law and understandably the
police say they have more important things to do.
In June the first public sign of
bridge replacement appeared, a planning application,
however it
was withdrawn before the planning committee had a chance to consider it.
Apparently the Environment Agency had voiced some objection. There were
suggestions they didn’t approve of the impact on the water course of the
proposed slightly wider carriageway.
One might have thought that whoever drew up the plans would have consulted the
Environment Agency well in advance, but maybe I am still guilty of crediting these
people with a degree of competence.
Subsequently the planning application was approved along with the required traffic management
plan and I understand demolition work will commence in January.
The picture below was taken last Friday morning by a Bexley resident.
It shows a traffic counting device which is, if I might say so, rather negligently installed (†).
Let’s hope a horsedrawn cart doesn’t pass by and trip. There are loads of stables nearby even though Bexley council managed to
illegally close the Bridleway.
Click image to rotate.
The picture suggests that someone has belatedly decided that before the
bridge is closed it would be a good idea to know how much it is used. Cart before that horse?
Weren’t the numbers obtained before the planning stage? Maybe not.
A slightly wider bridge might help traffic flow just a little but in other
respects the bridge will be of no real benefit to residents. It will still be
subject to the 7·5 tonne limit so those who live on the heavy vehicle diversionary route
will see no benefit. But at least there will be less likelihood of a 132 bus crashing into the river.
† On second thoughts, maybe the overweight vehicles destroyed the cable anchor points.