Coronavirus

Pop Quiz: Temporary road closures in Tower Hamlets during Covid-19

July 28, 2020
Mark Baynes

There are 178.5 miles of roads of all types in Tower Hamlets, (9,205 miles in all the London boroughs before someone asks…).

In all these 178.5 miles of roads how many do you think were closed to vehicular traffic due to the need for social distancing and to reduce the danger to people travelling amidst the Covid-19 pandemic?

5 roads? 10 roads? 30 roads?

Nope. One.

If you guessed correctly here comes the Bonus Question!

Q: Name that road!

A: Skew Bridge, E3.

Which is interesting do you not think?

Of all the roads in all the bits of Tower Hamlets only one little teeny weeny road gets closed because to allow it to remain open would be a risk to public health.

One person to ask about this is Chris Harrison, Liveable Streets Technical Director, who is on secondment from PCL Consult, the ‘Liveable Streets’ people.

Or one of the five Tower Hamlets Labour councillors who live in the area.

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4 thoughts on “Pop Quiz: Temporary road closures in Tower Hamlets during Covid-19”

  1. Let’s not forget that on (Sunday) car free day 2019 the Council took the groundbreaking decision to close another road in Tower Hamlets…the market area of Roman Road (about 200 m). Closed for a few hours to demonstrate the Council’s commitment to going car free!

    A few months earlier in 2019, the Tredegar Road Bus Gate trial was also cancelled on day one…

    The Skew Bridge closure stands out as a sore thumb.

    1. Thanks for this, all interesting stuff. Do you have any links to coverage of Roman Road market being closed and the Tredegar Road Bus Gate trial please?

      1. Hi,

        this is the link for the Car Free Day web page:

        https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/News_events/2019/September_2019/Roman_Road_at_the_heart_of_Car_Free_Day.aspx

        ‘More than 20km (12.4 miles) of roads will be closed to motor vehicles across London as the capital joins cities around the world to enjoy its public spaces…Tower Hamlets Council will be closing a 400m stretch of Roman Road in Bow’

        And Bow Bus Gate web page:

        https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/News_events/2019/July_2019/Liveable_Streets_road_closure_trial_in_Bow.aspx

        John Biggs, Mayor of Tower Hamlets said: “Our Liveable Streets programme is about making your neighbourhood a more pleasant place to live, work and visit. The feedback we’ve had from our consultation with residents is that in general they support plans to prevent rat runs on roads and so we will be carrying out a traffic management trial for a period in Bow.

        “We need to achieve the right balance and will see how the trial works while continuing to listen to the views of our residents. I am aware that some residents will be inconvenienced by parts of these temporary changes. After the trial we will return to the old layout and assess the evidence.”

        also here:

        https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/News_events/2019/July_2019/Statement_Liveable_Streets_road_closure_trial_in_Bow.aspx

        lots of coverage in local press and websites.

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