Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN’s)

During the Covid chaos Greenwich council introduced LNT’s into the equation to control traffic for some unknown reason. This I cannot fathom out as when we were all in lockdown it was noted how the air quality improved dramatically as no one was driving. So why did we need low traffic neighbourhoods or LTN’s for short.

Greenwich seem to have jumped on the bandwagon that other London boroughs were partaking in.

You may be shouting at the screen right now shouting “you anti-social right wing petrol head” but you could not be more wrong. I am all for well thought out reasonable LTN’s but Greenwich council plans to cut off traffic flowing from the top of Greenwich Park along the A2, down to Trafalgar Road and the centre of Greenwich, during rush hour  will have to travel as far as the  of Greenwich South Street or Greenwich High Road and come back on yourself.

Anyone wanting to get to anywhere within the forbidden zone during peak rush hour will have to be registered with the council as a resident within the LTN.

Forget your early morning or evening delivery for your online shopping site if you live in the LTN. You will have to wait. They want to deliver to you but can’t do it within your rules.

I’m sure most of the people living within the LTN’s are all for it, If I lived in one so would I, but it does have a downside to other people and I’m not just talking about the local commuters who may have no choice but to take their vehicles with them. Not everyone can just hop on to public transport.

The other people that I am talking about are the people that live to the west of the A102 otherwise known as the Blackwall tunnel approach. The traffic that would have probably have gone by Coombes Hill, Royal Hill, Westcombe Hill, Vanbrugh Hill, or Maze Hill will have to find new rat runs originating in or around Charlton.

Unfortunately, I am one of the people affected by the Charlton rat runs and at the moment the traffic that uses Victoria Way is manageable and not too bad, unless it is a Charlton Athletic match day, then it becomes hell.

Even when there is no match on, during the rush hour it can get busy and one of the things that make it a nightmare to drive down is the weak railway bridge that was made into a single lane road between the barriers.

The rules of the road dictate that cars driving up a hill will always have priority of vehicles coming down the hill, and this is how the signage on the road is set out. This rule is also regularly ignored by arrogant drivers who either do not know this or are of the opinion that the rules only apply to other people and not them.

With regular frequency you will get road rage and a belligerent arsehole who will drive down ignoring the signs and when his path is blocked by the vehicle in the right will shout obscenities and threaten the other driver and occasionally it gets physical.

This will only get worst when all this diverted traffic is pushed down roads like Victoria Way or Charlton Church Lane, which are roads that cannot cope with mass two-way traffic.

The council know this will happen as they have stated that they will be monitoring the situation. This is council speak for, they know what will happen but are not going to do anything and cannot be bothered.

 Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnel Woes

Coming next year most Greenwich  motorist will be hit with the realisation that getting from the South to East London and visa versa is going to get expensive, especially  if you commute via the Blackwall tunnel.

Peak hours weekdays northbound 6am – 10am it will cost £4

Peak hours weekdays southbound 4pm – 7pm it will cost £4

There will be an off-peak rate of £1.50 at all other times between 6am and 10pm, including at weekends, but only if you register with Autopay. If you don’t register with Autopay you will be charged £4, the same as peak weekday times.

There will be no charge between 10pm and 6am on any day of the week.

If you ride a motorbike, moped or motor tricycle the charge will be £1.50 for off peak and £2.50 for peak hour rates.

For large vans the charge will be £2.50 off peak and £6.50 for peak hours.

HGV will be charged £5 off peak and £10 peak hours.

These prices are for each time you pass through the tunnels so a typical car commuter driving to work will have to fork out £8 each day, a van driver will have to fork out £13 each day and the HGV driver will have to pay £20 each day.

This is just for the tunnels, if you work in the centre of London you will have to also pay the £15 congestion charge and maybe the ULEZ charge if you drive a diesel or non-compliant vehicle and don’t even get me started on the extortionate London parking charges.

I believe that on the first few days of the Tunnel charges coming into effect thousands of drivers will try and take the Rotherhithe tunnel or Tower Bridge route but they will give up after they realise the whole area  will be grid locked.

Another thing that I suspect will happen is that a small minority may try and get around the number plate recognition  system by attaching false number plates to their vehicles in order to divert the payments to some poor innocent victim who will have to pick up the tab.

The act of cloning went up by 80% after the introduction of the ULEZ expansion, so this is just another incentive for the low life to pass the cost to some other motorist.

If you fail to pay on time due to not registering, or you are some poor bugger who has had their number plate cloned the you will have to pay up a whopping £180 , reduced to £90 if you cough up within two weeks of getting the charge.