On 10/06/2012 18:51, Robin9 wrote:
Early this morning I went for a drive round Westfield - oh, I beg your
pardon, Stratford City - to familiarise myself with the layout and to
see what the road system around the Olympic site is like. As far as
the Olympic Park is concerned, all the new roads are fenced off
so it is impossible to say which road leads to which venue. I hope
foreign visitors are not hoping that local people will be able to give
them directions.

The roads around Westfield conform to the modern London standard:
traffic lights every few yards, bus lanes, misleading road signs and
inadequate set down points for people who wish to alight from cars.

I learned that London has a new post code: E20. Yes, Westfield and,
I assume, the Olympic Park area, is not E15 (for Stratford) but E20.
No-one told me that. I thought East London's post codes still stopped
at E18 (for Woodford, actually South Woodford) ) Where is E19?

Should your postman have knocked on the door and told you? E20 postcode
for the Olympic Park and Stratford City announced over a year ago, so
residents of Albert Square shouldn't be surprised if their post goes astray:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12789694

E19 is reserved for Boris's upcoming submerged linear city under the
Thames, which is apparently set to solve London's housing problems (yet
to be announced, let alone funded, but rumour has it that whilst
rummaging around in the attic Bozza found some interesting photos of his
old Bully Club days in Oxford, so the Chancellor George Osbourne may be
strangely co-operative...).

The roads around Stratford City seemed ok to me - it's normally good
business to keep one's punters alive and well. I can't recall the road
signs being misleading. I'm not sure what cycle access is like, but
given the enmeshed nature of Stratford City with the adjacent Olympic
Park, I'd think pedestrian and cycle access routes in particular will
develop in time. Did you get the random security search?

FWIW, there'll be no public car access to or car parking at Westfield
from 18 June until after the Paralympics are over (apart from a limited
amount of Blue Badge parking from 18 June to 15 July, albeit by prior
arrangement):
http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/getting-here/car-park-closures

Access from the north at Lea Interchange (Eastway) has already closed
(that was on 6 June):
http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/getting-here/road-closures-diversions