New motorway opened in Cricklewood
 

.... well, not quite, but lovely old LB Barnet have resurfaced Lichfield Road
.... I drove down it in something of a daydream and, like the lighthouse
keeper who leapt out of his bed when the foghorn failed to sound, shouting
"What the f*** was that?", I was suddenly shaken back to consciousness by
the non-existent speed bumps. It was just like that special new transport
thrill I got when first travelling on the JLE or Orient Way. Over all too
soon... after 500 metres I crossed the border into LB Ca/\md/\en.

--
We are the Strasbourg. Referendum is futile.

New motorway opened in Cricklewood
 

On Feb 22, 4:18*pm, "Basil Jet"
wrote:

... well, not quite, but lovely old LB Barnet have resurfaced Lichfield Road
... I drove down it in something of a daydream and, like the lighthouse
keeper who leapt out of his bed when the foghorn failed to sound, shouting
"What the f*** was that?", I was suddenly shaken back to consciousness by
the non-existent speed bumps. It was just like that special new transport
thrill I got when first travelling on the JLE or Orient Way. Over all too
soon... after 500 metres I crossed the border into LB Ca/\md/\en.

Though given there's nothing otherwise special about it - it's not a
broad road or anything, it's a fairly typical London side street [1] -
one does rather hope that drivers don't treat it as a Motorway.

Not having really followed such things, to what extent has LB Barnet
actively gone around removing speed bumps? (Street view suggests
Lichfield Rd didn't have speed bumps in summer '08 at least, but there
appears to be one or maybe speed tables.)

Would be interesting to see a statistical comparison and associated
attempt at an objective and holistic analysis of similar types of
streets in London with and without speed bumps - obviously accident
rates, and also other factors such as pollution levels (plus/inc. al
the extra wear and tear on vehicles), but going wider than that too -
things such as the number of cyclists and pedestrians using the roads
(e.g. does the presence or absence of speed bumps encourage/encourage
people using the roads who aren't in a vehicle), total traffic levels
(inc. any shift to public transport on parallel corridors - though
actually attempting to measure that might be nigh on impossible, and
proposing a causal relationship between the two is perhaps tenuous at
best) etc.

Though I'm sure such a thing could easily be criticised for wavering
from a strictly objective path and including subjective biases. Thing
is, my basic take is that such things need to be looked at in the
round - the problem as ever with trying to do that is it can then all
start to get a bit vague and unquantifiable.

My gut instinct is that speed bumps do work to 'tame' urban roads
somewhat, but I'm well aware 'gut instinct' isn't a great way of
deciding policy (but then I'm not a policy maker). But I am open to
all points of view - e.g. the extra pollution (on both a local and
global scale) from vehicles navigating speed bumps is a concern.


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[1] For want of a better term - i.e. it's not a main road, but is
widely used for through traffic.

New motorway opened in Cricklewood
 

On Feb 22, 4:18*pm, "Basil Jet"
wrote:
[..] Over all too
soon... after 500 metres I crossed the border into LB Ca/\md/\en.

"LB Ca/\md/\en"

Oh, something I forgot to add in my first long and burbling reply -
I've failed to decipher the above...

New motorway opened in Cricklewood
 

"Mizter T" wrote in message news:89a438ee-2049-

"LB Ca/\md/\en"

Oh, something I forgot to add in my first long and burbling reply -
I've failed to decipher the above...

speed bumps?

New motorway opened in Cricklewood
 

On Feb 22, 8:48*pm, "David Morgan" wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote in message news:89a438ee-2049-
"LB Ca/\md/\en"
Oh, something I forgot to add in my first long and burbling reply -
I've failed to decipher the above...

speed bumps?

Aha, yes, I see!

Incidentally, the OP's allusion to the M1 continuing south through
Cricklewood hugging the railway was not lost on this reader. I'm glad
the 'London Motorway box' largely remained on the drawing board, but
there are certainly those who would advance its case even today - or
more to the point bemoan the fact it never happened back then. It
certainly makes for an interesting "what if".

A 1960's mock-up of the prospective junction at West Hampstead between
the bottom of the M1 and the unbuilt North Cross Route can be seen on
this webpage (part of a whole set of interesting "histories" about
radical and largely defunct London road plans, the "Ringways"):
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/histories/ring...y1/north.shtml

New motorway opened in Cricklewood
 

On Feb 22, 1:16*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On Feb 22, 8:48*pm, "David Morgan" wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote in message news:89a438ee-2049-
"LB Ca/\md/\en"
Oh, something I forgot to add in my first long and burbling reply -
I've failed to decipher the above...

speed bumps?

Aha, yes, I see!

A 1960's mock-up of the prospective junction at West Hampstead between
the bottom of the M1 and the unbuilt North Cross Route can be seen on
this webpage (part of a whole set of interesting "histories" about
radical and largely defunct London road plans,
the "Ringways"):http://www.cbrd.co.uk/histories/ring...y1/north.shtml

What a nightmare! The Chalk Farm area is very familier to me. I
spent my late teenage years nearby. It is fine the way it is. I am
so glad the Ringway plan was dropped.

New motorway opened in Cricklewood
 

Mizter T wrote:

Not having really followed such things, to what extent has LB Barnet
actively gone around removing speed bumps? (Street view suggests
Lichfield Rd didn't have speed bumps in summer '08 at least, but there
appears to be one or maybe speed tables.)

I don't think they have actively removed any, but I don't think they have
reinstated any when the roads have been resurfaced.

--
We are the Strasbourg. Referendum is futile.