|
No lighting on Westway
I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all
the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. Does anyone know if they are just replacing the lamps, or if the lack of lighting is permanent? Either way it's daft. If they are replacing the lamp columns, why not replace a few at a time rather than leaving the whole road unlit? If it's permanent, presumably that would be to reduce light pollution for nearby residents. But a 6-lane 50-mph ex-motorway is not the best place for that sort of exercise. -- Richard J. (to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address) |
No lighting on Westway
Richard J. wrote:
I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. Maybe something large is being brought into London, like a french animatronic elephant. |
No lighting on Westway
In message of Sun, 4 Feb 2007
03:59:24 in uk.transport.london, John Rowland writes Richard J. wrote: I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. Maybe something large is being brought into London, like a french animatronic elephant. I can't be bothered finding a URL for this story but believe that one column fell in a recent storm and all were felled as a health and safety measure. I look forward to mal-feasance or is it mis-feasance or non-feasance cases when lack of lighting contributes to accidents. -- Walter Briscoe |
No lighting on Westway
On Sun, 4 Feb 2007 John Rowland wrote:
Richard J. wrote: I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. Maybe something large is being brought into London, like a french animatronic elephant. It's been like this for some time now: I noticed it about three weeks ago. -- Thoss |
No lighting on Westway
"John Rowland" typed
Richard J. wrote: I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. Maybe something large is being brought into London, like a french animatronic elephant. The lighting columns are very short anyway in the region of Northolt Aerodrome. -- Helen D. Vecht: Edgware. |
No lighting on Westway
In reply to news post, which Richard J.
wrote on Sun, 4 Feb 2007 - I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. I believe corrosion was found in some of them, so they took them all down -- Matthew P Jones www.ThisIsAmersham.com www.amersham.org.uk www.metroland.org.uk Don't reply directly it will not be read. You can reply to knap AT Nildram then dot co then dot uk |
No lighting on Westway
|
No lighting on Westway
On 4 Feb, 16:35, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:
In article , (Richard J.) wrote: I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. Does anyone know if they are just replacing the lamps, or if the lack of lighting is permanent? Either way it's daft. If they are replacing the lamp columns, why not replace a few at a time rather than leaving the whole road unlit? If it's permanent, presumably that would be to reduce light pollution for nearby residents. But a 6-lane 50-mph ex-motorway is not the best place for that sort of exercise. Something similar appears to have happened in Camden. Nearly all the columns were cut down like than in Tavistock Place recently. Nw a few new, smaller, columns have been erected so it's not in total darkness. Looks like some Health and Safety panic to me. -- Colin Rosenstiel Two sides to that argument of course - perhaps the design of said columns has been found to be structurally flawed after corrosion (i.e. rust) has affected them, and one has fallen down somewhere. Plus a crash on an elevated roadway such as the Westway could be pretty ugly. Health and Safety panic vs sensible precautions... Anyway I think prefer the Westway like it is - you can see the lights of London town as you 'fly' through west London rather than merely drive under the glare of harsh sodium lights - somehow it appeals to my romanitic side! There's so much ambient light that it's far from pitch black anyway. |
No lighting on Westway
|
No lighting on Westway
On 4 Feb, 18:12, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:
In article .com, (Mizter T) wrote: On 4 Feb, 16:35, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote: In article , (Richard J.) wrote: I drove along Westway (A40) on Thursday evening, and noticed that all the lamp columns in the central reservation had been cut down, leaving stumps about 3 metres high with the tops covered over with plastic. This means that Westway is currently unlit apart from the slip roads. Does anyone know if they are just replacing the lamps, or if the lack of lighting is permanent? Either way it's daft. If they are replacing the lamp columns, why not replace a few at a time rather than leaving the whole road unlit? If it's permanent, presumably that would be to reduce light pollution for nearby residents. But a 6-lane 50-mph ex-motorway is not the best place for that sort of exercise. Something similar appears to have happened in Camden. Nearly all the columns were cut down like than in Tavistock Place recently. Nw a few new, smaller, columns have been erected so it's not in total darkness. Looks like some Health and Safety panic to me. Two sides to that argument of course - perhaps the design of said columns has been found to be structurally flawed after corrosion (i.e. rust) has affected them, and one has fallen down somewhere. Plus a crash on an elevated roadway such as the Westway could be pretty ugly. Health and Safety panic vs sensible precautions... Anyway I think prefer the Westway like it is - you can see the lights of London town as you 'fly' through west London rather than merely drive under the glare of harsh sodium lights - somehow it appeals to my romanitic side! There's so much ambient light that it's far from pitch black anyway. A fairer point on a road like Westway than on a local street like Tavistock Place with much less alternative lighting and cyclists trying to negotiate hard-to-see obstacles. Isn't it just typical of modern risk assessment that other risks like that are completely ignored? As a cyclist I'd have to agree with the broad thrust of your argument. I'll make a detour next time I'm around there after dark and see for myself - I'll be sure to wear my high vis though! Just got me thinking, the fatalities and injuries on the roads during the blackout must have been numerous, though obviously the risk- assessment was a rather different calculation then! And of course there's the pea-soupers... |
No lighting on Westway
In message . com,
Mizter T writes Just got me thinking, the fatalities and injuries on the roads during the blackout must have been numerous, though obviously the risk- assessment was a rather different calculation then! Very true, and the statistics were alarming: 9169 road deaths in 1941, 38% higher than the immediate pre-war figure and almost three times the present day figure. And this despite a 20mph limit after dark, few private cars on the roads, and petrol rationing that amounted to a limit of 7 miles per day on average (in fact, petrol for private motoring was effectively banned in 1942). And of course there's the pea-soupers... I can *just* remember the pea-soupers of the 1950s. I doubt if there were many fatalities, as it was often impossible to proceed at more than a slow walking speed. In fact (just to keep this vaguely on-topic) I can remember that my grandfather, who worked at Monument station, found it quicker to walk the 12 miles to work on several occasions, rather than to attempt to use his LT priv ticket. Those were the days ... -- Paul Terry |
No lighting on Westway
On Sun, 4 Feb 2007 18:12 +0000 (GMT Standard Time), Colin Rosenstiel wrote:
A fairer point on a road like Westway than on a local street like Tavistock Place with much less alternative lighting and cyclists trying to negotiate hard-to-see obstacles. Aren't bicycles in London requierd to have headlights? -- jhk |
No lighting on Westway
On Feb 4, 7:45 pm, Paul Terry wrote:
In message . com, Mizter T writes Just got me thinking, the fatalities and injuries on the roads during the blackout must have been numerous, though obviously the risk- assessment was a rather different calculation then! Very true, and the statistics were alarming: 9169 road deaths in 1941, 38% higher than the immediate pre-war figure and almost three times the present day figure. And this despite a 20mph limit after dark, few private cars on the roads, and petrol rationing that amounted to a limit " of 7 miles per day on average (in fact, petrol for private motoring was effectively banned in 1942). And of course there's the pea-soupers... I can *just* remember the pea-soupers of the 1950s. I doubt if there were many fatalities, as it was often impossible to proceed at more than a slow walking speed. In fact (just to keep this vaguely on-topic) I can remember that my grandfather, who worked at Monument station, found it quicker to walk the 12 miles to work on several occasions, rather than to attempt to use his LT priv ticket. Those were the days ... -- Paul Terry "I'm up and down the Westway, in an' out the lights What a great traffic system - it's so bright I can't think of a better way to spend the night Then speeding around underneath the yellow lights" London's Burning - The Clash Not any more it would seem Neill |
No lighting on Westway
On 4 Feb, 21:45, "Neillw001" wrote:
On Feb 4, 7:45 pm, Paul Terry wrote: In message . com, Mizter T writes Just got me thinking, the fatalities and injuries on the roads during the blackout must have been numerous, though obviously the risk- assessment was a rather different calculation then! Very true, and the statistics were alarming: 9169 road deaths in 1941, 38% higher than the immediate pre-war figure and almost three times the present day figure. And this despite a 20mph limit after dark, few private cars on the roads, and petrol rationing that amounted to a limit " of 7 miles per day on average (in fact, petrol for private motoring was effectively banned in 1942). And of course there's the pea-soupers... I can *just* remember the pea-soupers of the 1950s. I doubt if there were many fatalities, as it was often impossible to proceed at more than a slow walking speed. In fact (just to keep this vaguely on-topic) I can remember that my grandfather, who worked at Monument station, found it quicker to walk the 12 miles to work on several occasions, rather than to attempt to use his LT priv ticket. Those were the days ... -- Paul Terry "I'm up and down the Westway, in an' out the lights What a great traffic system - it's so bright I can't think of a better way to spend the night Then speeding around underneath the yellow lights" London's Burning - The Clash Not any more it would seem Neill Ha, very apt. Though, as I said earlier, I rather demur from Clash's love of being under the yellow lights. They will be back shortly I'm sure, so until then I'll enjoy speeding around under the stars. Well, the very few that remain visible in London. Though I don't have a car of my own to do the speeding in. Not that I speed anyway. ;) |
No lighting on Westway
|
No lighting on Westway
|
No lighting on Westway
On 4 Feb, 20:53, Jarle H Knudsen wrote:
Aren't bicycles in London requierd to have headlights? Yes, however of them will never venture outside London, therefore it's better to fit high-intensity lights which are designed to be seen, but not so good at lighting the way when the road is unlit. |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 05:55 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2006 LondonBanter.co.uk