While sitting in a mile-long queue on Westferry Road today and wondering how it is possible that temporary traffic lights on the Isle of Dogs appear to break down without fail, almost half of London was getting ready to welcome a new roadworks permit scheme.
It was an election pledge from Boris Johnson that utility companies and other organisations should apply for permission before digging the roads up (there are 300,000 holes in London roads every year) and the permit scheme was today launched by 16 London boroughs. If any company digs holes without permission or if they break the conditions of their permit they could be fined.
The scheme will enable Transport for London and the boroughs to coordinate the timing of roadworks and even give companies the opportunity to work on the same sections of road at the same time.
This sounds like a dream for the residents (pedestrians, cyclists and motorists) of the Isle of Dogs but while the list of 16 participating boroughs includes neighbouring boroughs such as Lewisham, Hackney and the City of London, Tower Hamlets is not participating.
So for the moment, the lawless roadworks in East London continue - lets hope that our council signs up to the scheme soon!
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2 comments:
There are 300,000 holes in London roads every year? My god, how it can be?
Our Victorian sewer systems are a great idea. However, they are a little flawed, they should had walkways, so that you walk.....
Also, it then you can have run gas pipes, telephone cables (fibre optics), water pipes and eletric cables.
This way you don't have to dig up the roads. If there is a problem, you go down the tunnel and fix it without digging up the roads.
Also, it would have meant that we could have faster broadband. At the moment, we rely on copper pipes, but it may have been easier to upgrade to fibre optics, if it was not so expensive to dig up the roads.
It might not be practical for existing infrastructure and small roads, but for new developments like Thames Gateway it is the way forward....
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