TfL is getting fancy – weekly disruption notices now include information beyond just the Tube lines such as roads and those blue hire bikes (do I have to advertise the Barclays label??). Here’s the list of the Tube work for this weekend. Embankment partial closure continues through early November and changes to Covent Garden thru mid-November.
Central line – Marble Arch to Liverpool Street
Metropolitan line – Wembley Park to Northwood/Uxbridge
Northern line – Camden Town to Edgware
Piccadilly line – South Harrow to Uxbridge (this will NOT affect service to Heathrow)
DLR – beginning 23.00 Saturday thru Sunday – Bow Church to Stratford
London Overground – Sunday only – Camden Road to Richmond and Shepherd’s Bush to Willesden Junction.
Southall buses – Sunday, from about 9:00 until 19:00, will be diverted due to a religious procession.
Long term change concerning Embankment station – Bakerloo and Northern line trains not stopping from Wednesday 8 January until early November 2014 due to replacement of four escalators.
Long term change for Covent Garden station (this will confuse the tourists!) – Exit only until mid-November. Also, on Saturdays and Sundays, westbound trains not stopping.
This is to replace two lifts (elevators).
Roadway bottlenecks include the Haymarket area due to improvement works. lane closures from 08:00 on Saturday until 18:00 on Sunday on Buckingham Palace Road at the junction with Grosvenor Gardens. A week of lane restrictions and banned turns from 06:30 on Sunday until 23:59 on Sunday 13 April on Upper Richmond Road, at the junction of Sheen Lane. As mentioned in the Tube updates, Southall will be a headache for drivers on Sunday, from 09:00 until 18:00 at Havelock Road, Park Avenue, King Street, South Road, High Street, Uxbridge Road, Green Drive and Avenue Park due to that religious procession. Finally, on Sunday – Putney, Hammersmith and Chiswick Bridges will be busier than usual from 15:00 until 19:00 due to an event on the River Thames.
And, if you were thinking you’d save some headache by grabbing a Boris-bike, you’re mostly OK except for these bits – Bruton Street docking station is partially suspended until the end of the year due to building work in the area. Holborn Circus docking station is out of service while Westminster City Council carries out road safety improvements. Wansey Street and Waterloo Place docking stations are also out of service due to building and road works on behalf of Southwark and Westminster City Councils. Victoria Embankment docking station is no longer available due to site development work.
Personally, I think London is too risky for any bike riders but the most savvy of locals and perhaps not even safe enough for them! When the bike lanes and signals in London are laid out like Copenhagen’s or Amsterdam’s. maybe it’ll be worth a rethink. In the meantime, make mine the Tube or a black cab (well, be careful with cabs this weekend – see the road closure info above) or plain old travel-by-foot.
