Traffic talk

A lot has been made of the traffic problems that people encountered last weekend during the London-Surrey Cycle Classic. And what’s interesting about this warm up event is that it’s put a spotlight firmly on the subject of transport and the way London is going to deal with disruption next year.

Eamonn Holmes was just one of the celebrities reported as tweeting about the inconvenience the race caused. He tweeted, ‘Big tailbacks on A3 and A3 approaches to M25 and in other direction to Wimbledon. Due to flamin [sic] Olympic bikes. Keep sport in a stadium.”

Now, if you’ve been anywhere near Surrey the past month or so, there’s no way you’d have missed the massive TFL signs telling you about the race. And if you know Surrey well, you’ll also know that parts of it are terrible for traffic even on a normal Saturday or Sunday morning. It used to take me half an hour to visit my mother just 4 miles away at weekends. So the thought of going anywhere by car in the area that day just seems crazy.

However, it seems unfair that some roads weren’t opened again until 4pm that day, according to reports. But given that the race is going to be 110 kilometres longer next year, I do wonder whether people will think twice before setting out on their journeys. And as to whether they’ll be smiling about it? Well, that will be an entirely different state of affairs. My advice would be to stay home, stick the telly on and just go with it from the comfort of your sofa…that or they can always get on their bike.