This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Yeah, I've noticed the same thing. I can't work out what they intended either.

Speaking of southwark bridge road. what the fuck is going on with the cars parked all along the contraflow heading south just past the junction with Borough rd.

Waterloo Cars on the left there.

They'll be private hire vehicles.

They're there because there's little or no enforcement.

Speaking of southwark bridge road. what the fuck is going on with the cars parked all along the contraflow heading south just past the junction with Borough rd. they completely block the entire route forcing you to have to ride down there into oncoming traffic. it's can't be a cycle lane thats only in operation at certain hours otherwise cars can park in it as they please like the shit show that is tooting high st on weekends as it's the only way down that street and it's the only available lane.

tl;dr--the cause is probably rubbish signage that means any restrictions can't be enforced.

Longer version:

I haven't been down there for a while, but I take it that 'contraflow' operation is only temporary? None of the signage has been updated and the 'no entry' sign in your video is only temporary, so I assume it must be because of the building works at the southern end.

Most of the time with things like this, you find that enforcement is impossible because the signage is incorrect. I think that's the case here, too. I've never been a signage headbanger, but several required signs seem to be missing, e.g. diagram 959.1, which should be present at the start of the mandatory lane (where the solid white line begins, repeated at every junction where it is interrupted) and repeated at regular intervals, no more than 300m apart.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Traffic_Signs_Manual/Chapter_3/17

With this sign, a single yellow line inside the cycle lane isn't required (I think--but that's something I've never spent too much time looking up), and perhaps there used to be one at the Borough Road junction--it may have been vandalised or stolen. (I know of several cases where this happened because people had certain interests that meant they wanted to violate traffic orders that were in place--if signage is missing, they can't be fined and can get away with it at least for as long as enforcement action is batted back with that defence).

I get the impression that these signs may have been applied incorrectly over a longer distance--the position of the only one I can spot in Southwark Bridge Road south of the Borough Road junction is effectively that of a repeater, similar to the one you can see on the northbound side if you look north up Southwark Bridge Road from the Borough Road junction.

A single yellow line needs plates mounted on the footway along the line to advertise the modalities of its operation. I can't see any such plates here, only ones for the short stretch of double yellow line near the junction. I can't see it clearly on StreetView, but the plate near the Borough Road junction seems to say 'no parking at any time' and I can't read what it says underneath (in the white bit). If, as I assume, the other plate a little further south that's turned away from the carriageway (it should be turned around to face the carriageway again) is also for the double yellows, there don't seem to be any plates concerning the single yellow line section.

So, if that's right, and if StreetView is up-to-date, there is basically no signage here that would make the carriageway markings for the cycle lane or the single yellow line enforceable.

either some twat has allowed them to do so or isn't stopping them doing it. either way its fucking ridiculous and dangerous.

You can report it here ...

https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/contact-us-about-streets-and-other-road-issues

... if you feel strongly enough about it. It may, of course, be an issue all along 'CS7'. An engineer should look at the traffic orders and design a correct signage scheme. I don't think the temporary measures applied here would/should stand in the way of that, but TfL undoubtedly have a huge backlog of this sort of stuff.