Plans for new Thames cycling and walking bridges

A speculative proposal for a new walking and cycling bridge to shadow the Thames Barrier, basically a couple of consultancies trying to create work for themselves.

https://www.thamesbarrierbridge.com/

An opinion from the far West.

I've actually cycled to a meeting at the Thames Barrier Conference Centre,
using the the Embankment Cycling Superhighway all the way and across Tower Bridge.
Getting to Greenwich was OK, but it got decidedly sketchy soon after,
and the final approach to the Conference Centre was rough.

I've also cycled to a couple of exhibitions at the Excel Centre, and apart from the lack of signposting in the last couple of miles, the north route was much better.

If, as a country we're going to build our way out of the C-19 recession, this proposal probably has my backing. (Until cyclists have to share the bridge with electric cars).

Something something West Lothian question for London. :)

I visited Cody Dock today part of a recon around my borough of Newham and establish a loop ride with interesting sights. Custom House to Bow Locks being the most arduous

https://youtu.be/e6u-DBwEZew?feature=shared

We have tons of regen going on, but seeing this rolling square wheel bridge was the highlight..

quite unique, with only one moving part (winch/cable aside), which is the bridge itself

a missing link for pedestrians and cyclists from Canning Town to Bow-locks, reaching the Leaway north path toward Three Mills

I’m only posting this here due to the proximity of the site to the River Thames

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These should transform the lower Lee Valley area

The bridges will facilitate an estimated 15 million pedestrian and cycle trips per year, providing greater access to and from employment areas and transport interchanges at Canning Town and Bromley By Bow

https://www.newham.gov.uk/regeneration-1/lower-lee-valley-priority-bridges-programme

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It is an absolute bastard to get around there at the moment, on foot, by bike or in a car. Is there enough foot traffic between the residential side on the west and the industrial side on the east to make it worthwhile though?

Tons of regen both sides of the River Lea . Newham still has a lot of industrial parks around Star Lane though, I think these are shrinking, given the amount of property sites going up.

Cody Dock has become an emerging creative / cultural hub, I’ve only cycled around there a handful of times, more out of curiosity and finding a route or path through a desolate / derelict stretch of river that makes its way under Bow roundabout then up to the Olympic Park. There was a contingent of local people cyclists mostly, attending action group for better changes.

It has all the hallmarks of the Kings X redevelopment, for better / for worse aspects.

https://codydock.org.uk/cody-dock-masterplan/

Canning Town as a transport hub for local buses, DLR and Jubilee Line is now heaving during commuting times and there is still a lot of residential development on going.

Those links between LBN and LBTH should make pedestrian and cycle movement safer. And we all know how deadly it is getting around Bow roundabout. The A13 equally unpleasant

https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2022/11/23/twelvetrees-development-beside-west-ham-station-progressing-quickly/

just north of Star Lane DLR upto West Ham DLR/Jubilee Line is huge.

Love the rolling bridge but can't work out why? I can't imagine it's purpose

everything needs a purpose. This bridge provides level access for foot passengers and cyclists. When inverted it allows clear access for water vessels between Cody Dock / Lea River without height restriction.

Not contributing factor methinks, but tidal range is also significant at entry/exit

Could people not just walk round the side of where engaged bridge is? A few yards if that

I haven’t studied the master planning around Cody Dock, currently no public access around when I was there on Saturday, nor access to Bow creek on Newham side, which would be a continuation of the Leaway South (tow path) toward Canning Town. I suspect that these are destined to becoming public if the bridges map above is to be realised

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Good point. They seem to be throwing up loads of posh flats around there at the moment. You just can't beat this view.

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Not sure what all this is doing in a Thames bridges thread, but interesting. The map above is a bit odd, as it doesn't show the two existing bridges to the Leamouth Peninsula, today the site of truly horrific development, and between the Limmo Peninsula and Poplar. The web page does correctly state that there are no crossing points between there and Twelvetrees, but could have been clearer. These two bridges are both poor; one seems like a cheaply-done developers' discharge of a planning condition, despite such a connection to Canning Town Station being vital, and the other one must be a replacement for the old industrial bridge there that hasn't been removed.

I can't see any detail on the bridge proposals, as it seems to require you to sign in on the Tower Hamlets web-site (here's their version of the consultation page: https://talk.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lower-lea-bridges), but obviously such connections are a good thing. However, all three are linked to major development sites, and, one would guess, may be financed from planning gain money. In practice, what this usually means is that they are poorly-integrated into the local network and sticking-plaster rather than properly planned. NB I have no idea if that's true here. I assume some more detail will be in the planning applications, if anyone has the time and inclination to look them up.

The 'Mayer-Parry' bridge is shown where there is currently no access to the riverside, where they are probably still 'stitching together' the river path, and adjacent to the major development site at the former Crown Wharf, currently sterilised. I assume that there is a plan to provide good river access there. This site will probably end up looking much like Leamouth Peninsula.

The 'Poplar Reach' bridge is clearly important as it will be next to Cody Dock, but here, too, there is a development site, this time on the Tower Hamlets side and already being filled with the awful 'Poplar Riverside' development, all the same boring identikit rubbish that major developers always build.

The 'Lochnagar' bridge seems to be intended to connect to Lochnagar Street, and the development here is 'Calico Wharf'. I assume all the post-industrial rubbish that used to be here until at least 2018 according to StreetView will have been cleared away and Lochnagar Street may become a public thoroughfare down to the river. The most interesting thing in this area is the former Bromley Hall School, Grade II-listed:

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/407060

https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/search-results?key=VXsiUCI6eyJ0YXgiOjUsInQiOls5Nzc2XX19&WINID=1693382974687

One would assume that the site was chosen to ensure disabled children were well out of view. :( Happy to be corrected on that, but you often find that such facilities are located in out-of-the-way sites. I wonder if they'll find a new use for that site. Listing provides protection, but it can also mean decades of vacancy and dereliction.

Much of the quality of these proposals will be in the design of the bridges. They've certainly set an ambitious delivery schedule.

It doesn't strike me that there has been a lot of cross-river masterplanning here, but I haven't looked up the strategy documents. To me, it looks like too little, too late, with by far the greatest emphasis given to extremely poor quality private development, as usual.

Clearance for boats I sh’ink

Edit: refresh fail

I think this is all relevant to the River Thames access strategy.

The regen matter is a moot topic and I agree with your point about the quality of new residential property, infrastructure, biodiversity, safety, planning conditions etc. This area is at the mercy of developers and planners methinks. Whether these crossings are successful remains to be seen.

I’d like to think that Cody Dock will become an interesting place for artists and boat dwelling community.

Let’s see what occurs. Here is a snip from Alan Baxter’s Report circa 2018.

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The failure to build a bridge between the Isle of Dogs and the south side is a factor in this:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/cycle-ferry-canary-wharf-thames-clippers-uber-boat-battery-bike-bus-b1106237.html

Mr Collins said: “The river is seen as a barrier. It’s not.”

Erm, it's most definitely a barrier, Mr Collins.

A follow-on story to the above. It's not clear to me what's going on here, but it seems that the private companies keen to run more ferry services tried to channel their bids through these organisations:

The request for the mayor to introduce the new electric ferry crossings - at three key locations east of Canary Wharf - was made by the Port of London Authority (PLA) in partnership with the Thames Estuary Growth Board (TEGB).

They commissioned studies that repeated what is well-known, anyway:

The two organisations commissioned a study by the consultancy Arup, which found that delivering crossings between the Isle of Dogs and North Greenwich, Royal Wharf and Charlton, and Barking Riverside and Thamesmead, would bring significant benefits by connecting some of London’s fastest-growing areas.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/ferry-river-crossings-east-london-sadiq-khan-thames-charlton-greenwich-barking-b1135505.html

Now they're disappointed that the Mayor's not minded to proceed with these for the time being. Then you have a political complaint from an Assembly Member that's really too silly for words.