Navigating Bow roundabout/flyover

So, i've been put on placement at Newham hospital and from Stepney that means going over the infamous Bow roundabout...

What's the best option, roundabout or flyover? Tips to avoid getting squished? I like the idea of just going straight over the flyover both ways (avoids turning people and traffic lights) but wonder if the drivers take kindly to being held up up the "hills"...?

Cheers

The safer option is to obey the lights and be front and centre on the roundabout (in my opinion). This is obviously in tragic context in recent years. I like going up and over too, but the drivers do get a bit 'buzzy' up there.

I commuted Greenwich->LDN Bridge->Mile End->Stratford for three years and I found the flyover to be safe and straightforward.
Decent view of the Olympic Building site an all.

I defer to that for sure.

In roundabout I would stay in absolute primary to ensure that the driver definitely see you.

Best thing to do is to take Cycle Training, it's a great way of helping you make your own risk assessment on the road.

Flyover. I do it every day I cycle to work. Plenty others who do too. Heading west the lane is really wide and heading east there's two lanes so plenty of room.

Flyover every time. I tried the roundabout a few times but it's just so busy/slow. Never had a problem on the flyover, the road is wide enough and visibility is good.

I know people who do the Col Du Bow. Used to scare the wits out of me, whenever drivers see a horizon in London they come over all speedy. Same with the bridges. I did Ruckholt Road, Hackney Wick and Vicky Park- Bishop's Road. Much calmer, squirrel comedy, funny dogs, I almost always prefer commutes where Sid Knuckle-dragger in his tipper lorry doesn't try to kill me.

I have used the A5 flyover at Brent cross, where it meets the North Circular. I preferred the flyover to the roundabout as generally far fewer vehicles.

The entry/exit slip roads could be dicey in the dark. Cars approching from the slip road as you exit the flyover are not expecting a bike on their right hand side at that moment.

the side winds up on high can be a bit nasty at times blowing you into oncoming traffic
the headwinds over the bow flyover are a pain too sometimes

thanks for all your comments guys

I did flyover e-w @ 10ish and roundabout w-e around 4.45... thought the flyover was fine esp in reverse to the normal commute, so no cars passed me at all.. although the lorries coming in off the roundabout weren't too keen on my presence as they merged

The roundabout wasn't as bad as I'd feared given recent issues, the (new looking) blue bands in that direction at least do a fair job of seperating and funnelling flow

Might try the reverse way round tomorrow!

use the hatched area if you feel nervous inside traffic
it's a bit bumpy a bit ryubble strewn but there is a big space... personally I don't know why they designed it like they did
it's wide enough for two lanes or one car and a decent bike lane
they screwed up the design badly

up and over every time - think it must be safer than the alternative

Heading East - West (towards Aldgate) when at the bottom of the flyover, maintain position in RH lane until you feel there is a suitable and safe gap to move into the LH lane. Trying to change lanes early on is a recipe for disaster as vehicles behind will feel like they can squeeze past on your right, vehicles in the LH lane joining from the roundabout aren't overly polite, and you can end up in between the two lanes with cars whizzing past on both sides.

Heading West - East (towards Stratford) keep an eye for merging traffic at the bottom of the flyover from the roundabout. It's no different to any other junction and the majority of vehicles will give way as they should, but it can be helpful to treat it like a slip lane on a motorway and adjust your speed to allow vehicles to merge in front.

What the heck is going on here?!

Today I discovered that although Cycle Superhighway Route 2 is being extended and 'improved' (segregated lanes, better road surfaces, traffic lights for cycles etc.) at this junction, the current lights sequence for cyclists heading towards Stratford gives a green light just as the motor traffic coming from the south (so to the right of you|) gets theirs!

If I didn't have an inherent distrust of drivers, roadworks and TfL, my Creamroller and I could quite easily have been steamrollered.

Should have used the flyover.

Time to send some emails...

@OP as Ed said do some cycle training and you can decide on your approach which is better based on the actual road condition and not ignorance.

It's free.

What the heck is going on here?!

I'd imagine they're still tinkering with it. A lot of public money will be wasted there in the coming years on rubbish designs. The only solution is to get rid of the roundabout and flyover and construct a simple junction, as well as a new town centre around it. This is where development should go, not into tower blocks in Central London. It would essentially be self-financing from developer contributions.

absolute primary

I wonder what that is. :)

Now wishing I'd spoken up more loudly about the dangerous traffic light sequence and roadworks in place at Bow roundabout at the moment. It's unacceptable to make a badly designed road even more unsafe, even if the works are ultimately to improve safety for cyclists. I see the familiar lick of blue paint and segregation has been bestowed upon on the A11 after the roundabout (with some poorly positioned bus stops I might add which encourage peds to step off buses into the cycle path) but the gyratory is still no better.

Hi all,

I'm mostly a lurker here, but have been as shocked and saddened as everyone else by the recent spate of fatal incidents. I've just had an email from an Evening Standard journalist looking for a comment specifically on CS2/Bow Roundabout from people working in East London (I work at Rich Mix on the Bethnal Green Road). I know the road and the issues well enough (though it's not quite on my commute) but if the question was 'what should be done' I'm not sure I'd have an answer I was confident was sensible.

So, question is: is there any sort of consensus amongst cyclists about best practice in the actual design of infrastructure like the Bow roundabout and what the design of CS2 got wrong?

I rode through there two nights ago, didn't use the segregated blue path at all and took the flyover, but not sure I'd advise that for everyone...

Dan

If you got an Evening Standard journalist asking for info, direct him to the person who's suitable to provide the necessary information.

I'd imagine they're still tinkering with it. A lot of public money will be wasted there in the coming years on rubbish designs. The only solution is to get rid of the roundabout and flyover and construct a simple junction, as well as a new town centre around it. This is where development should go, not into tower blocks in Central London. It would essentially be self-financing from developer contributions.

Absolutely...that really is the only way. You have only to look at a map of the area or an aerial view to see how ridiculously complicated that whole junction is. The simpler a junction, the easier it is to understand and negotiate, the safer it becomes. Couple that with reduced speed limits, although by simplifying a junction this could well be a side effect. Many of these massive junctions in London, designed to be part of a huge London wide road system which never materialised in the end, have built in multi lane wide stretches which encourage short bursts of speed where there is space, followed by dramatic slowing down when the road narrows again. Simplify the junction, taking some of that space away from motor traffic results in more uniform speeds across a whole motor vehicle journey.

 But getting TfL traffic planners to see that argument is so hard.  I am pretty fed up at the moment having been to a meeting a couple of weeks ago about the proposed Lewisham Gateway development.  Here there actually is a unique opportunity to redesign a major junction from scratch... They are removing the horrid roundabout completely.  What have they come up with, despite advice to the contrary, more of the same old multi lane complex junctions... And whenever we suggested taking space away from motor traffic, TfL reps come up with reasons why they can't.  The whole thing looks like a massive multi lane race track.  Depressing.  We have told them exactly what we think, but I have a horrid feeling it will make no difference.

Thanks Ed - that would be whom, though? Is there even a consensus on which particular cycling body/campaign should be referred to here?

You know how these things work, I'm sure - journo will be looking for some local colour as well as (hopefully not just instead of) getting quotes from representatives of such bodies.

20 mph speed restriction on the approaches then riders have a safer chance to get onto the flyover = thus avoiding the roundabout.

Thanks Ed - that would be whom, though? Is there even a consensus on which particular cycling body/campaign should be referred to here?

You know how these things work, I'm sure - journo will be looking for some local colour as well as (hopefully not just instead of) getting quotes from representatives of such bodies.

charlie_lcc for example.