Westfield, Stratford City

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What's your point?

it's shit

Post games I think access will be easier through Vicky Park and across one of the new Lea bridges. But the OP is right, cycling is actively discouraged for people who want to visit the Olympic Park. Robin Wales hates cyclists.

just dont go there its shit anyway

The idea that cycling and sustainability are supposed to be priorities and this is the result is utterly astounding.

where do they say this? it's a fuckin westfield. what do you expect? same shitty shops as ever. it's a giant shopping mall, it's there to make money.

right i work in stratford 6-7 days a week and in the three months since it has opened i have not had the will or compunction to pedal my bike over to westfield, the walk is atrocious enough, no consideration for integration into the local area, it is essentially like another world, badly sign posted, confusing, overcrowded.

Main point of contention is you walk over the bridge from stratford centre at night to go to a restaurant, main entrance on the left door is shut even though you can see people inside and you have to wlk another 400-500 m in order to find an entrance.

Cycling access is a joke to the olympic site and to quote from the tickets i have of the velodrome test event, there is no cycle parking on site please lock your bike at stratford regional station and enter via westfield. What a joke, there are new racks on the one way system but they will not be adequate for the major increase in footfall come the olympics. These racks plus those four dotted around the antipodes of westfield are it. No access to the olympic site for bicycles throughout the games. Not exactly promoting cycling or sustainable transport throughout an event which is supposed to encourage both points.

Also the olympic priority lanes from what I have seen are going to turn newham into a bottleneck for through traffic, not that it already is from the consistent blocked traffic reports on bbc breakfast of a12 and a13 jams every morning. As a local resident I am peeved off to say the least by the sheer lack of cohesive planning or use of the money gained from the olypmics to improve rather than negate access to the borough. The new cycle map to the olympic site borders on hilarity.

Anyway gripe over I could go on for hours about the ridiculousness of this endeavor. In my defence I love the idea of the olympics and want it to be here I just think it was planned by numpty's, mostly I am looking forward to the velopark opening in 2013, hoorah.

Westfield London (in the glorious Shepherds' Bush) has seen more bicycles stolen since it opened than most of the rest of the borough. I park my bicycle behind my store and have been asked to remove it several times "because it's a fire hazard". Westfield do provide cycle parking, but there are no camera's covering this part of the car-parking area. I did point out the irony of this - it's the valet parking area and you'd think that the owners of some of the ludicrously expensive cars would assume that this would be covered by CCTV...

In August this year, there were representatives of the Boris Bike scheme attempting to get sign-ups when the nearest pick up/drop off point is over a mile away. When I asked about whether or not there would be one installed the Barclays rep said "probably not" and the Westfield dude said "definitely not".

When I cycled into the car park about three months ago, a security guard informed me that I wasn't supposed to cycle in the car park. I asked him what I was supposed to do. He replied by suggesting that I walk my bike! Prick. I suggested to the next car driver that she should actually push her car into a space.

I just went about my business and had a quiet word with the head of security about his staff being jobsworths, but it really isn't cycle-friendly by any stretch of the imagination.

Westfield is just a haven for the cagers to go to without being exposed to the elements, this is all.

I rather go to the real stuff, with real people, and real community.

I rather go to the real stuff, .

??

Only car drivers (and Scoble) have the luggage capacity to buy enough shit to make Westfield profitable.

I just go there on the tube. Even if there were cycle parking Stratford is full of bike thieves and the road there is a notorious bike jacking hotspot.

Ed, if you had ever been to the real Stratford and seen the real people and community, you might think differently.

Actually, local people are rather proud of Westfield. They see East Londoners finally getting decent local shops that they can get to by public transport. The" real "community shops there and loves it

Cycling to Newham has always been challenging as the only way in from the West was across the river lea and then around the one way at Stratord. Yes , the Mayor does not like us with an old "new labour " dislike for green policies. What East London needs is better and safer crossings for cylists of the Rivers Lea and Roding as well as N Circular. Haviing that would be a real Olympic legacy

The olympics- the best way to get about will be on two wheels. If you are going then there are, I believe , bike parks at all the entrances. So you can park on Hackney Marshes and in Victoria Park.

The cinema is great, the food court has lots of nice tasty options, and there is a big waitrose. I much prefer it to going to the West End.

This thread is no surprise. I found myself using cycle 'facilities' recently on my way past heading for Leyton from Viccy Park, and I was shocked at how badly planned and signed things were. I wasn't even trying to go to the White Elephant or Shopping nightmares, I was just passing.

Mary Portas' PR outfit works for Westfield. So remember that when she tries to tell you she supports high streets: she just supports boutique experiences for the rich, and everyone else can have strip malls. It's so fucking C20th it's not even ironic.

Remember the A12 Hackney cut that was supposed to reduce congestion in East London?

http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-traffic-free-high-road-leytonstone.html

Leytonstone High Road is now jammed every weekend, as is the motorway at rush hour.

North/south the cycle links are good, you can use the Lea towpath or Bazalgette's old sewer, The Greenway. East/west is appalling, there's the Lea Valley Road (scary) or Ruckholt Road to the north of the park then through Hackney Wick and Vicky Park (the way I commuted for 8 years). The only other option is the Bow flyover, where Mr Dorling was killed.

... not allowed to use their road. It is only after you have turned left off the main road towards Westfield that the sign that might as well say 'fuck off cyclists, we don't want you' appears and you are supposed to turn around....

i think you've hit the nail on the head!

Aha Westfield's great for Christmas shopping? There we differ. I literally don't want to be seen DEAD there. Ever.

Jars from tat/hardware shop
Massive bags of fruit/veg from lewisham market
Cider vinegar and sugar from local turkish emporium

Eveyone's getting chutney!

There, that's the fourth kind of shopping: what we'll all be doing when we're pensioners, which is going to real markets (not fucking borough or spitalfields ffs)

Actually, local people are rather proud of Westfield. They see East Londoners finally getting decent local shops that they can get to by public transport. The" real "community shops there and loves it

Cycling to Newham has always been challenging as the only way in from the West was across the river lea and then around the one way at Stratord. Yes , the Mayor does not like us with an old "new labour " dislike for green policies. What East London needs is better and safer crossings for cylists of the Rivers Lea and Roding as well as N Circular. Haviing that would be a real Olympic legacy

The olympics- the best way to get about will be on two wheels. If you are going then there are, I believe , bike parks at all the entrances. So you can park on Hackney Marshes and in Victoria Park.

Id love to know who?
Personally i think its all bollocks.
Where was the regeneration 10/15 years ago?
My dad doesnt even want to set foot in the place.

Go and see it,btw I am not a huge fan of such developments, there is a sense of pride in that we at last have shops like the rest of London does.

Yes, it could have been different

I rather go to the real stuff, with real people, and real community.

??

Didn't you know that Westfield is just a dream?

The real community spirit here is - you put your bike upside down right in the entrance as long as you're in your ends (so watch you don't slip into an enemy chicken shop).

It might work with Westfield too.

Actually, local people are rather proud of Westfield. They see East Londoners finally getting decent local shops that they can get to by public transport. The" real "community shops there and loves it

Cycling to Newham has always been challenging as the only way in from the West was across the river lea and then around the one way at Stratord. Yes , the Mayor does not like us with an old "new labour " dislike for green policies. What East London needs is better and safer crossings for cylists of the Rivers Lea and Roding as well as N Circular. Haviing that would be a real Olympic legacy

The olympics- the best way to get about will be on two wheels. If you are going then there are, I believe , bike parks at all the entrances. So you can park on Hackney Marshes and in Victoria Park.

^ This.

My daughter goes to school on the verge of Redbridge and we need to cross North Circular. It's a no go area for bicycles with trailers. Same for the Woodford Rd, Whipps Cross roundabout etc (I only see Peter cycling there, but wouldn't dare to go there with a child).
The whole Lea Valley is like a not-so-grand canyon separating us from a normal cycling London. At least we have all new surfaces which are ace if you're on tubs.

All the cycling lanes around the Olympic Park are bit weird. There's loads of lamp posts, road signs, bus stops and trash cans right in the middle of them.
I took many pictures before - some places were adjusted, but some only resurfaced.

There, that's the fourth kind of shopping: what we'll all be doing when we're pensioners, which is going to real markets (not fucking borough or spitalfields ffs)

Borough will be long gone by then.