Good money after bad?

Yesterday’s Eve Std article about spending on London’s roads contains this gem: “The number of automated traffic lights will increase by 50% to keep traffic flowing”. That’s funny, when I last looked, traffic lights, automated or not, were keeping traffic jamming (in the wrong sense). The Mayor’s Road Task Force (I’m on it, would you believe, but vastly outnumbered by people with very important paid roles) “will consider the often conflicting demands at major road junctions of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.” On Equality Streets they wouldn’t conflict. On Equality Streets they would coexist in peace and safety, and get about in half the time. Billions are “expected to be poured into improvements to junctions including Archway, Old Street and Vauxhall … Upgrades already funded include Lambeth Bridge, Tower Bridge, Waterloo roundabout and the A24 London Road.” All suffer from the priority and control cosh, e.g. Lambeth Bridge: The north side is OK – it has a roundabout and is rarely congested. There’s a roundabout south of the river too – but with traffic lights on every leg that produce jams throughout the day and half the night. And inexcusably, the bridge itself, southbound, has a permanent bus lane. Public Enemy No.1 – the faceless officials who f+ck us up. Nothing in the much-trumpeted ten point plan about Equality Streets.