Crossing the river

[Davidsw8]

I was wondering if anyone has to regularly cross the river in Central (West) London and what your experiences are? I have to get from Vauxhall to Piccadilly (and back) every day, I've been doing this for 2 years and it seems to be more dangerous as time goes on.

Vauxhall Bridge going north is simply too dangerous. Using it to come south is ok-ish but not my first choice.

Westminster Bridge is ok going north but the legions of peds running in to the road out of the Tube makes it very awkward then I'd have to do a full circuit round Parliament Square (eek!). Going south is difficult due to the amount of buses and also the tourists stood in the road having their photos taken. It's also tricky to get to go right past St Thomas' at the end.

Which leaves me with Lambeth Bridge, I've had a couple of VERY close calls on both sides of this bridge. So close that friends are now telling me to walk it over, but what's the point of having a bike and walking?? One issue is the north side which is your general roundabout free-for-all cut up from the left session. Had a really horrible close thing this morning which shook me up a bit.

The other problem comes on the light-controlled roundabout on the south side... In the photo, I have to get from X1 to X4 so at X1 I'm in the middle-right of the left-hand lane. Moving forward, I get in the centre of both lanes as I need to bear left at X2, then I'm on the right of the lane coming from there to turn right at X3 to X4. I often find myself in the middle of 2 vehicles the whole way round this and I don't know if this is because I'm positioned badly or people are being impatient as the roundabout is light controlled, but they get VERY close to both sides and sometimes behind too. People RLJ here with every light change
too, so that makes it a lot worse.

Walking across either side is starting to appeal...

 

[spen666]

...Westminster Bridge is ok going north but the legions of peds running in to the road out of the Tube makes it very awkward then I'd have to do a full circuit round Parliament Square (eek!). ...

Why do you not just turn right off Westminster Bridge onto the embankment and then take a left towards Whitehall or left onto Northumberland Street(Avenue?) towards Trafalgar Square?

 

[Davidsw8]

Why do you not just turn right off Westminster Bridge onto the embankment and then take a left towards Whitehall or left onto Northumberland Street(Avenue?) towards Trafalgar Square?

Hi

That is an option and it's something I did during the Olympics last year as Horse Guards Road was closed. Going up the Embankment is ok but the problem lies in Northumberland Avenue, the traffic is usually at a standstill and so tightly packed, you can't get through and have to walk. Then getting round Traf. Sq can be painfully slow too...

As I say, it's an option, I'd have to work out whether the walk up Northhumberland Ave is quicker than walking over Lambeth Bridge, I might test that out over the next couple days.

Thanks

 

[EthelF]

I can see why you might want to avoid Vauxhall and Lambeth bridges. Why not cross Westminster Bridge and then turn right into Whitehall? No need to do a circuit of Parliament Square, there's a right-turn lane for bikes and buses. Just beware of using the actual bike lane marked there, use the bus lane. And also be careful as you enter Whitehall, the markings indicate you have priority but traffic turning left into Whitehall in front of the Treasury might not expect you to be coming from their right, give way markings notwithstanding.
Check it out on Google Streetview anyway.

 

[MichaelO]

Probably too far West for you, but I find Chelsea bridge far safer than the other along that stretch of the Thames.

 

[Pale Rider]

Waterloo Bridge any good?

Plenty of options from the north side, and it's less than a mile to Piccadilly Circus.

 

[Davidsw8]

I can see why you might want to avoid Vauxhall and Lambeth bridges. Why not cross Westminster Bridge and then turn right into Whitehall? No need to do a circuit of Parliament Square, there's a right-turn lane for bikes and buses. Just beware of using the actual bike lane marked there, use the bus lane. And also be careful as you enter Whitehall, the markings indicate you have priority but traffic turning left into Whitehall in front of the Treasury might not expect you to be coming from their right, give way markings notwithstanding.
Check it out on Google Streetview anyway.

Very good point, thanks, I don't know why I didn't think of going up Whitehall like that cos I've done it before. One issue with going over Westminster Br is that cycling along the South Bank and over that bridge takes longer - just how long I'm not sure so I might time it tomorrow for comparisons sake.

Walking my bike over the crossings on Lambeth Br northside only cost me an extra minute, plus the traffic generally was pretty bad so that might be my long-term solution.

 

[Davidsw8]

Waterloo Bridge any good?

Plenty of options from the north side, and it's less than a mile to Piccadilly Circus.

Waterloo would probably be ok if I was coming directly from home in SE1 but I'm coming from my gym in Vauxhall so that's a really long way round.

 

[EthelF]

One issue with going over Westminster Br is that cycling along the South Bank and over that bridge takes longer

Issue? What sort of Cycle Chatter are you, opting for the shortest route?
Have you considered trying a route over Kingston Bridge?

 

[Twelve Spokes]

Waterloo Bridge can be a pig northbound.A lot of them have problems though.

 

[RedRider]

Hi David, I think we might have chatted about Lambeth Bridge before. It's my preferred way to cross the river from where I live going into/through the West End but I have little experience using it at rush hour, morning at least.

I've just discovered it's a lot harder for me to describe how I do it than for me to do it itself and the writing makes it seem more complicated than it feels! Not only that but I've described how I would turn right at the roundabout rather than go straight on. Perhaps you'd consider turning right then left into Smith Square to get where you want to go? Apologies for that but I've written it now so at the risk of being useless, here you go:

If I'm doing this I'm in the left hand lane until I crest the bridge and from there I'm looking for an opportunity to get into the right hand lane before the roundabout. If it's not rush hour it's easy to do this straight away and I cruise down, timing my arrival at the roundabout with a gap in the traffic, round in the right hand lane until, giving shoulder checks and a good, strong and early left arm signal I indicate 'I'm crossing the lane to get off this roundabout'. I keep an eye over my shoulder as I make the move.

During rush hour I'd probably still wait for the crest and then, being bold and careful, use gaps in slow moving or stopped traffic to get into the right hand lane and from thence filter down the centre of the road , feathering brakes. I'd then look for a gap near the front of the right hand lane and wait my turn, staying in position around the 'bout. Cars to your left should all be turning left at the roundabout or going straight ahead so you should have little problem getting off onto the embankment. Again, shoulder checks and a signal as appropriate to head on towards Smith/Parly Square.

 

[RedRider]

Bottom line though, do what you feel confident doing.

 

[gaz]

Vauxhall Bridge going north is simply too dangerous. Using it to come south is ok-ish but not my first choice.

I think you have that the wrong way round. Going north is fine, you have the bus lane. Going south is the bad one!

Are you going across to Trafalgar square at parliament square? Because you can turn right from westminster bridge in the bus lane onto whitehall

 

[Davidsw8]

Bottom line though, do what you feel confident doing.

Not too confident now...

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/my-accident-2.144575/