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news
Richmond Park traffic queues Mayday Bank Holiday 2022 (via ohbee07 on Twitter)Drivers cause huge tailbacks at Richmond Park over bank holiday
For the second time in a month, drivers caused huge tailbacks in Richmond Park over the bank holiday weekend – with The Royal Parks, which manages the southwest London beauty spot, forced to close Kingston Gate due to the volume of motorists trying to enter the park through it.
A post on Twitter from the account Friends of Kingston Gate yesterday described the area as “gridlocked,” with “drivers getting very angry” and “lots of stand-offs, reversing back over mini roundabout.”
One person replying to the tweet, who lives locally, said that “The queue to Isabella plantation car park by 11.30 was the worst I think I’ve ever seen it and not sure they closed the gate but they need to warn people way before the gate.
“I really feel for those living by Kingston Gate as it was unpleasant chaos,” she added.
The queue to Isabella plantation car park by 11.30 was the worst I think I’ve ever seen it and not sure they closed the gate but they need to warn people way before the gate. I really feel for those living by Kingston Gate as it was unpleasant chaos.
— Naomi Corrieri-Hobbs (@CorrieriHobbs) May 2, 2022
An earlier tweet from Friends of Kingston Gate, posted on Saturday, showed the damage to a parked car that happened when a driver hit a parked car close to the entrance to the park.
Collision no 2 in 10 days.Driver entered frm Queens Rd & hit parked vehicle nr pedestrian refuge.Glad nobody hurt, it could have easily been a lot worse.Rd v busy with 🚶♀️ 🚴♀️heading to #RichmondPark Here can’t take traffic volume. @KingstonLibDems @sarahjolney1 @KingstonCycling pic.twitter.com/weY7NvRZ51
— @friendsofkingstongate (@friendsofkings1) April 30, 2022
A video posted to Twitter the same day showed drivers queueing to get into one of the car parks in Richmond Park.
All the motorists are in such a rush to get to that car park they'll speed and close pass anyone they come across. pic.twitter.com/1N5eC2OuTc
— Ollie (@ohbee07) April 30, 2022
Under trial restrictions on motor traffic introduced in Richmond Park in 2020 when vehicles were allowed back in after being banned in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, the road is permanently closed to them between Sheen Gate and Sheen Cross.
There are also restrictions operating on weekdays covering all through motor traffic from Broomfield Hill car park to Robin Hood car park, as well as restrictions on weekend traffic whilst a ‘quiet zone’ has been created on the north side of the park, restricting weekend traffic between Roehampton, Richmond and Sheen gates.
In common with all other boroughs across London, voters in Richmond-upon-Thames will go to the polls this Thursday for the local elections.
The position of different candidates on allowing motor vehicles into Richmond Park may help sway some voters one way or another, although the roads in the park – and Bushy Park, which also lies in the borough – are the responsibility of The Royal Parks rather than the council.
However, when The Royal Parks said in March last year that following a consultation it would extend the existing restrictions on motor vehicles in Richmond Park, introduced in 2020, by another 12 months, the Liberal Democrat controlled council said it backed the decision.
The council’s deputy leader Alexander Ehmann, who also chairs its transport and air quality committee said: “Richmond Council’s view was that it was desirable to extend the review period to ensure Royal Parks were able to obtain a clear understanding of how the park will be used after the current Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
“That the Royal Parks reached the same view as this council is of course welcome.
“The Royal Parks were always popular destinations and all parks and open spaces have seen significant increases in use as a result of Covid-19’s impact on all our lives,” he added.
In its latest email bulletin, the group Richmond Park Cyclists, which is in regular dialogue with park management and other stakeholders said that “the traffic trials are finally due to conclude after the local elections following a delay of more than a year.
“We have been told an announcement will be made in a couple of weeks – and judging by the mood music, the current restrictions, which are hugely beneficial for safer, more enjoyable cycling, are likely to be made permanent.”
It added that its aim remains “removing through traffic, which we are convinced is now an achievable goal in the near future.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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25 comments
So where was the greeting of two cyclists passing each other?
No acknowledgement at all from either side of the road.
Do you guys not do that in 'civilised' London then?
Not clear which bit that's in reference to, but perhaps concentrating on safely negotiating / not getting taken out by motor traffic was taking priority.
You'd be doing that every 20 seconds in Richmond Park at the weekend!
London has the best public transport of any city in the country, maybe time to get rid of the cars altogether?
If only it wasn't for those pesky cyclists....
It is not unknown for those cars, once established in the car park, to then disgorge bicycles!
Simple then - ban cars (carrying bikes)!
I really don't understand the mentality of "It's a nice day, let's drive to the park, nobody else will have had the same idea".
Same with queuing to get to the top of Snowdon, or sitting in traffic for 3 hours hoping for a parking spot when you finally get near the beach.
Have you seen the film "Idiocracy" ? The IQ and EQ is rapidly reducing with each generation. With role models from reality shows 'Housewives of...', 'Love Island', 'The only way is..' , etc. it is no surprise. People are just thick.
Are so many people really that stupid? I'm not so sure.
Maybe they have been dumbed down for so long - by education, TV, MSM and social media to see their main purpose is consuming junk entertainment, junk food, too much alcohol (and/or other chemicals) and live a life seemingly devoid of any deeper meaning.
Regarding the queues and tailbacks in Richmond Park and elsewhere, it really is very, very simple: You're not stuck in traffic, you ARE traffic.
And to paraphrase Eldridge Cleaver: If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.
Trump's little speech about bleach and "bright light, inside the body" could have come straight out of Idiocracy...
When people ask their children what they want to be when they grow up and they say, "Famous".
"Famous at doing what?"
"Nothing, I just want to be famous."
Agree, but it does make me feel a bit of a miserablist when my instinctive response is therefore "it's a nice day to go somewhere with the family, but I won't do that because everyone else will have had the same idea".
The answer is to get up earlier. Catch the worm.and be thinking about going home when it starts to go crazy.
When will the parks realise they need to widen the roads and build more car parks. How are those poor drivers supposed to enjoy nature otherwise 😐
But what about the motorists using the park as a cut-through? For these people it would be better if they built a new road across the park, directly connecting Kingston and Richmond gates 😐
Might as well cut to the chase and concrete over all of it - maximum roads and car park so we can maximise use of green spaces.
To save (access to) the park, we had to destroy it.
Long queue also on Ham Gate Ave (approach from Ham Common), and 1km of cars trying to leave the park at Kingston Gate.
Cause of the queues IMHO apart from traffic volume are:
. two-way traffic in Kings Road (West from Kingston Gate, the site of the two damaged cars shown),
. the growing width of cars,
. the inability of ppl with wide cars to judge the width of their cars
While waiting, I had several nice chats with motorists resigned at spending their afternoon in a jam - at least they werent blaming cyclists for causing it!
The growing width of cars. This always crosses my mind when people complain about cycle tracks taking up space, how sre emergency vehicles supposed to get through and yet don't see their part in the problem.
On one of the recent Facebook posts by one of the police forces regarding the "rule changes in the new Highway Code" a guy could not understand that a cyclist takes up less space than a car and even a lorry. I did the maths for him and still he did not understand.
Seen plenty of moaning online though saying that if the road wasn't closed from the top of Broomfield Hill through to Robin Hood "to appease the all powerful cycling lobby" [sic] there wouldn't have been any jams "because cars could circulate freely until they found a car park with space in". A nose to tail merry-go-round of cars filling the whole park hoping a space will become free as they pass, what could be nicer?
"Drivers cause huge tailbacks at Richmond Park over bank holiday"
Dear oh dear oh dear, such misrepresentation of the facts! It's clear that the absurd refusal of the park to allow all those nice, law-abiding, socially responsible drivers to drive into their area is the cause of the congestion, not the drivers. What could possibly be wrong with allowing cars all over a park, where people go for rest and recreation, peace and tranquility, fresh air and exercise?
There could hardly be a better example of the insane stupidity of allowing cars to dominate our transport system than this complete bolognese. Glad to hear that the parks are minded to keep the restrictions, and they should be encouraged to restrict cars much further.
It does make one wonder if there time will ever come a time when people accept how absurd cars are in the urban environment - most of the time.
The problem is everyone asks "Cars are absurd in the city most of the time - is it that time?" and we always answer "no - not this time".
That's part of why I bang on about infra - it is mostly about providing space for cycling but a part has to be "...and taking it away from motor vehicles". Where it's convenient to walk, cycle and drive, people drive.