Some years ago the borough's cretinous highway engineers 'improved' this road by removing the pavement, so that articulated lorries had lots of room to turn into the Sainsbury's loading bay on Vernon Road. Pedestrians were commanded to cross the road, which they chose not to do, preferring to walk on the thin strip of kerb that was left. If they obeyed and crossed to the other side of the road they came into conflict with (i) vehicles exiting the shopping centre car park (ii) commercial vehicles entering a dedicated delivery lane (iii) Vernon Road (iv) cars entering and leaving the multi-storey car park above Sainsbury's.
This is a major walking route from Walthamstow station to the Gosport Road area, but naturally pedestrians are the last thing anyone in Waltham Forest cares about. The vanished pavement has since been turned into a cycle lane, and a crap one it is too, since it is well below the recommended minumum 2 metres, cars drive at speeds in excess of 30 mph, and where there are traffic islands vehicles lurch into the cycle lane.
Anyway, spot the amazing improvement in these two 'before' and 'after' pics.
