'Ideal' canal ignored in favour of lorries - Missing the point?

Missing the point?

Each ring of the tunnel lining weighs over 25 tonnes, and it will need a large articulated lorry to carry that sort of weight. However, a barge could transport four of the rings in one go as weight is the least of the problems when transporting by water.

It is estimated that at least 30 rings of lining will be required each day which will amount to about 70 lorry movements rumbling through the traffic on the Harrow Road day after day for years, whereas eight barges could smoothly do that amount of work daily with no disturbance and no noise, and with less emissions as pusher tug engines are smaller than those in lorries.

'Hotspot' of diesel pollution

The air pollution in this busy area of London is dire, and the Marylebone Road not far away has been named Britain's ‘hotspot' of dangerous diesel pollution, at around twice the national average for urban areas (and increasing). It is also way above EU specification with the government risking a multimillion pound EU fine.

It is not only concerns about the pollutants that Londoners are exposed to and the obvious environmental advantages of using the canal, it makes such good sense to take advantage of the substantial canal highway that runs right through the centre of some of the busiest areas of the Capital. Considering all the policies and guidance promoting modal shift from road use, this Crossrail project seems to have been planned very ineptly.

More answers needed

It has not been satisfactorily explained why the canal option was not properly explored earlier. Indeed Crossrail have had decades to prepare for this project and could have easily specified the use of London's canals as part of the tunnel contract, with Murad complaining:

"And no-one has been able to give us any straight answers on how they think these lorries aren't going to add congestion to an already busy trunk road, adversely affecting all local residents and businesses."

Although a victory has been scored recently with Crossrail's climb down on compulsory purchase and demolition of a popular local building, the Big Table, the harsh reality, Murad regrets, is that the neighbourhood, particularly along the Harrow Road, is going to live with a lot of unnecessary lorry movements for a number of years to come.

What has gone wrong?

Why is there is such little attention paid to our canals throughout the country. They have far more potential than use as a backdrop, and a destination to enhance people's well-being, to quote an undefined and much over-used word trotted out by British Waterways and Defra, who are in denial about navigation on the canals, as well as freight.

There has been a huge amount of work and reams of reports and studies produced by canal operators and supporters to promote an active use of our canals where suitable, and there are certainly huge opportunities in the London area, but it has all gone unnoticed.

Does it need an inquiry, or at least a high level debate, to find out what has gone wrong?

Not for want of trying

The removal of the thousands of tons of spoil being dug out of the Westbourne Park tunnel portal is being transported by train, which is supported as an environmentally sound alternative to road. It was not for the want of trying on the part of the canal lobby, and a very detailed and viable bid was put together for using the canal which is close by, but again this failed to get the support it needed.

Only a quarter of the huge canalside tunnel lining site at Old Oak Common can be seen in the photograph. The vast site is earmarked as an extensive station terminal and interchange for the proposed HS2 rail project.

Another bungled canal project

Will the canal be involved with the HS2 construction and tunnelling through London (if it comes off), or will it be yet another bungled canal project?

Mind you, there could also be an interchange for canal transport for (relatively) high speed passenger transport on the 30 mile lock-free section of the canal right into the centre of London, or will all our canals be more or less static by then, ponders Del Brenner.

We will need more than a few blogs.