The Olympic Park in 2017, Part Five: The Stadium, Marshgate Wharf and Pudding Mill

The Olympic Stadium the London Stadium lies on an island between the River Lea and the City Mill River, where premier league football team West Ham now play. It was the centre piece of the games back in 2012 (obviously) and where the Pudding Mill river and Marshgate Lane Industrial Estate could be found before that. Over the other side of the City Mill River is the central spine of this area of the park; this was the main pedestrian route linking the two halves of the park during the 2012 games, now containing playgrounds and pretty greenery, but still a vital route for those of us living West of the park. South of here is the ArcelorMittal Orbit and the South Lawn, all former railway sidings and in the future Marshgate Wharf. Then on the other side of Waterworks River from here sits the Aquatics Centre and what will become Stratford Waterfront but was the Water Polo Arena in 2012 and fridge mountain before Olympic Park construction began. The main railway lines into and out of Stratford, Including the DLR and the crossrail tunnel exits, are south of here with the land between there and Stratford High Street due to become Pudding Mill

Long before the Olympics came along the area around the lower Lea Valley was marshes, these were drained to allow a series of factories to be built and that then became the Marshgate Lane Industrial Estate. I cycled this way shortly after London was announced as the winning bid to host the 2012 games, taking my camera with me

Forman's smoked salmon factory on Marshgate Lane, now situated on Fish Island

Where Forman's stood is now roughly where the goal in front of the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand is

P.A. Finlay & Company LTD, now the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand

A side road containing the Mercedes service centre, now roughly the centre circle of the pitch 

The Pudding Mill River in 2007, a few weeks before this area was sealed off for construction works to begin. The river was filled in and the West stand of the stadium is now situated here

The entrance to Pudding Mill River prior to the Olympics above and the same spot alongside the West stand in 2016 below

Following construction of the Stadium I unfortunately did not manage to obtain tickets for any events during the 2012 games and then it, along with the island it sat on, was closed off for a further four years until West Ham United were ready to move in. During the games the central spine of the southern half of the park was a very busy thoroughfare for pedestrians, below is a picture I took during the Olympics in 2012

and the same spot today

It has mostly been replaced with a large amount of gardens, along with a small playground. It's a pleasant area to both walk and cycle and this is the route I will most often take if I'm visiting Westfield. The main route along the eastern edge is normally fine to cycle through but can get busy on some occasions, especially when it is sunny or on match days

The path along the western edge is far too narrow to mix people walking and cycling most of the time



What a delight it was on the first date that West Ham played at home to finally be able to cycle on the stadium island for the first time since I'd last been here back when it was the Marshgate Lane Industrial Estate ten years earlier.

I had no idea West Ham were playing today. Nice shortcut via the stadium island for me & other families cycling :) pic.twitter.com/YYh0NVbwqI

— Hackney Cyclist (@Hackneycyclist) August 7, 2016

Despite the pre-match crowds there was far more space available here to allow people to walk and cycle within the same space than there is in the central section alongside. However, I was particularly annoyed the following day to come back to find it all locked up again. The opening of Stadium Island ahead of every home game, and then closing it again shortly afterwards, continued for several months. Finally the gates were permanently pulled down making it possible to cycle along here at all times

During the anniversary games this summer temporary fences were erected on all bridges leading onto Stadium Island and these remain in place at all times as they have concluded it is quicker to search members of the public before they get onto the island, rather than before they get into the stadium. You can still cycle through these barriers on non-match days to use the stadium island as a more direct route but probably cannot on match days. I just hope they don't decide to construct permanent barriers on the stadium bridges that restrict people cycling from using it.

I took a ride around the stadium on the build up to West Hams first home game of last season and the cycle parking alongside where sweetwater will be was well used



By the time I got back round to it after circumventing the stadium it was completely over used with 3-4 bikes using every stand and others locked up to the fence alongside.



This is clearly going to be the most well used cycle parking location, it being the closest to the stadium on the same side as the canal towpath and main route from Victoria Park, a route many will choose to cycle here. Within days a sign had been erected onto the fence alongside

The usual ignorant attitude from the LLDC. I have never seen a single bike use this facility at any other time apart from when there is an event on in the stadium when it is always full.Why on earth would you park your bike here at any other time? There is nothing here! There is acres of space for the cycle parking to be increased to provide cycle parking for those who choose to cycle to events at the stadium.

The cycle parking on the South side of the stadium, alongside the loop road is also well used, as it is located right alongside the Greenway, which provides a traffic free route all the way from West Ham and beyond.



Here is the cycle parking during a match next to the South Lawn, south of the ArcelorMittal Orbit, quite a distance from the stadium, or indeed anything of interest at all. Ideally this cycle parking should be relocated closer to the stadium, ideally where it is over subscribed on the other side!



Meanwhile if you decide to cycle here using Transport for Londons cycle hire scheme then that is not possible as it is suspended for every game as there are not enough docking spaces to meet demand.

From 1330 – 1900 on Sunday 21st August all docking stations in @noordinarypark will be locked due to a major event in the stadium.

— Santander Cycles 🚲 (@SantanderCycles) August 21, 2016

A lot of people drive to the stadium and have no trouble doing so with the A12 providing a direct and fast route from Essex. Waterden Road is backed up hours before every home game as drivers queue to park in the 4,500 capacity Westfield car park. Or they can park in the "state of the art" 850 multi-storey Stratford International train station car park and there is also the huge multi-storey car park next to Here East as well of course. However my trip round the stadium on the first day of the season last year I discovered drivers going to great lengths to be able to park their car for free

Cars parked at the back of the stadium (this area has since been fenced off)

Fish Island, in particular, suffers badly from this with every available bit of space taken up by parked cars on match days

This is the parking situation on Fish Island now, free to park on the street and a two minute walk from the stadium pic.twitter.com/asVGwa3lu5

— Hackney Cyclist (@Hackneycyclist) August 21, 2016

The queues to exit Fish Island at the end of every game are ridiculous, yet the LLDC and Sadiq Khan want to build even more through roads for cars here! I also see crowds of people in West Ham tops walking back through the residential streets of Hackney, as parking for the games spreads out far from the stadium into neighbouring boroughs.

"Deal of the Century" was how West Hams move to the Olympic stadium was described, as the club pay £2.5m per year in rent (for contrast their yearly wage bill to players per year is £95m). London taxpayers footed the bill both to build and then to convert the stadium and continue to pay £20m per year (or £55,000 per day) to subsidise the losses the stadium makes. There has been all kinds of allegations of corruption with regards to this deal but clearly something has gone badly wrong and I predict this is not the last we'll hear of it.

Above: Marshgate Lane in late 2007 with demolition of the trading estate underway, taken from the Greenway bridge above. Below: the same view from the bridge today

Why such a huge space for a simple T junction with single carriageway roads on all approaches?

These days Marshgate Lane runs from Loop road under the Greenway to Pudding Mill Lane, close to it's junction with Stratford High Street. The Loop road runs to Carpenters Road from the right of this picture via a new bridge over the Waterworks River, built in 2009/10. Although closed to motor vehicles at present whilst the secondary school Booby Moore Academy is constructed it will reopen, with it's narrow lanes and inadequate cycle lanes

Marshgate Road runs under the Greenway but it did used to be  closed to motor vehicles with Pudding Mill Lane being the main road continuing onto Stratford High Street

Marshgate Lane in 2007 and 2017

In 2007 Marshgate Lane was fenced off under the bridge, with Pudding Mill Lane the main road from the Industrial Estate to Stratford High Street, behind the fence in the picture above. In 2017 Marshgate Lane is open to motor traffic and has been lowered. Pudding Mill Lane has been raised and is now open to pedestrians and cyclists only as a shared path (although there is no indication of this cycling route from the road on either side) 

The same road ten years apart

There have been an awful lot of changes to this area in the past ten years and the easiest way for me to explain those changes is via Google Earth

Pudding Mill prior to construction of the Olympic Park in 2007. Marshgate Lane is the blue dotted line, open to traffic as far as the Greenway bridge. Pudding Mill Lane in red is the main road from Stratford High Street to Marshgate Lane Industrial Estate. Barbers Road is in Black, a minor road with various businesses located on it. Pudding Mill Lane DLR station is highlighted in yellow

Pudding Mill in 2010, at the height of Olympic Park construction works. This is one of the main entrances to the park for construction vehicles and Olympic Park admin offices are also based here.  Marshgate Lane has been removed entirely, save for a small section at Pudding Mill Lane. Pudding Mill Lane remains open but is a dead end at Pudding Mill Lane DLR station. Barbers Road is still there but all the businesses gone and Pudding Mill Lane station remains open with a footpath leading to the Greenway. It is now a busy station used by many construction workers.

Pudding Mill in 2012, during the Olympics. It is now one of the routes for vehicles into the park and the various tents are where the Army search vehicles before they enter the park. The top end of Marshgate Lane has returned, as has Pudding Mill Lane, both routes into and out of the park via a one way system. Barbers Road has been reconstructed slightly further south. Pudding Mill Lane DLR is highlighted in yellow, it remained open up until just before the Olympics began. South of it the future DLR station is under construction (in orange), along with viaducts the tracks will sit on, as part of crossrail works.

Pudding Mill in 2013, a year after the Olympics. Both Pudding Mill Lane and Marshgate Lane end and are closed to traffic, although the top half of Marshgate Lane exists as a route into the park for construction vehicles from the large car park / work site area. Barbers Lane has now been removed entirely as the new DLR station construction takes place where it used to be. The older DLR station is still open and pedestrians (and cyclists) can access it from the Greenway via a series of long boarded footpaths through the construction site. I used to travel this route often with my daughter to head to Mudchute Farm, with various workmen employed purely to safely assist cyclists and pedestrian across the former Marshgate Lane by halting any construction traffic

Pudding Mill in 2015 with the New DLR station open. Marshgate Lane is now open to motor traffic as a through route into the park for the first time in many years with the former Pudding Mill Lane now a shared walk / cycle route under the Greenway. 

Pudding Mill in 2017. Marshgate Lane is open. Pudding Mill Lane is also back open but terminates at the new Pudding Mill Lane DLR station. Barbers Road has been rebuilt south of its original position. Where the former DLR station was is now the tunnel exits for crossrail.

Barbers Road in 2008, as captured by the Google Streetview car, with the entrance to Pudding Mill Lane DLR on the right. This is where the Southbound platform of Pudding Mill Lane DLR station now sits. 

Barbers Road under construction in early 2017, taken from one of the fenced off pedestrian routes into the new Pudding Mill Lane DLR station. It had been part of the worksite so reconstructed from scratch

The completed Barbers Road, taken from the DLR station. Clearly no space for protected cycle tracks here! 

When the new Pudding Mill Lane opened access was via various walkways through the construction site surrounding it. The cycle parking was located inside the station itself, at the bottom of the stairs to the platforms and it was quite fun to cycle into the station, past the ticket machines, to use it

The New Pudding Mill Lane DLR station bicycle parking, with the old DLR station visible in the background, via Diamond Geezer on flickr 

Earlier this year, as Barbers Road reopened a new large square was also opened in front of the station

With the bicycle parking also relocated from the station to the far end of the square



Which is pretty inconvenient. A shame it could not have been relocated closer to the station and, with all the space available, more parking added.

Cycle parking at a train station in Zoetermeer. See this location on google street view 

Once the crossrail tunnel exits were built then a new walking and cycling route was built under them and the other spans of the railways here.



It is very wide and links up nicely with the route on top of what was Pudding Mill Lane under the greenway but is again a shared path and no way to access it from the road



A shame that a cycle track and separate footway were not constructed, to reduce the risk of conflict

A walking and cycling tunnel under train tracks in Rotterdam, via the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain 

This cycle track could have continued under the Greenway and alongside the Loop Road, connecting Hackney Wick and Fish Island with the protected cycle tracks of cycle superhighway 2, along Stratford High Street

The Loop Road in 2012 and 2017

Another missed opportunity to create a safe and continuous cycle route that future generations who live in the area could use to get to the new schools being built.

Then there is the reconstruction of Pudding Mill Lane this year, which is terrible. A road with wide junctions designed for high speed motor traffic and pedestrians have to go out of their way to be able to cross it

Another blank slate, another missed opportunity.

Back in the Olympic Park and whilst the Aquatics Centre is not fun to cycle to via Carpenters Road

Most will cycle along the river on the other side and there is ample bicycle parking, which is always well used by families going for a swim



Although there is also bike parking located in the car park alongside, which is never used. It would make sense to relocate it to the location above, where there is plenty of room to do so. The route along the water is well used by people of all ages on bikes

This has been the location of the urban beach for the last three summers



Where the LLDC again provided no bicycle parking at the entrance and put up anti cycling signs for no reason whatsoever

But one day this will be Stratford Waterfront with residential buildings, V&A East, Sadler's Wells east and  active and UAL's London College of Fashion, promising a waterfront of calm spaces, providing s a direct connection to the river where there will be shops, bars and restaurants alongside staff, student and public entrances to the buildings. Which sounds nice, I just hope that a proper cycle route is also constructed on what will always be a very busy route to the swimming pool.

Could something such as this be constructed?

And there ends my tour of the Olympic Park in 2017. It has some fantastic features; the swimming pool is excellent and I use it often. Copper Box is also a great venue and has allowed my daughter to spend time at sports clubs during the school holidays. The parklands areas of the park are excellent and a really nice place to relax. It is excellent to access as a driver as well, with plenty of roads and more to come. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for cycling on the parks roadways which is mostly unpleasant. However it is possible to fix this; Sweetwater has not yet been built. East Wick has not yet been built. Stratford Waterfront has not yet been built. Pudding Mill has not yet been built. There is a real opportunity to create some fantastic cycle route in these new neighbourhoods over the coming years and, eventually, sort out some of the poor ones built in recent years, to create a truly liveable neighbourhood.

Previous Posts:
Part one - East Wick
Part two - East Village and Chobham Manor
Part Three: Westfield Stratford City
Part Four: Sweetwater and Fish Island

The Olympic Park in 2017, Part Four: Sweetwater and Fish Island

Sweetwater is the next stage of the park to be built, located in the borough of Tower Hamlets it will house 650 homes, a primary school, two nurseries, a health centre and a library. Sorry, I mean an idea store. During the games this area was where the worlds largest McDonald's was briefly located, along with the London 2012 Megastore. Prior to 2007 it housed the Bow Industrial Estate and Carpenters Business Park. To the west of Sweetwater, on the other side of the River Lee Navigation, lies Fish Island, not officially part of the Olympic Park but undergoing a huge amount of building works right now and under the jurisdiction of London Legacy Development Corporation planning department.

The only current way to enter this side of this area of the park by motor vehicle is via White Post Lane, which used to begin at Victoria Park, but now begins on the other side of the A12 with the first section due to form part of quietway 6. Most of it runs along construction sites at present but as it reaches the Olympic Park it runs past the former six storey Clarnico's chocolate factory (now mother studios) and the two storey white building, originally built to roast imported cocoa beans arriving via boat (hence the name Sweetwater), and now the White Building and always popular Crate Brewery and Pizzaria. This road was closed from 2007 through to 2013 and as a local I got used to the pleasant silence of the area and so it was quite a surprise when it originally reopened to motor traffic but four years on I've grown used to it once again




Crossing over the narrow Victorian bridge into the park and the road becomes Carpenter's Road, which used to be much narrower than it is today before Olympic Park construction began.

Carpenter's Road at the junction with Waterden Road in 2007, via Diamond Geezer on flickr

The same junction in 2017, with this section of Waterden Road now renamed Clarnico Lane

From the other side, Carpenter's Road at Waterden Road in 2007 via Sludge G on Flickr

The same junction in 2017, with the bridge and former Clarnico's factory in the distance the only remaining features. The road has been significantly widened 

Zooming out from the image above gives you a clearer view of just how wide the road is, yet despite the post Olympics widened layout the only facilities for people cycling are narrow, intermittent cycle lanes, which give up at every bus stop and junction



The road continues sandwiched between the North London line and what will become Stratford Waterfront in the future but was a beach when I took the photo below this summer. Prior to that it was the Water Polo Arena in 2012 and fridge mountain before Olympic Park construction began

You may just be able to make out the two cyclists in the photo on the footpath, shortly after the wide exit from the Aquatics Centre car park and what must be the least used zebra crossing in London

Carpenters Road continues past my local swimming pool

Again, can you spot the cyclist on the footpath in the bottom left?

This junction is gigantic, yet only narrow cycle lanes are all that is provided. This T junction existing prior to the Olympics

The same junction from google earth in 2005 and today, captured via google earth. It was a T junction but much smaller and located slightly further south 

The junction of Carpenters Road and Warton Road before the Olympics (©2004 Peter Marshall mylondondiary.co.uk) and the same location, renamed Swimmers Lane in 2017

Carpenters Road still continues under the railway bridge, as it did before the Olympics, but by making a left turn. The road continuing straight on becomes "loop Road" so called because it, along with Carpenters Road, loops all around the southern half of the park. Once under the railway bridge it passes through Carpenters estate, which Newham Council would really like to demolish to sell off to property developers, and onto Stratford High Street and the segregated cycle tracks of CS2

Back in Sweetwater it is clear to see how much space this cyclist has on the pavement, compared to the narrow intermittent cycle lanes on the road

Clearly no space to provide protected cycle infrastructure here!

This is exactly what I do when I take my daughter to her swimming lessons by bike every week, as I just don't feel it is safe enough on the road, risking mixing it with left turning lorries and cars travelling at high speed on this wide, straight road and in my experience, most people here tend to use the pavement

Probably for the same reasons, parents are naturally protective of their children and want to keep them away from danger

Also all the attractions, such as the Aquatics Centre and Westfield, are located south of this road and sometimes there just is no dropped kerb to allow you to hop off the pavement to get onto the road

There are usually very few pedestrians along here so this isn't an issue at present, however once Sweetwater is built then residential properties and the library will be located along this road and so it'll become a busy pavement. There is clearly enough room for cycle tracks either side or a bi-directional cycle track along here; if located north of the road then it would run between the road and the railway track, and with Clarnico Lane also due to be removed soon it would have no side road conflict, just as CS3 doesn't along the Embankment. However it would be on the wrong side of the road to all the properties and amenities, so ideally should be placed along the south side of the road instead. As construction has not started on Sweetwater yet and so there is still the time and space to build it,  the bridge is also very wide so it can easily be accommodated.

Do they seriously expect parents to cycle with their children to the library, nursery or primary school on Carpenters Road as it is, with those narrow cycle lanes?

Once you pass under the White Post Lane bridge along the Lee Canal Towpath the new canal park appears.

It is very pleasant but once again I do wish some of the space could have been used for a wider path

The towpath when I cycled this route back in 2007, with the Bow Industrial Estate boarded up but not yet demolished, and the same location today

Or at least a simple diversion onto a cycle track alongside the road along here but this was reconstructed in 2014, with no dedicated space for cycling, just a narrow road and a gigantic pavement

During the Olympics and three years later

As I reported in this blog earlier this year, this road has a realigned extension built just under a year ago and despite the space available, narrow advisory cycle lanes were painted onto the road, which is so narrow cars have no option but to drive in them




Bobby Moore Academy opened it doors to local school children in September. This site next to Sweetwater will be a primary school, however at present the secondary school is still under construction a short distance  away on the loop road on the other side of the stadium and so year 7 pupils are currently housed here until they transfer next year and reception children take over. I cycled this way one day at 3.30pm in the first few weeks of it opening and was not at all surprised that the mammoth pavement was being used to park cars on the school run

Just imagine how busy this road will be at 3.30pm in a few years when the full number of 400 pupils are based here, along with another 1000 around the corner in the secondary school!

Before and after. Why paint  narrow cycle lanes on such a narrow road with all this space available?

As the loop road continues round the edge of the stadium it passes over a new bridge over the River Lea, constructed during 2009/2010 and then loops around the stadium

The loop road in 2012, taken from google street view, when it was part of the service road used by athletes and the media during the games and the same spot today. Plenty of space to provide protected cycle tracks that the pupils from both the primary and secondary school located on this road could use to get to and from school

Whilst the road is currently closed outside the secondary school, as it forms part of the construction site, it is now possible to travel from Hackney Wick directly to Stratford High Street via this route, something that was not possible before this became the Olympic Park. These roads will get much busier over time

The north side of Fish Island was traditionally a place where people lived in Victorian Houses and worked in the various factories, such as Clarnico, or in the warehouses along the rivers and canals in the area up until the 1970s when they were demolished for more modern industrial units. Many of those industrial units have recently been demolished to once again house people and so a large area of it is currently a building site

The north side of Fish Island, a year apart

A lot of the old warehouses remain on the South side of Fish Island, mostly housing artists studios but with some well known businesses, such as Trumans Brewery, Formans smoked salmon and the Morning Star newspaper all based here in newer buildings.

The former Wick Lane Rubber Works, built in 1889, now housing artist studios 

At the end of Monier Road, the main road through the middle of Fish Island, a new apartment block, Carpenters Wharf, nears completion.

You can still travel back in time on google streetview to see the Carlton Cafe and warehouse as it was before demolition but in the present day the chimney with "Carlton" painted on it is the only reminder of it (although named after the shoe company who were once based here). Fish Island remains a quiet place to walk or cycle as it is naturally filtered by water or sewers. All motor traffic in the area is there for a reason, not using it as a through route to somewhere else. Unfortunately the London Legacy Development Corporation still want to tear down the popular walking and cycling bridge over the Lee Navigation. After I wrote about this plan on here last year I wrote to Caroline Russell and she kindly asked the Mayor about this bridge, and this was his response:

"The H14 all modes bridge is anticipated to have a speed limit of 20mph and has a narrow road width. It is unlikely that there will be an issue of rat running, as this connection would not provide any journey time savings or represent an obvious short cut for anyone using the existing strategic road network.

These bridges are part of the regeneration strategy for the area which is designed to rectify some of the long standing problems of isolation, caused by the large numbers of waterways and major trunk roads which have had a long term debilitating effect on the immediate local economy. I am informed that the construction of these bridges will help ensure that the Hackney Wick and Fish Island communities will have access to the world class facilities of QEOP, including the new schools, thousands of new homes, healthcare centres and other amenities. This will be a significant economic and social benefit for local residents."

Firstly, most roads in the Olympic Park are 20mph but speeding remains a real issue on many of its roads. Also you can tell Sadiq does not cycle and narrow main roads are terrible for cycling!

Next year if this child wants to cycle here then he'll have to do so in the centre of a narrow road to slow down speeding lorries

As for it to be unlikely that rat running will be an issue here, that is quite clearly not true

The new road and bridge running from left to right at the bottom of the map. It'll connect directly to the Loop Road, which in turn connects directly to Waterden Road to the north and Stratford High Street to the south. 

The mayor has been incorrectly informed that this bridge will help ensure that the local communities have access to the world class facilities of the park, schools and other facilities on the other side of the water as they will already have that due to the walking and cycling bridge that already exists! It is well connected already, unless you're a driver looking for a rat run. For those small number of residents that need to drive to those facilities then they are perfectly able to by using an existing bridge 250m away

If the Mayor is serious about tackling air pollution then why on earth would he back the building of this road?

It’s shameful that children across London are breathing toxic air, with some schools in areas with twice the legal limit of pollution

— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) September 13, 2017

Fish Island is an area where everyone can access all roads by car but there is no through traffic. I find it astonishing that as locals councils such as Hackney and Waltham Forest meet opposition to try and filter residential roads we have a community that already has filtered roads and the plan is to undo that. What Hackney Wick and the surrounding area needs is more pedestrian and friendly routes, not more cars. 

When I was in the Netherlands this summer I visited an area called Oosterheem, in Zoetermeer. Like Fish Island and Sweetwater it is an area with new housing and is split in two by water. Below is a map showing the routes cars can take, in black, and those that people can take by bicycle or on foot in green (although both of the road crossings also have segregated cycle tracks and pavement)

These bridges provide routes for people to cycle or walk from their homes to visit local amenities, such as shops, schools or friends in the area but make it less appealing to do so by car 

They continue on as direct routes through the local area, completely separate from the road network

These are intersected by other routes creating a real network of cycle routes that are quick and essentially safe for anyone to use, no matter what their age.

Below shows the local school and nursery on the left, with another direct and continuous  cycle track past it that continues over the water in the distance. The roads do not and are only used as access roads so whilst everyone can drive to their destination it is much easier to travel around the area by bike or on foot

The residential roads are carefully arranged to ensure they are only used by motor traffic accessing those roads for a purpose, rat running is not possible and the roads are designed for low speed traffic.

These are the kind of implementations Sadiq Khan should be encouraging for Fish Island and Sweetwater if he is serious about cleaner air in London, not ripping out popular walking and cycling routes to create yet even more roads for rat running motor traffic in the Olympic Park.

Nobody except the London Legacy Development wants this bridge. Local residents do not want it 

Future residents of Fish Island and Sweetwater, if they have quiet roads and safe routes to cycle on, surely wouldn't ask for a new road bridge once they experience how pleasant it is to live in such an area. John Biggs, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets does not want his bridge. Rushanara Ali, the local MP, does not want this bridge. Sadiq Khan has the power to tell the LLDC to halt the construction of this bridge and he should do this to save Hackney Wick and Fish Island from more motor vehicles, more pollution and a worse quality of life.

Next Post:
Part Five: The Stadium, Marshgate Wharf and Pudding Mill

Previous Posts:
Part one - East Wick
Part two - East Village and Chobham Manor
Part Three: Westfield Stratford City