In message , AstraVanMan
writes
"Mike Hughes" wrote:
I would do the M40/A40 rather than the M4. The M4 leaving London is
pretty good but in the opposite direction you've got the dreaded bus
lane

Best thing since sliced bread - for us taxi drivers! ;-)))

Try this for a route

Spur Road

You're assuming the journey starts at Heathrow? It doesn't, but
anyway....

M4 East
leave by J3 (next one along)
N on A312 follow until you get to
A40 then all the way through to Euston Rd,
Pentonville Road
City Road
L at Old St Roundabout
Bear right Great Eastern St
Forward Commercial Street
Aldgate one way
then follow signs for A13.
You then get the choice of staying on East India Dock Road or going
via
Lime House linkway until you get to roundabout for City airport
(where
you cross the meridian from W to E) and just follow signs.

Ok, well having just ridiculed using the Northern section of the inner
ring road, if a cabbie's recommending it I might have to eat my words!
So is it likely to be a pretty clear run around 5pm on a Sunday, all the
way from Marylebone to Whitechapel, then?

Depends. So9metimes it can be very easy, other times it is very busy. It
all depends upon what is happening with road works. Again I have the
advantage of being able to use the bus lanes.

Of course if you really knew London you'd go straight through via the
M4
then Cromwell Road, etc to get to Victoria Embankment from Trafalgar
Square but you must be prepared to make diversions if there are
demonstrations or other diversions (strangely enough one of the
straightest routes takes you over Lambeth Bridge and then via the
Rotherhithe Tunnel, but you really must know London for that!)

Heh. Well I'm advising someone who doesn't know London all that well,
so a relatively simple route's going to be the best. Personally I'd
probably do the Lambeth Bridge route, either coming in via
A316/Barnes/Mortlake/Putney/Wandsworth, and crossing the river at Albert
Bridge, or just simply M4/A4, going through Beauchamp Place/Belgrave
Square, and cutting through Carlisle Place etc to end up on Horseferry
Road (used this loads of time and it's a bit windy but usually pretty
easy), but I wouldn't want to advise someone with virtually no London
knowledge to do this!

Your route is another good one, but as I said you really must know
London reasonably well (for a non taxi driver that is) in case you have
to divert.

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."



--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

In message , John Rowland
writes
AstraVanMan wrote:

Ok, well having just ridiculed using the Northern section of the inner
ring road, if a cabbie's recommending it I might have to eat my words!

Cabbies can use the bus lane, and I don't know whether Mike has taken this
into account.

I had taken that into account. I would use the M4 myself but for someone
who isn't allowed to use bus lanes the northern route may be easier to
follow.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

"Londoncityslicker" wrote:
I travel this route (Chiswick Roundabout to City Airport) fortnightly
at the same time late Sunday afternoon.

Generally the best route is the straight one down the A4 all the way
up
to the Trafalgar Sq. Then Northumberland Ave running to the
Embankment.
Then follow the Highway/Limehouse Link/Aspen Way down to City Airport.

Hotspots are a bit of congestion on the A4 in Chiswick but is
generally
fine.
Otherwise Trafalgar Square can be a bottle neck especially if there is
an event on as Sunday drivers will slow down and look and there are
kamikaze pedestrians.
And a little queue into Piccadilly Circus. Sometimes theres a queue
into the limehouse link. But both of these queues run smoothly most of
the time.
It'll take one hour. Less if theres no problem.

Is it worth all that messing about when you can just cut through Earls
Court and down to the Embankment that way (Cheyne Walk etc) ?? I've
always avoided Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square like the plague!
Even if I've ever headed into Soho I'd cut up Albermarle Street and
around the loop to Vigo Street and cross Regent Street there. Unless it
was before the bus lane hours on Piccadilly in the morning....

I sometimes do the A40 (when I feel like a change) but you can
sometimes hit major tailbacks coming off the Westway at Paddington and
once again on Commerical Street. If you do get caught then it'll add
another 20 minutes to half an hour. But on a clear day this route is
quicker by about 5 minutes.

There are variations on the A4 route but generally they'll do the same
thing but with more/less congestion or complexity.

Cheers for all that.

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."

On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:25:20 +0100, Mike Hughes
wrote:

In message , AstraVanMan
writes

Ok, well having just ridiculed using the Northern section of the inner
ring road, if a cabbie's recommending it I might have to eat my words!
So is it likely to be a pretty clear run around 5pm on a Sunday, all the
way from Marylebone to Whitechapel, then?

Depends. So9metimes it can be very easy, other times it is very busy. It
all depends upon what is happening with road works. Again I have the
advantage of being able to use the bus lanes.

Don't forget that on actual Sunday evenings everyone can use most of
the bus lanes, just check the blue signs they're mostly Mon-Sat
7am-10am and 4pm-7pm. Lots of drivers forget this and completely
ignore the bus lanes, which allows you a lot of undertaking potential.

--
to respond via email, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/e48z9

"AstraVanMan" wrote in message
...
"Londoncityslicker" wrote:
I travel this route (Chiswick Roundabout to City Airport) fortnightly
at the same time late Sunday afternoon.

Generally the best route is the straight one down the A4 all the way
up
to the Trafalgar Sq. Then Northumberland Ave running to the
Embankment.
Then follow the Highway/Limehouse Link/Aspen Way down to City Airport.

Hotspots are a bit of congestion on the A4 in Chiswick but is
generally
fine.
Otherwise Trafalgar Square can be a bottle neck especially if there is
an event on as Sunday drivers will slow down and look and there are
kamikaze pedestrians.
And a little queue into Piccadilly Circus. Sometimes theres a queue
into the limehouse link. But both of these queues run smoothly most of
the time.
It'll take one hour. Less if theres no problem.

Is it worth all that messing about when you can just cut through Earls
Court and down to the Embankment that way (Cheyne Walk etc) ?? I've
always avoided Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square like the plague!
Even if I've ever headed into Soho I'd cut up Albermarle Street and
around the loop to Vigo Street and cross Regent Street there. Unless it
was before the bus lane hours on Piccadilly in the morning....

I sometimes do the A40 (when I feel like a change) but you can
sometimes hit major tailbacks coming off the Westway at Paddington and
once again on Commerical Street. If you do get caught then it'll add
another 20 minutes to half an hour. But on a clear day this route is
quicker by about 5 minutes.

There are variations on the A4 route but generally they'll do the same
thing but with more/less congestion or complexity.

Cheers for all that.

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."



Cutting through Earls Court is also a possible route.
But I find that at 5pm you get stuck a bit in the Earls Court area and the
queue onto the Embankment.
It also feels like a longer route. But i'm sure there's not much in it. But
pleasant views along the river.
If you take this route you can also cut out Parliament Square by crossing
Lambeth Bridge then continuing on the south-side until Southwark bridge.
Or even the Rotherhithe tunnel. As sometimes Lower Thames street get chocka.
The south-side is a ghost town for most of the stretch. It's useful in the
opposite direction to go south then back north.

Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square aren't that bad most of the time.
It was even easier before Ken blocked it all up. It moves though.

As you can see there are various routes. And there are various options for
congestion.

Hope the advice helps.

A.

In message , Tom Robinson
writes
On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:25:20 +0100, Mike Hughes
wrote:

In message , AstraVanMan
writes

Ok, well having just ridiculed using the Northern section of the inner
ring road, if a cabbie's recommending it I might have to eat my words!
So is it likely to be a pretty clear run around 5pm on a Sunday, all the
way from Marylebone to Whitechapel, then?

Depends. So9metimes it can be very easy, other times it is very busy. It
all depends upon what is happening with road works. Again I have the
advantage of being able to use the bus lanes.

Don't forget that on actual Sunday evenings everyone can use most of
the bus lanes, just check the blue signs they're mostly Mon-Sat
7am-10am and 4pm-7pm. Lots of drivers forget this and completely
ignore the bus lanes, which allows you a lot of undertaking potential.

But not the M4 bus lane nor the Marylebone Road one, both of which are
24 hours 7 days a week
--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

"londoncityslicker" wrote:
Cutting through Earls Court is also a possible route.
But I find that at 5pm you get stuck a bit in the Earls Court area and
the
queue onto the Embankment.
It also feels like a longer route. But i'm sure there's not much in
it. But
pleasant views along the river.

Aye - I must say I've rarely gone this way myself - normally opted for
cutting through Beauchamp Place and via Belgrave Square to Victoria, and
cutting through there to Lambeth Bridge - just thinking about what's
easiest for someone who doesn't know London all that well.

If you take this route you can also cut out Parliament Square by
crossing
Lambeth Bridge then continuing on the south-side until Southwark
bridge.

Yup - this was my preferred route every single time I've ever crossed
London, and it works a treat. Even in the rush hour it's possibly to
avoid the queues up to Tower Bridge by dodging around Trinity Square
etc.

Or even the Rotherhithe tunnel. As sometimes Lower Thames street get
chocka.
The south-side is a ghost town for most of the stretch. It's useful in
the
opposite direction to go south then back north.

Yup, indeed.

Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square aren't that bad most of the
time.
It was even easier before Ken blocked it all up. It moves though.

As you can see there are various routes. And there are various options
for
congestion.

Hope the advice helps.

Aye, cheers. I'll work something out!

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."

AstraVanMan wrote:

A friend of mine coming from the west on the M4, hoping to get to London
City Airport by around 6pm on a Sunday evening - what's the traffic
likely to be like?

And I am the friend....

I'm coming in from South Wales, and have been given the following route:

M40 / A40
Euston Road
Pentonville Road
Commercial Street
Commercial Road
East India Dock Road

Looks reasonably simple to me, and I'll have my Sat Nav with me, too.

My flight is at 16.55, so I need to have checked in by 4pm at the
absolute latest - I'm aiming for 3pm - 3.30pm in reality.

I arrive back at 8pm on Tuesday evening and need to get to a hotel in
Woking - would I be right in assuming that I can pretty much follow my
sat nav at this time of the day and not have to worry too much about
traffic?
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:47:18 +0100, (SteveH)
wrote:

AstraVanMan wrote:

A friend of mine coming from the west on the M4, hoping to get to London
City Airport by around 6pm on a Sunday evening - what's the traffic
likely to be like?

And I am the friend....

I'm coming in from South Wales, and have been given the following route:

So Steve, why exactly did you decide not to use Heathrow or even
Bristol? No flights?

--
to respond via email, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/e48z9

Tom Robinson wrote:

On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:47:18 +0100, (SteveH)
wrote:

AstraVanMan wrote:

A friend of mine coming from the west on the M4, hoping to get to London
City Airport by around 6pm on a Sunday evening - what's the traffic
likely to be like?

And I am the friend....

I'm coming in from South Wales, and have been given the following route:

So Steve, why exactly did you decide not to use Heathrow or even
Bristol? No flights?

Corporate bookings, innit.

We only book Lufthansa, BA and OLT.

I *could* have possibly booked a flight myself from Bristol, however,
Bristol flights don't operate every day, plus I'm in the Woking area for
a few days now, and in Ealing on Friday - so it sort of made sense to
drive down to London and stay down in this area, IYSWIM.
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #