London councillors are up in arms over TfL’s plan to move a pedestrian crossing and install a new one around 50 yards away.
TfL revealed plans last month to relocate the junction in Streatham, south London, some yards further south across the A23, a busy dual carriageway with a central reservation.
However, local leaders have criticised the plan, saying the £650,000 could be better spent on something else.
It comes after the area between Woodbourne Avenue and Gracefield Gardens has become a hotspot for crashes between pedestrians and drivers.
TfL said ‘collisions involving pedestrians have increased in the area.’
In the ten crashes involving pedestrians in recent years, those on foot are thought to have been crossing the A23 ‘informally,’ TfL said.
What has the reaction been like?
Donnal Harris, a Liberal Democrat councillor and the leader of the opposition in the Lambeth borough council, argued that it was TfL, with local support, who removed the barrier stopping people crossing the road in the first place.
The idea was to allow people to cross where they wanted because Streatham is ‘a town centre rather than just a dual carriageway for motor traffic,’ she told Metro.
Councillor Harris said on social media locals are ‘becoming exhausted’ with consultations like TfL’s.
Dozens of crashes recorded on Streatham High Road
Over the last decade, there have been 68 crashes near Gracefield Gardens and Streatham High Road.
Of them, 38 resulted in injuries to pedestrians, with six serious injuries, the TfL consultation letter to councillors said.
In the three years ending December 31, 2023, there were 21 crashes near the the Gracefield Gardens junctions. Eighteen of them involved vulnerable road users like pedestrians, cyclists and moped riders. Three of them left casualties with serious injuries.
Following a survey as part of the consultation, 40% (140 people) said they thought the Gracefield Gardens junctions was ‘very unsafe’ or ‘unsafe,’ while 49% (170) said they considered it it to be ‘very safe’ or ‘safe.’
When asked about the proposal, 54% of the 390 respondents said they felt its impact on them would be negative.
She said: ‘People are becoming exhausted with consultations that seem to be worthless because results are simply ignored.’
The money could ‘be better spent’ on ‘so many local problems,’ she said, adding that the consultation has been a ‘sham.’
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Along with the relocated staggered pedestrian crossing, TfL’s plan also includes making the existing central island wider, new benches and relocated loading and disabled bays.
Harris told Metro: ‘TfL told us back in 2022 that this scheme would cost £650,000, and inflation has probably seen that cost rise since.
‘Residents are saying to us that this money would be better spent on other road safety and cycle infrastructure improvements in the area.
‘The problem that TfL is attempting to solve here is one that they themselves set up – with local support – by removing the barriers in the middle of Streatham High Road a decade or more ago.
‘That was a deliberate move to acknowledge that this is a town centre rather than just a dual carriageway for motor traffic. A destination not just a drive-through.’
Hina Bokhari, the leader of the Lib Dem opposition group in the London Assembly, wrote to TfL on Friday, asking for the works to be ‘halted immediately’ and accusing TfL of ‘lack of engagement with residents and local councillors.’
As a result, the construction – which was due to start on Monday – was postponed until tomorrow, with TfL saying ‘all objections will be fully responded to before the start of any construction works.’
A TfL spokesperson told Metro in a statement: ‘We’re determined to reduce danger on roads across London and this scheme at A23 Gracefield Gardens has been carefully designed to tackle the high number of collisions here.
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‘A full public consultation into the scheme was carried out previously and a decision was taken to proceed with the scheme.
‘Recently, we consulted on the traffic regulation orders needed to deliver the scheme, and all objections raised prior to the deadline for this have been fully considered and responded to.’
Other measures as part of the improvement plan include blocking vehicle access from Streatham High Road directly to Gracefield Gardens which is just some yards away from the entry to the Exchange Surgery.
While access will still be possible via other roads further away, the surgery is said to have opposed the plan after concerns for access for its 300 staff and disabled patients, the Standard reports.
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