We have received the following, very disappointing response, from Transport for London following its review of the St Leonard's junction. It seems to focus on efficiency and cost, rather than on making it safer.
"We have recently completed a study looking into the layout of the St Leonards junction to see if it may be feasible to improve its efficiency. This covered road users of all modes using the junction, including general vehicles, buses and other HGVs, cyclists, and pedestrians. Our study found that there are no easy options to make physical improvements. This junction is bounded by two historic churches and many shops, as well as being on a steep hill. These factors make infrastructure changes, such as widening the footways and carriageways or providing additional lanes, very challenging and expensive, and could not be justified under our current policies.
"The study also considered management of the existing space at the junction, by looking at lane markings and traffic signal timings. The existing high traffic flows at the peak hours use most of the available junction capacity and there is regular queuing. Therefore, options to improve matters are limited and would require allocation in favour of one particular set of users which would mean that conditions are far worse for the others. For example, increasing green light times for vehicles would lead to increased waiting times for pedestrians who are crossing, and could therefore not be justified when looking at the needs of all users in the round, rather than one particular group.
"However, there is a new timing review underway which is due to finish by March 2014. I hope the review will lead to some improvements in journey times for all users but regret that the options for large scale improvements appear limited at this location."
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