More road closures next week as work starts 12 Feb on new, safer St Leonard's Junction

TfL have informed us of how they plan to handle traffic disruption during the works to improve the safety of St Leonard's Junction, which are due to begin on Monday 12th Feb and continue until the end of March.

Bus passengers and drivers face nearly another two months of road closures and  diversions - following the unexpected road works caused by a burst sewer under Streatham High Road in January.

The works to improve the junction of Streatham High Road, Mitcham Lane and Tooting Bec Gardens are the result of long campaigns to make the road safer for all its users. It has been the scene of numerous nasty accidents over recent years, including two fatalities.

Collisions increase on A23 in Streatham

Collisions on the A23 through Streatham have increased, according to latest statistics from Transport for London.

In the period November 2013 to October 2016 there were 403 collisions, including 5 fatalities and 31 serious injuries on the A23 between the South Circular in the north and the junction of Streatham High Road and Hermitage Lane in the south. This is an increase of 13% on the previous period (May 2012 - April 2015). Fatalities rose from 4 to 5, and serious injuries rose from 24 to 31.

Pothole update

We promised that we would check local roads after winter had finished.

We reported the following potholes for repair:

• On Drewstead Road – between Woodbourne Avenue and Hoadly Road

• At the junction of Broadlands Avenue and De Montfort Road

• On Conyers Road – between Fairmile Avenue and Babington Road

• Outside Whinfell Close on Riggindale Road

• At the top of Moorcroft Road

• At the junction of Woodbourne Ave and Steep Hill

• Outside 11, 55, 114 and 144 Kingscourt Road

• Along Norfolk House Road and near the junction with Streatham High Road

• Outside 102A and 153 Gleneagle Road

• Outside 16 Blakemore Road

• At the bottom of Prentis Road at the junction with Garrad’s Road

Let us know if we have missed any that need sorting!

The truth about resurfacing

If you have ever wondered about claims made by councillors to have got this or that road resurfaced, then you may be interested to see the following, which are the carriageway scores for roads in St Leonard's Ward.

The 2 roads highlighted in green (Tooting Bec Gardens, Rydal Road) were just resurfaced.

To determine which roads should be resurfaced the Council carries out an assessment of every road to determine its condition. The carriageways not highlighted above currently sit on the authority resurfacing list and are prioritised primarily on their condition score.

Other factors are also considered in prioritising roads for resurfacing, these factors are listed below:

- Link/Traffic sensitivity i.e. TFL Network linkages, A road and B Road linkages etc

- Profile i.e. Schools, place of Worship, Community/leisure Centre, Library’s, cycle route etc

Once the Council has made the above considerations of condition, sensitivity and profile the final score for each road is produced (highlighted above in yellow) and the Council prioritises road resurfacing accordingly.

It's on old political trick for councillors to get hold of resurfacing data in advance, and then claim that they have got a road resurfaced through their lobbying. The truth is that it has a lot more to do with other factors including the number of potholes reported. If you report a lot of potholes, you can make a case and secure the resurfacing the road.

We have reported over 100 potholes in St Leonard's Ward in the last year either using the website www.fixmystreet.com or direct to Lambeth council. If anyone would like to see the potholes we have reported in their street, we would be happy to send a copy of the emails we have sent to the council, pictures we have taken, or records from fixmystreet.com

'The Dip' on Streatham High Road due to be resurfaced in the Autumn

Transport for London have said that the area on Streatham High Road known as "The Dip" (where it meets Stanthorpe Road and Gleneagle Road) will be resurfaced this Autumn.

It follows the resurfacing of the St Leonard's Junction earlier in the year which we managed to get TfL to extend to cover the bus stops to the South.

Residents in 'The Dip', like residents around the St Leonard's junction, have been experiencing vibrations from the road which have been making their properties shake for over two years, and this is long overdue. The poor road surface has also been a hazard for cyclists. It seems however, that TfL wanted to wait until after the majority of the work at the new Streatham 'Hub' to the south was completed.

[Update: This has now been delayed again, and is due in the first week of December]

More graffiti reported north of the Potters Lane tunnel

We had quite a bit of success getting the Potters Lane tunnel cleaned of graffiti over the last few months. This is the tunnel by Streatham Common Station which links Conyers Road and Gleneagle Road to the Ferrer's Triangle and Estreham Road.

We have been keeping a regular eye on it and asking Lambeth Council to remove graffiti as and when it occurs.

We have reported some additional graffiti which has appeared on the North Side of the tunnel, by the Youth Centre.

Road audit of Gleneagle Road

We have written to residents of Gleneagle Road following the road audit we carried out earlier in the year and our recent follow-up inspection.

Residents got in in touch with us and asked if we would carry out an audit. Of particular concern were certain sections of the pavement with broken and cracked paving stones, as well as a number of potholes - particularly at the end near Conyer's Road.

We asked the council to fix a number of potholes. Whilst some were repaired, our follow up inspection last week revealed that a few had been missed, and a few more had formed. We have therefore asked Lambeth to fix these urgently – specifically the ones outside nos 63, 104, 141,145 and 165 as well as at the junction with Conyers Road where the road surface is breaking up badly.

We also asked the council to repair the pavements which are in a terrible state. So far the council is resistant but we will continue to lobby for them.

We have however managed to get new ramp access put in at the bottom of Gleneagle Road (where it meets Conyers Road) for wheelchair users, older people and anyone using a mobility scooter. This will also help anyone pushing a buggy or pram. This has been done at other junctions on Conyers Road too.

New ramps on Conyer's Road at junctions with Fairmile Avenue, Babington Road and Gleneagle Road

Last year, I wrote about an older man I met on Conyer's Road who used a mobility scooter but had to take a huge detour every day because he couldn't access the junctions from the pavement.

We contacted the council and asked if ramp access could be put in at several points on Conyer's Road at the junctions with Babington Road, Fairmile Avenue, and Gleneagle Road.

We are pleased to say that this work has now begun. Several of the ramps have been put in and the work should be finished soon.

This is part of Accessible Streatham Campaign - in which we are working to make the local area more accessible for older people, those with mobility impairments as well as those with buggies and prams.

For other examples of where we have done this see these links here:

End of Riggindale Road

Outside Wellfield Road Community Centre

Thirlmere Road ramp access

Ramps on Tooting Bec Gardens

Pavement widening at the bottom of Tooting Bec Gardens/ Garrad's Road

Or more on our accessible Streatham campaign here.