Latest on Streatham High Road works week commencing 12 Feb

Latest news from TfL - thanks to Streatham Action's transport group - about the road works currently causing major disruption on Streatham High Road at St Leonard's Junction:

"The upshot of the Monday morning site meeting between Thames Water and TfL determined that ...  the building of a raised table at the junction of Gleneldon Road and Streatham High Road, alongside part of the work to the triangulated central reservation immediately in front of that junction ... will be able to take place in tandem with the repair to the leaking water pipe by Thames Water on the corner of Gleneldon Road.

More details of planned roadworks for new safer St Leonard's Junction 12th Feb - 29 March

We have received more information about the work that is about to begin to make St Leonard’s Junction safe.

The improvements at the junction of Streatham High Road, Mitcham Lane, Tooting Bec Gardens and Gleneldon Road come after years of local campaigning to get safety concerns addressed.  It is a major ‘win’ for Streatham.  However there will be disruption while the work takes place and so your Green Party team will be working hard to ensure that this is minimised. 

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.

Promise of 20mph on danger road outside school

Cllr Ainslie, Nicole Griffiths and Jonathan Bartley for 20mph

Green Party councillor Scott Ainslie has won commitments from Lambeth Council and Transport for London for a 20mph speed limit on Mitcham Lane, and changes to the crossing outside St Leonard’s Primary School to reduce the risk of children being hit by traffic.

With the school size due to grow from 270 to 470 in five years, many more children will be spilling out onto the pavement next to the busy road each day.

Head teacher Simon Jackson said, “Scott has been really good at quickly bringing all the relevant parties together to see the problems and discuss what is needed to prevent an accident."

TfL listens to Streatham on St Leonard's Junction

Transport for London wants to hear your views on its latest proposals to improve safety for pedestrians and other road users at St Leonard's Junction.

Its is proposing to remove the pedestrian crossing located between St Leonard's churchyard and the north side of Gleneldon Road, which is not currently heavily used.

Instead a modern, count-down crossing with a 'green man' will be created on the southern arm of the junction - where there is very high demand from pedestrians, but currently no actual pedestrian crossing. 

A new bus lane is also proposed to ease the flow of buses approaching the junction from Tooting Bec Gardens.

Its consultation on these proposals can be viewed here and runs until 29 October.

New plans for lethal St Leonard's Junction

Cllr Scott Ainslie and the Green team scrutinise plans

Transport for London is developing new plans for St Leonard's Junction - where two people have been killed and five seriously injured in just over two years.

The Streatham Green Team and other members of the Safer A23 Campaign have been working with TfL to propose changes to the road design aimed at reducing danger at the junction. For decades the junction has been a hazard for local people.

Greens deliver on safer crossing for Mitcham Lane/Ambleside Avenue

Green Party councillor, Scott Ainslie,  couldn't resist having his photo taken at the newly modernised junction of Mitcham Lane and Ambleside Avenue - once notorious for collisions and fatalities.

Now, after four years of concerted efforts by Scott supporting the community's calls for TfL to take action, work has been completed and and the much-improved junction is already saving lives.

The junction now boasts: better lighting, advanced stop lines for cyclists, a filter light for right turns, a countdown crossing, a new 1.5m cycle lane, renewed footways with wider crossings for pedestrians and cycle safety mirrors on traffic signals

Mosque plans on display at library

Plans for a new mosque building on it current site opposite Streatham Green are on display this week in Streatham Libary.

The proposals from South London Isalmic Centre for a better equipped space for prayer along with a café, meeting halls, classrooms, gymnasium, inter-faith library, funeral services and a nursery, are currently seeing planning permission from Lambeth Council.

SLIC is seeking views from the wider community on their plans. Currently space for prayer and meeting is very cramped inside the former fire station with many having to kneel to pray outside in its carpark. 

Around 1600 people attend Friday prayers currently and there had been concern locally that a beautiful new mosque building would attract greater numbers and increase traffic congestion around Mitcham Lane and St Leonard's Junction.

At a meeting of Streatham Action's transport committee last week, Chair of the SLIC's trustees, Mohammad Aslam Ijaz, gave reassurances that the new building would provide better and more suitable facilities inside, reducing the need for people to spill out onto the pavement. He also confirmed results of a travel survey indiciating that 17 per cent of mosque users currently travel by car.

He said the vision for the new building was that it would provide a safe, open and friendly space for the wider Streatham community, with non-Muslims welcome to use its facilities.

 
The plans will be on display at Streatham Library until Monday 3rd October and can also be seen - along with a Q&A online here. 

 Feedback from local people is actively sought. You can contact the mosque with your feedback here.
 

 

Mayor to face question over treacherous junction

Green Party London Assembly Member Caroline Russell is to question the Mayor over the decision by Transport for London to reject plans for a pedestrian crossing for St Leonard's junction - notoriously dangerous for pedestrians.

Ms Russell, who sits on the London Assembly's transport committee, joined local resident Barbara Hartnell, whose neighbour was killed at the junction, and members of the Safer A23 in Streatham campaign to see for herself where two people have been killed and 39 injured - five seriously - in the last five years.

"It was shocking to see this junction which is designed entirely for the benefit of motor vehicles while people have to take their chances looking for gaps in the traffic as there is no green man signal," said Ms Russell. 

"It is not fair that Londoners have to take their life in their hands just to get across the road. I was saddened to hear Barbara speak of her neighbour who sadly lost their life at this junction. 

"I am tabling a question to the Mayor asking him to assess this junction using a healthy street check score and revisit the decision to avoid installing a crossing in the light of the assessment."

Local resident Jonathan Bartley, who was recently elected co-leader of the Green Party, invited Ms Russell to Streatham after news broke on Wednesday that TfL has rejected proposals for a new pedestrian crossing at or near the junction. Proposals for a new crossing were displayed in Streatham Library in November 2015.

The reason given by TfL team leader for traffic infrastructure Mark Griffiths in an email answering questions from the Safer A23 Campaign is that a new crossing would cause "increased congestion to traffic beyond an accetable level". 

The Green Party's Chris Holt, an active member of the Safer A23 in Streatham Campaign, said: "This decision shows where TfL's priorities lie; they believe traffic must be kept moving - even at the cost of people's lives and limbs. We need the new mayor to change TfL's priorities. Londoners have the right to be safe on their streets."

See also for the history at this junction:

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/tfl-rejects-crossing-for-treacherous.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/st-leonards-junction-have-your-say.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/another-day-another-serious-collision.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fatality-at-st-leonards-junction.html


http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/response-from-tfl-about-st-leonards.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/yet-another-collision-at-st-leonards.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/bus-beached-at-junction-of-streatham.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/what-could-be-done-about-junction-of.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/another-collision-at-tooting-bec.html

http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/10024077.Crash_causes_injury_and_traffic_chaos/

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/safety-review-at-junction-of-mitcham.html

Campaign success! Fatal Ambleside Avenue/Mitcham Lane junction to be modernised

Some great news!  The junction of Ambleside Avenue and Mitcham Lane is finally to get its much needed overhaul!

Since 2012, Streatham Green Party has been campaigning with local people to make the junction of Ambleside Avenue and Mitcham Lane safe, after a series of collisions and fatalities.

We initially launched a campaign which included a demo with parents and children from St Leonard's Primary School who use the crossing, after a number of other near misses on the crossing at the junction. It received some press coverage which you can read here.

We have since continued to record and highlight the collisions there and met with Transport for London to press for action and highlight the urgency.

We eventually won a review of the junction in 2013.

However, it then seemed that the Mayor of London was backtracking on his plans to make changes to dangerous junctions, as he scaled down his 'Better Junctions Programme'. So we continued to push TfL until they made some promises to make changes.

We had been told that there would have to be another fatality of serious injury before action was taken, and sadly that happened in late 2014.

850 local people then signed a petition online and on paper.  We collected signatures at Streatham Green market when we ran our Christmas street stall. Local shops also helped out as well as Tenderlinks Day Nursery.  And in January 2015, we presented the petition to City Hall.

A year ago, TfL finally came forward with their plans to make the junction safer.  And these will now be implemented with work starting later this month.

The plans include modernising the street lighting to improve visibility, installing advanced stop lines for cyclists, introducing a new 1.5 metre-wide cycle lane on Ambleside Avenue,  modernising the traffic signals to include pedestrian countdown technology, installing cycle safety mirrors on traffic signals at the junction to increase visibility of cyclists, renewing footways for pedestrians, realigning and widening pedestrian crossings and resurfacing the carriageway at the junction.

The work is planned to begin on 25th July. 

Thanks to everyone who helped with the campaign!

For more on this junction and the history of the campaign see the following:

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/p/campaign-to-make-junction-at-mitcham.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/kids-demo-at-junction-of-ambleside.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/children-have-near-misses-at-junction.html
http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/9977414.Parents_call_for_junction_to_be_made_safe/?ref=mr
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/another-collision-at-junction-of.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/review-won-at-junction-of-mitcham-lane.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/countdown-crossing-at-ambleside-avenue.html
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/make-the-junction-of-mitcham-lane-and-ambleside-avenue.html

St Leonard's Junction - have your say

Aftermath of tragedy at St Leonard's Junction

TfL's proposals for a new pedestrian crossing at St Leonard's junction will be open to public scrutiny at a one-day workshop to be held at Streatham Library on November 21.

The junction - where Streatham High Road meets Tooting Bec Gardens and Mitcham Lane outside St Leonard's Church - is notoriously dangerous for pedestrians, with currently no safe crossing place as it enters "the dip" down towards Streatham station.

After concerted campaigning by the Green Party and others, Transport for London's proposal is to put a new pedestrian crossing a little way down "the dip" near Streatham Green. At the workshop, which will be open from 11am to 4pm on Saturday November 21, various options for this crossing will be presented - and local people's views sought.

When senior TfL managers toured Streatham in September they ruled out an option of phasing crossing times to allow simultaneous Green Man crossing periods across the whole junction - something pedestrians say creates the greatest feeling of safety.

See BBC news report on St Leonard's Junction.

See also for the history at this junction:

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fatality-at-st-leonards-junction.html


http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/response-from-tfl-about-st-leonards.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/yet-another-collision-at-st-leonards.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/bus-beached-at-junction-of-streatham.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/what-could-be-done-about-junction-of.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/another-collision-at-tooting-bec.html

http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/10024077.Crash_causes_injury_and_traffic_chaos/

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/safety-review-at-junction-of-mitcham.html


 

Broken paving to be fixed on Mitcham Lane

There has been a large area of broken paving on Mitcham Lane, which has been cordoned off for several months.

The area is located opposite St Leonard's school and is a hazard for children, older and disabled people and well as causing an obstruction for other pedestrians.

A number of local people raised this via fixmystreet.com and others got in touch via email, to see if we could help get the repairs sorted out.

The council have how told us that delays in teh repairs were due to a "cheque being lost in the post". Contractors have been engaged and will visit to begin repairs on 3rd November.

TfL's plans to improve Mitcham Lane/Ambleside Junction - What do you think?

Some good news!  Transport for London have finally come forward with specific plans for improving the safety at the Mitcham Lane/ Ambleside Avenue junction.

This is something we have been campaigning for, for several years, following a number of fatalities there, mainly involving cyclists, but also pedestrians.

We launched a petition in 2012, with a demo at the junction involving children from nearby St Leonard's Primary School.   We then had correspondence with TfL and a meeting, organised by Green Party London Assembly members. We were however told that there would need to be another fatality there, before action was taken.

We videoed buses jumping the lights and narrowly missing pedestrians on the crossing.  We also continued to record the frequent collisions.  Eventually TfL agreed to review the junction in 2013. They then came forward with some suggested improvements.  But sadly, there was another fatality in November 2014.

We collected more signatures, and delivered another paper version of the petition to TfL in January to reinforce the urgency, and the need for much more than they were offering.

A few days ago, TfL finally sent around a letter to local residents setting out their plans.  The letter is reproduced in full below.  But in summary this is what they are proposing:

• New trixi mirrors on the signal poles to increase visibility of cyclists
• New pedestrian countdown crossings
• Realigned and widened pedestrian crossings
• New tactile paving
• Modernised traffic signals to reduce pedestrian waiting times
• Modernised streetlighting
• New advanced stop lanes for cyclists
• Narrowed traffic lanes to slow down vehicles approaching the junction
• New textured and patterned imprinted high friction road surface on the junction itself to reduce vehicle speeds, improve stopping distances, and increase driver awareness of the crossing
• New combined red light and speed camera (but this is not in the right place)
• 1.5m cycle lanes on Mitcham Lane

A lot of this looks good.  But we have a number of reservations.  We are not convinced that the proposals will solve one of the major problems with the junction, and that is buses heading south on Mitcham Lane, and turning right into Ambleside Avenue who jump the lights,over the pedestrian crossing which is used by schoolchildren.

You can let TfL know what you think by emailing consultations (at) tfl.gov.uk   Do copy us in to your emails streathamgreenparty (at) gmail.com   You can also post comments on this blog below.

[Update 22/6/15 - TfL have read this blog and kindly sent through better quality Pdfs of their letter an design which we have put below]

Collision on Mitcham Lane last night and road closure

The collision on Mitcham Lane last night

There was another traffic collision last night on Mitcham Lane, at the junction with Conyers Road and Riggindale Road, outside Streatham Methodist Church.

Thank you to Adrian Gatton, a local resident, who sent us this picture.

I have spoken to police this morning, and have been told that three individuals were in the car which was travelling north along Mitcham Lane.  All had apparently consumed significant amounts of alcohol.  The car came over the bridge and turned over, and hit a couple of pedestrians, and the caught fire.  Police did not know if the car was stolen

There are no fatalities yet reported. However, the three individuals in the car were apparently seriously hurt, and at least one is in intensive care.

Mitcham Lane still shut this morning although police have finished their work

Mitcham Lane was closed between Ambleside Avenue and Conyers Road/ Riggindale Road this morning.  Police say they did all they needed to do after the collision last night, and the road was only remaining closed because Lambeth Council had still not arrived.

One lamp post needs to be looked at, and there is small bit of damage to the road surface (all within the bit cordoned off in the picture to the right).

There does not seen to be any reason why the whole road needs to be shut.  This has had a huge knock-on effect on traffic in the area, and means that police have to stay there until council officers arrive to take over.

We are chasing council officers to sort it out.

We are also continuing our long-running campaign to sort out this very dangerous stretch of road.

Petition presented to make local junction safer

Greens  and local residents at City hall presenting the petition

We went up to City Hall this morning with Green London Assembly Member Darren Johnson, to present our petition to Transport for London, calling for the junction of Ambleside Avenue and Mitcham Lane to be made safe.

This is a long-running campaign, following three fatalities (the latest of which happened before Christmas) and numerous collisions there. 

There is a nursery right there on the junction and St Leonard's Primary School is a hundred yards away.

Thanks to the 850 local people who signed the petition online and on paper.  We collected signatures at Streatham Green market when we ran our Christmas street stall. Local shops also helped out as well as Tenderlinks Day Nursery. 

For more on this junction see the following:

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/fatality-at-junction-of-mitcham-lane.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/p/campaign-to-make-junction-at-mitcham.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/kids-demo-at-junction-of-ambleside.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/children-have-near-misses-at-junction.html
http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/9977414.Parents_call_for_junction_to_be_made_safe/?ref=mr
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/another-collision-at-junction-of.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/review-won-at-junction-of-mitcham-lane.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/countdown-crossing-at-ambleside-avenue.html
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/make-the-junction-of-mitcham-lane-and-ambleside-avenue.html

Fatality at the junction of Mitcham Lane and Ambleside Avenue

I spoke with police last night about the tragic collision at the junction of Mitcham Lane and Ambleside Avenue. This was the scene.

It must be emphasised that the details are still unclear. However it has been reported that a woman died after being hit by a bus, and the driver was arrested.

We have been campaigning alongside local people since 2012 to make this junction safe, and highlighted how buses have been jumping the lights.

We were told that there would have to be another fatality of serious injury before action was taken.

So we launched a campaign which included a demo with parents and children from St Leonard's Primary School who use the crossing, after a number of near misses on the crossing at the junction. It received some press coverage which you can read here.

We have since continued to record and highlight the collisions there and met with Transport for London to press for action and highlight the urgency.

We eventually won a review of the junction in 2013.

However, it then seemed that the Mayor of London was backtracking on his plans to make changes to dangerous junctions, as he scaled down his 'Better Junctions Programme'.

So we continued to push and TfL until they made some promises. Progress has however been delayed by TfL and the Mayor. We have asked for another urgent update and meeting.

Please do show that you want the junction made safer by signing the petition here.


For more on this junction see the following:

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/p/campaign-to-make-junction-at-mitcham.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/kids-demo-at-junction-of-ambleside.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/children-have-near-misses-at-junction.html
http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/9977414.Parents_call_for_junction_to_be_made_safe/?ref=mr
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/another-collision-at-junction-of.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/review-won-at-junction-of-mitcham-lane.html
http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/countdown-crossing-at-ambleside-avenue.html
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/make-the-junction-of-mitcham-lane-and-ambleside-avenue.html

Improvements to piazza area next to Streatham Green

Local Green Cllr Scott and Ainslie and I met with officers yesterday at the new piazza area by Streatham Green (next to the Manor Arms and between Babington Road and Mitcham Lane).

We got confirmation that the two trees would be put in to the new tree pits by 18th October.

We also looked at ways of discouraging traffic from driving across the piazza, which is supposed to be a pedestrian area.

It looks as if we will be able to put two more fixed chairs and an extra tree in there, which will as well as preventing cars from driving across will also provide more seating and greenery.

We also looked at the issue of the weeds growing in the tree pits. There is presently no maintenance contract to deal with shrubs/ flowers/ weeds and general maintenance of the area around the trees. We have asked if this job can be added to the contractors who maintain Streatham Green itself.

Something else we are exploring is how we can support local businesses, like the new Village Cafe, to get tables and chairs out onto the piazza area more - particularly when the new market is happening.

Cycling improvements and countdown crossing at Ambleside Avenue/ Mitcham Lane Junction

We have continued to ask Transport for London to address the ongoing safety issues following repeated collisions (and fatalities) at the junction of Mitcham Lane and Ambleside Avenue.  This included a campaign which began in 2012.

This resulted in a review of the junction and proposals for changes and we have now received the following email from TfL (via Green London Assembly Member Darren Johnson's office):

Our proposals for this junction are currently at the preliminary design stage. The anticipated completion date for this early design work is  November 2014. The principal objectives of the scheme include the provision of:

·      Cycling improvements on all arms of the junction, including the installation of Advanced Stop Lines

·        Installation of Pedestrian Countdown

Furthermore, we are investigating light levels at the junction to ascertain whether any upgrade in this area is required, and we are also looking at the possible provision of a red light camera.

We will be consulting on our proposals with our stakeholders, and expect delivery of the scheme to take place July – September 2015.

New Streatham Green market operator

A new market operator has now been recruited to manage the market at Streatham Green, which will operate around the new Plaza area.

The new operator will be City and Country Farmers Markets Ltd (CCFM) who already do the markets at Herne Hill and Oval, as well as eight other locations around the London area.

It aims to support small producers and get people shopping more locally.

A promotional campaign is expected during the month of July.

The market is scheduled to start trading during the first Saturday in September.

Fatality at St Leonard's junction

Around 6.30am this morning there was a fatal road traffic collision at the St Leonard's Junction (Mitcham Lane, Streatham High Road, Gleneldon Road) involving a pedestrian and a motorbike.

This is absolutely tragic. Details have still to fully emerge, but this is a junction which local people have consistently raised as dangerous, and which we have been pushing Transport for London (Tfl) to address. TfL agreed to review the junction in November 2012. After over a year of delays, they finally finished the review in Feb 2014. But they came back with no proposals to make it safer whatsoever, apparently because of budget cuts, which meant money was diverted elsewhere.

Since then we have been working with the police to make the case for action. Police agreed to carry out a risk assessment of the junction, in particular the crossing at the south of the junction where it is clearly unsafe to cross. There is no break in the traffic sequence to allow pedestrians to cross the road safely. Local residents have raised this repeatedly. This was where the latest fatality appears to have occurred.

Yesterday, I met with police to discuss the findings of their risk assessment. They described the junction as "an absolute nightmare". They were also going to do some more work around the junction yesterday afternoon, with some new officers, to raise awareness among drivers.

Sadly, it appears this has come too late for those involved in the Road Traffic Collision this morning.

This is not the first fatality at this junction. It also follows many other collisions there.

Once the details of this latest fatality are released, we will be asking for an urgent meeting with TfL, and present them with the risk assessment that the police have prepared. This junction has to be made safer, and Transport for London must take urgent action.

[Update 13.28 I have spoken to police again at the scene. There are no obvious indications the motorbike was speeding. The pedestrian killed was around 33 years old, on his way to work, and believed to be from Gleneldon Road. It does look at this stage a lot like the dangerous crossing is the main factor in this.]

See also for the history at this junction:

http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/10024077.Crash_causes_injury_and_traffic_chaos/

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/safety-review-at-junction-of-mitcham.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/another-collision-at-tooting-bec.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/yet-another-collision-at-st-leonards.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/bus-beached-at-junction-of-streatham.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/what-could-be-done-about-junction-of.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/response-from-tfl-about-st-leonards.html