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 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.

More road works - as new St Leonard's Junction crossing to go ahead

News that the long-awaited improvements to St Leonard's Junction are to go ahead in February has come just as motorists are dealing with the nightmare of emergency sewer repairs closing the southbound A23 between Prentis Road and Shrubbery Road.

Green councillor Scott Ainslie, has been in direct contact with senior Transport for London managers to alert them to the need for traffic to diverted to avoid the gridlock in the centre of Streatham, which may continue for two weeks as Thames Water dig down to repair a sewer 5 metres below the road.

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.

Crash survivor joins campaigners to petition Mayor over A23 road danger

Nicola Wilding: survivor of a crash on A23

Crash survivor Nicola Wilding today joined Safer A23 campaigners to petition London Mayor Sadiq Khan for action to end the high level of deaths and injuries in Streatham.

Mum of one, Nicola, aged 40, who was born and brought up in Streatham, suffered permanent injury to her arm in a crash on the A23 in May 1999.

Today she joined Michelle Hammond, whose brother Francis was killed at St Leonard’s Junction in Streatham in May 2014. Together with campaigners from the Safer A23 campaign, they demonstrated outside City Hall before a meeting of the Greater London Assembly (GLA).

At the meeting there was a strong demonstration of political parties working together.  Florence Eschalomi (Labour) presented the 3,000-strong petition on behalf of the campaign, supported by Transport Committee chair Caroline Pidgeon (Lib-Dem) and transport committee member Caroline Russell (Green).

Sister pays tribute to her brother - killed on the A23 in Streatham

Michelle Hammond, dad Martin and step-mum Shirley

Francis Hammond was known at work as the Big Friendly Teddy Bear - a young, caring man who had overcome childhood difficulties to become a trusted and much-loved carer in a nursing home.

It was 6.30am on Saturday May 31^st, 2014 that Francis, aged 27, crossed the A23 at Streatham’s notorious St Leonard’s Junction – on his way to work in Wandsworth - and was killed by a motorcyclist.

His death was one of seven serious or fatal collisions at that junction in less than three years.[1]

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.

The Green Team working with all for a safer A23

Streatham turned out to hear from their MP, Lambeth Council, Southern Rail, TfL, and Network Rail

Getting the message across

Last night's Streatham Transport Question Time saw politicians and influencers of all political persuasions get behind the campaign for a safer A23 through Streatham.

The campaign is calling on Transport for London (TfL), which is responsible for Streatham High Road and Streatham Hill, to balance more equally the needs of moving traffic with the safety of people living in Streatham.

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

TfL rejects crossing for treacherous junction

News reaches us that Transport for London have rejected all proposals for a new pedestrian crossing near St Leonard's Junction - site of numerous serious accidents. Two people have been killed and 39 injured - five seriously - in the last five years.


At an exhibition in Streatham Library last November TfL displayed five options for a new crossing at the junction - where Streatham High Road meets Tooting Bec Gardens and Mitcham Lane outside St Leonard's Church. It is is notoriously dangerous for pedestrians, with currently no safe crossing place as it enters "the dip" down towards Streatham station.

But in a letter sent to local MP Chuka Umunna in April - today forwarded to the Safer A23 in Streatham Campaign - TfL writes:

"Traffic modelling unfortunately shows the proposals discussed at the exhibition are not currently viable, particularly in the weekday PM peak hour that was assessed. The proposals were likely to lead to increased congestion beyond an acceptable level based on the current level of traffic demand. This was a point that TfL made at the time of the exhibition. We need to mitigate for the delays for traffic, including buses, created by the potential introduction of any proposals, including the effects on pedestrians at adjacent crossings.

"In order to address this, we need to investigate a larger area of Streatham High Road and consider complementary measures so that the corridor can work reliably for all of its users.

"Our collision data over the last 10 years for this junction does not show a significant number of collisions compared to the London average. As such, we are looking at these wider measures, but this will involve a longer timescale than the programme communicated previously.

"Some proposals, which were not presented at the exhibition, have been designed to assist bus reliability. We intend to discuss these and other findings with Lambeth Council officers shortly to determine a way forward."


It is deeply disappointing that TfL continues to place a higher priority on traffic flow than on pedestrian safety in the heart of Streatham. The diffulty of crossing the High Road near this busy junction has been powerfully highlighted in this BBC news report.


The Green Party locally will continue with its long-standing campaign, with challenges over the accident data TfL is using in its assessment of the junction safety.

See also for the history at this junction:

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/mayor-to-face-question-over-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

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


 

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

Response from TfL about St Leonard's junction

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."

Yet another collision at St Leonard's Junction overnight

There was yet another traffic collision overnight at the St Leonard's Junction (the junction of Streatham High Road, Mitcham Lane and Tooting Bec Gardens).

Apparently it involved a Hyundai, which must have been going quite fast to completely take out the traffic light on Streatham High Road between the Time2Move Estate Agent and the Manna Christian Bookshop.

This is a crossing which residents have repeatedly raised is dangerous, and just north of the location of one fatality. It is also about 20 yards from the location where a bus became "beached" earlier this month.

TfL promised a safety review of this junction last year. It was due to happen in April, but we got it brought forward after several collisions over Christmas. It was also recently resurfaced, and the box junction moved. We are still waiting for the results.

There are a number of ideas that could be pursued to improve the junction significantly if TfL is prepared to think creatively.