Graffiti removed from Prentis Road

As part of our drive to clean-up Streatham we have asked council officers to remove the graffiti at the end of Prentis Road, at the junction with Streatham High Road.  

Officers confirmed this morning that this has now been done.

Drop-in events for A23 Streatham High Road changes

Three drop-in events have been organised for local residents who want to look at the proposed changes to the A23 - Streatham High Road.

There is currently a consultation on the proposals (now extended to Sunday 12th April) and you can read more about them here.

The proposals include:

• 20 mph speed limit
• Segregated cycle lanes and bus stop bypasses
• Straight-across pedestrian crossings relocated to be where people want to walk and cross the road
• Zebra crossings proposed to cross the cycle lane to signalised pedestrian crossings across the main carriageway
• 2 additional pedestrian crossings
• Bus lanes maintained or implemented and operational hours extended to between 07:00 - 19:00 Monday to Saturday
• Changes to side road access including restrictions and closures, redesign and resurfacing
• Improvements to public realm throughout the route, unlocking areas by removing central brick build planters and planting of new trees and landscaping
• Changes to parking and loading provision

The drop in events are on:

Thursday 27 February, 10:30 - 18:45, Streatham Tate Library, 63 Streatham High Road

Wednesday 4 March, 15:15 - 20:30, Streatham Space Project, Sternhold Avenue


Saturday 7 March, 13:15 - 16:15, Streatham Tate Library, 63 Streatham High Road

Consultation opens today on A23 changes in Streatham Hill

TfL wants your views on proposals to transform the A23 Streatham Hill, between Sternhold Avenue and Holmewood Road to make it easier, safer and more pleasant for people to cycle and walk.

This is "phase three" in the work to remove the central reservation on the High Road, as set out in the 2009 "Streatham Masterplan".

It is hoped that the changes will provide benefits for all street users in the area, making it easier to cross busy roads, removing through traffic on some residential roads, offering segregated space for people to cycle and will keep buses running on time.

Some of the measures that will come as part of the scheme - such as the planned 20mph speed limit and segregated cycle lanes - are a major breakthrough for local safety campaigners.

It is really important to make your voice heard and take advantage of the opportunity and make sure the opportunities are not lost as they were in the last stage of works a few years ago.

The consultation will be open between 10 February and 12th April).

The proposals include:

• 20 mph speed limit
• Segregated cycle lanes and bus stop bypasses
• Straight-across pedestrian crossings relocated to be where people want to walk and cross the road
• Zebra crossings proposed to cross the cycle lane to signalised pedestrian crossings across the main carriageway
• 2 additional pedestrian crossings
• Bus lanes maintained or implemented and operational hours extended to between 07:00 - 19:00 Monday to Saturday
• Changes to side road access including restrictions and closures, redesign and resurfacing
• Improvements to public realm throughout the route, unlocking areas by removing central brick build planters and planting of new trees and landscaping
• Changes to parking and loading provision

You can see the proposals in full and respond to the consultation here

Sharp rise in serious collisions on A23 in Streatham

UPDATE: public consultation delayed by general election will now start 6th Jan.

London Assembly Member Caroline Russell has won assurance from Transport for London that a consultation on plans to redesign the A23 at Streatham Hill will go ahead the second week of November. The news comes as latest statistics from TfL reveal that the number traffic collisions resulting in serious injuries on Streatham Hill and Streatham High Road have risen sharply in a year. 

 

Provisional stats for 2018 show there were 212 collisions on the A23 between its junction with the South Circular and the border with the borough of Croydon, including 19 resulting in life-changing injuries, up from 133 collisions, 13 of which were serious, the previous year.

Have your say on future of Streatham - but be quick!

Lambeth Council is asking for people's views on the future development of Streatham High Road and Streatham Hill - but be quick as the consultation ends on August 23rd!

Streatham Peace Procession Saturday 22nd September

This year's Streatham Little Big Peace festival is turning its focus on the unnecessary tragedy of youth-on-youth-violence, with a procession down Streatham High Road at 9am on Saturday morning.

At the heart of this silent procession along the high road is a two-fold commitment: - to stand with families that have been affected by knife violence 
- to stand for our community and future generation of young leaders

Streatham Hill A23 plans - see work in progress

Transport for London are to share their latest ideas for improving the road lay-out of the A23 at Streatham Hill at an evening event in Streatham Library.

When: September 11th
Time: 7pm -9pm
Where: Streatham Library

New plans for Streatham Hill - as collisions rise again

Nicole Griffiths: Safer A23

Transport for London is to share its plans to improve safety on the A23 in Streatham Hill at an informal evening workshop on Tuesday 13th March.

The workshop comes as latest figures show collisions on the A23 through Streatham continue to increase. In 2016 there were 113 collisions between Streatham Hill, junction with the South Circular, and Streatham High Road's border with Croydon, including 10 crashes resulting in life-changing injuries. Thankfully, there were no fatalities.

The underlying trend, however, appears to be for increasing danger on the road. The five-year figure for collisions rose from 471 to 489, with serious injuries rising from 41 to 45 and deaths falling from eight to seven.

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.

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.

Have your say on plans to change parking bays on Streatham High Road

Earlier this year TfL consultated on proposals to extend northbound bus lanes on Streatham High Road between Becmead Avenue and Drewstead Road. This scheme also included a proposal to inset a loading and disabled parking bay one metre into the footway between Becmead Avenue and Woodbourne Avenue.

Having received 450 responses to the consultation, with 71% in favour of the proposals, they nnow plan to go ahead - but with slightly different treatment of parking bays.

They are asking to hear views on their new proposals for the parking bays by 13th December 2017.

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.

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.

Six caught speeding in just over an hour on Streatham Hill

Nicole Griffiths out with police in Streatham

A police speed enforcement operation in Streatham last Friday recorded motorists doing over 50mph in what is a 30mph zone - and issued six speeding tickets in just over an hour.

The Green Team's Nicole Griffiths and other members of the Safer A23 Campaign worked with traffic officers to identify stretches of the A23 through Streatham where speeding is a particular problem.

Longer term, campaigners are calling for a re-design of the road through Streatham to deter motorists from driving at dangerous speeds and a reduction in the speed limit.

The risk of death from being hit by a car rises massively with speed of the vehicle.

Catching those who put lives at risk

At 40mph the risk of death is 90%.
At 30pm the risk of death is 50%.
At 20mph the risk of death is 20%.

According to collision figures for 2015[i], Lambeth has the highest number of road casualties on TLRN roads (821) and the most collisions resulting in death or serious injury (56). TLRN roads account for 58.6% of all road casualties in Lambeth and 56.6% of all fatal and serious injuries.

Nicole said: "It's tragic that Lambeth currently has the highest number of casualties on main roads in London.

"We need to change our thinking about how we move traffic through highly-populated areas like Streatham and the top priority must be preserving human life. We shouldn't have to take our lives in our hands every time we need to cross the road."

---

[i] https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/road-safety

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]

Plans for new bus lane on Streatham High Road

Proposals for a new bus lane northbound on Streatham High Road have been published. Transport for London (TfL) is seeking local views by Tuesday, 14th March.

The proposal is a bus lane operating Mon-Sat 7am-7pm, starting north of Becmead Avenue and ending near Drewstead Road. The lane would be open to buses, coaches, motorcycles and scooters, as well as cycles and taxis.

The pavement at 148 Streatham High Road (outside New Look, Poundland and Nationwide) would be narrowed by one metre to make way for a loading and disabled parking bay.

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.