George Wright, Project Manager from Lambeth for the road closures at Loughborough Junction can be contacted on gwright@lambeth.gov.uk and is taking comments on the road closures.
The Experimental Road Closures in Loughborough Junction came into force on Saturday 29th August. There has been little evidence of any behaviour change, and most motorists have been ignoring the limited signage. LJAG have been working with Lambeth and feeding back comments based upon community observations as we are particularly concerned about the safety of pedestrians in areas which should now be virtually car free.
In response to an email sent on Thursday to Councillor Braithwaite, we have received the following response from George Wright, Project Manager at Lambeth:
“Thank you for your message. Councillor Brathwaite has asked me to respond. The experiment is just under a week old and the level of non-compliance is concerning. I have visited the closure locations on a number of occasions this week and can advise the following additional measures will be introduced early next week:
Carriageway markings
BUS AND CYCLE ONLY at the start of the Loughborough Road Pedestrian Zone on either side
NO THROUGH ROAD on Loughborough Road j/w Coldharbour Lane and j/w Barrington Road
RIGHT TURN ONLY on exit from Styles Gardens
RIGHT TURN ONLY on Flaxman Road south of g/w Gordon Grove
NO ENTRY on both sides of all point No Entry locations
NO THROUGH ROAD on Calais Street j/w Lothian Road
Signage
3 x advance warning signs: CALAIS STREET CLOSED TO MOTOR VEHICLES
The 4 red and white advance signs on Loughborough Road and Coldharbour Lane will be replaced with the following message. LOUGHBOROUGH ROAD BUSES & CYCLES ONLY CCTV IN OPERATION
I have raised the level of non-compliance with colleagues and reiterated that we need to have as much CCTV enforcement as is practicably possible to reduce this.
Cllr Brathwaite will also be asking the Police to assist in advising motorists who are breaking the law by passing the regulatory traffic signs.
I met with a colleague from Croydon Council last night and he told me about the level of non-compliance that has been experienced on the experimental closure he has overseen in Norbury Avenue, so it is not untypical.
I am exploring options to place additional physical restrictions in the carriageway but we did give an undertaking to the emergency services that roads in the area could still be used in an emergency (Padfield excepted) so there is a fine balance to be struck here.
Please bear with us. This is an ambitious experiment and changing motorists habits is clearly going to take some time and in my view vigorous enforcement of the traffic regulations.
Best wishes
George”
In addition to the above, Lambeth are now looking at narrowing of roads. In the short term they have Conways coming to site next week and will be placing barriers on the carriageway to limit access and send a further visual symbol of the restrictions in place. This will be followed up with planters. Lambeth have indicated they have funds, if there is the capacity locally to make the planters. We have now received notification of a small grants fund that local groups can bid into. LJAG have placed this on our website to encourage as many groups around the area to apply. We will continue to press for clearer signage and delineation and report back on progress. We are committed to ensure this experiment is run well so that evaluation can be clear.
