Darren Gotch, Principal Engineer for Highways and Transport at Lewisham Council joined us last Monday when we held the fifth of our latest series of Green Conversations upstairs at The Brookmill pub. The theme of the evening was ‘mobility’. Darren fielded a number of questions and concerns from the audience and gave us a general update on the progress of the traffic plans for the area. His main points were as follows:
General Update / Timings – work has been slightly delayed due to the elections but is now underway on analysing survey results and the responses to the Sustainable Streets consultation. The results will be presented in the Mayor and Cabinet Report for September when it will then become public knowledge. A formal consultation will follow.
Traffic Survey – sensor tubes were installed on St John’s Vale and Friendly Street in May 2024 for seven days. The black tubes that were laid across the roads allow the team to look at speeds, traffic volume and HGV movements, issues that were raised at the previous local assembly last year.
Possible Traffic Calming Measures – To alleviate speeding through the St John’s streets, some solutions were presented – alternating parking bays, build outs of pavements, introduction of SuDS or rain gardens to reduce the width of the road and a clear visible run down a street leading to lower speeds and safer roads, similar to a recently installed scheme on Brockley Road next to Beecroft School. This can be done in combination with new street trees and planted areas.
Removal of Kerb Parking – The car parking on Friendly Street pavements is one measure being considered. Issues have been raised of the limited space available on the pavements and difficulties for those with prams and limited mobility or sight. It is now a priority to clear the footways of cars and address street clutter like bins. The issue of EV charging bollards was also highlighted and it was hoped that these could be integrated into street lamps or replace existing bollards wherever possible.
New Pedestrian Crossing – There is going to be a new pedestrian (possibly zebra) crossing at the junction of Friendly Street and Albyn Road, outside Roni’s Café. This is a key crossing on a route used by local schoolchildren from one of the three schools in the area. The lollipop man who is there on schooldays will be kept on.
Darren promised to return to the area to talk through the consultation results and the proposals that come out of them once the findings are released in September.
We’re looking forward to resuming the Green Conversations series after the summer and will announce the dates soon.
