Albyn Road will soon join Ashmead Road and become St John’s second designated School Street. This measure will restrict vehicles (without a specific exemption) at specific times of the day (drop off and pick up) making the stretch of Albyn Road between St John’s Vale and Friendly Street temporarily pedestrian and cycle only. As the Lewisham website says, [Albyn Road] will have measures introduced to significantly reduce the volume of traffic when children arrive in the morning and leave in the afternoon [to St Stephens Primary School]. The restrictions will be in operation in term time only. School Street road signs have begun to appear on the road such as at the corner of Albyn Road and St John’s Vale and we’d imagine that the rest of the necessary infrastructure will be installed ready for the new school year in September.
We have also noticed works at the corner of Strickland Street and Cranbrook Road. We understand from Lewisham Highways that this is a ‘no entry plug’, part of the same school street road alterations.
Additionally, there will be a new zebra crossing at the junction of Albyn Road and Friendly Street next to where the lollipop man currently operates; a key pedestrian route for pupils and parents of all three local primary schools. Work has begun and you can see the new crossing lights already installed in place (see top image of this article). We’re able to share the draft road layout design (see below), and we understand construction will continue next week.
The St Stephens School Street changes and the new zebra crossing are some of many proposed interventions, part of the Healthy Neighbourhoods initiative which was initially consulted on earlier this year. Read the press release here which includes the following ‘key insights’:
- Traffic monitoring found 13 of the 27 locations in the area were used by more than 1,000 vehicles each day, making them unsafe for cycling.
- Speeding was also an issue, with seven locations registering speeds higher than the 20mph speed limit.
- The community told us they wanted reduced traffic, more safe crossing points and better waste management.
- The public were broadly supportive of the concept plans created, but some had concerns that traffic management measures would cause traffic displacement and increased congestion.
Lewisham have just published the initial feasibility report covering the St John’s and Tanners Hill area – which can be read and downloaded here. We look forward to further consultations later this year and more details of what is proposed.