South London residents are bitterly divided over a council’s £450,000 traffic scheme that came into place last week.
Since last Monday, October 23, drivers in Streatham have faced restrictions on turning down a number of side roads in the area as part of Lambeth Council’s Streatham Wells Low Traffic Neighbourhood [LTN].
Streets affected by the new rules include: Leigham Avenue, Culverhouse Gardens, Conifer Gardens, Valley Road and Gleneldon Road. Labour-run Lambeth says the LTN, which will be initially in place for 12 to 18 months, aims to improve road safety and reduce pollution from motor vehicles.
Some residents agree with the council, saying the restrictions have made the side streets covered by the LTN much safer to cycle through.
But other residents and commuters say the restrictions have pushed traffic onto main roads surrounding the LTN, like Streatham High Road and Streatham Common North, causing gridlock at rush hour and doubling their journey times.
Michael Walton, 49, a music teacher who has been teaching lessons to pupils in Streatham for 20 years, blamed the LTN for causing bad traffic on Streatham High Road during rush hour, which he said was making it hard for him to arrive at kids’ houses on time.
Mr Walton, a Labour Party member, said: “I teach young children who go to bed between 7pm and 7:30pm. I’m restricted when they’re available.
“It [the LTN] has doubled the time it takes me to get from one house to another. It has doubled the cost in petrol.
“If you don’t like traffic go live in the country. We live in one of the biggest metropolises in the world and they want to make it like a country garden.”
Leroy Paull-Hartry, who owns a F45 fitness centre on Streatham High Street, said customers were missing classes because of the traffic on the street in the last few days.
He said: “People arriving from Balham and Herne Hill aren’t able to get across in time because of the traffic. We’re getting four to five people a day cancelling. People are going to end up cancelling memberships.
“The roads I used to take in the LTN there was hardly any cars going through them. I feel terrible for these schools on the main road that now have these emissions pummelling through. This is not saving the planet. It’s doing the opposite.”
Mr Paull-Harty, a dad who has run the gym for four years, added that he wouldn’t have opened in Streatham if he knew the traffic restrictions were going to be introduced.
But Streatham resident Rufus Duits, 45, a keen cyclist, said the new traffic restrictions had made the roads covered by the LTN safer than ever.
He said that for the first time ever he felt comfortable letting his primary school-aged kids cycle on roads in the LTN.
The dad-of-two, who uses a cargo bike to get around with his kids, said: “Valley Road has been one of the most aggressive roads in London. People drove too fast because of the hill.
“It’s a 1000 per cent improvement. I would be happy for my kids to cycle down there. It’s residents only [now] and people aren’t going to be speeding down the hill.”
Mr Duits added that even if traffic was slightly worse on some roads around the LTN, he felt these roads had already been busy before, and it was a reasonable trade off for making cycling around Streatham safer overall.
Alex Yedigaroff, 39, who lives on one of the streets with new traffic restrictions, agreed that notwithstanding teething problems the LTN had made it safe for his kids to cycle in the area for the first time ever.
Speaking on Wednesday, October 25, he said: “The first couple of days it was pretty chaotic. There were a lot of drivers who were confused doing u-turns. But today it was like waking up on Christmas day.
“I’ve been on a bike ride with my kids which is something we would never have done. It’s truly transformational. It’s an extremely dramatic reduction [in vehicles].”
A number of motorists appeared to still be unaware of the new restrictions.
Paul Lovell, 49, a taxi driver, said he saw 17 cars enter a restricted road in less than an hour last Wednesday week, three days into the new LTN.
One person the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS] spoke to said they had put up makeshift ‘road closed’ signs on Valley Road in an attempt to alert motorists of the new restrictions.
Another local resident said Google Maps had only updated its routes on Thursday, October 26, four days into the LTN.
Thames Water works on Leigham Court Road near the junction with Streatham High Road on Monday and Tuesday, October 23 and 24, added to confusion on the first two days of the new restrictions coming into place.
Councillor Donna Harris, leader of the council’s Liberal Democrat opposition, has called on Lambeth’s Labour leadership to waive any fines issued to motorists during the first two days of the LTN’s operation.
Cllr Harris, member for Streatham Hill West and Thornton, said: “It would be incredibly unfair to punish residents and non-residents who have been caught up in the chaos and confusion over the last two days by issuing penalty charge notices to them.”
Many residents and commuters the LDRS spoke to said they believed the true impact of the restrictions would only be known when schools reopened from half-term and traffic levels during rush hour in the area return to normal.
Neil Salt, vice chair of Streatham Action, a local community group, said Lambeth Council should have shared data on the impact on pollution and traffic of another nearby LTN in Streatham Hill, before it considered trialling a second LTN in the area in Streatham Wells.
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “The Streatham Wells LTN will be in place for between 12 to 18 months to allow Lambeth Council to collect feedback, monitor traffic and air quality levels.
“All the signage is out, and being monitored and updated as and when needed to make sure it’s all working correctly. Additionally large electronic boards with signage have been put out at all approaches roads to the LTN to raise awareness.
“It is unfortunate that Thames Water needed to complete emergency works in the area earlier this week. During this disruption the council worked to minimise the impacts and ensure these water works were completed as quickly as possible.’’
