COUNCIL LAUNCHES NEW 20 MPH LIMIT PROPOSALS….NEW CROSSING TO LINK TWO SIDES OF CROYDON
Residents and businesses in the north-east of Croydon are being urged to say from next week if they want new 20mph speed limits on their local roads.
Croydon council want to know if enough people from Addiscombe to parts of South Norwood back their local non-main roads becoming the borough’s second 20 mph limit area.
The borough’s first 20mph limit area is currently being introduced in the north of Croydon after a majority of respondents backed similar council proposals last year.
From Monday 4 April, the council is launching an online survey and delivering thousands of leaflets about the latest proposals to addresses in Addiscombe, Ashburton, Woodside, Shirley, Heathfield, Fairfield and parts of Selhurst and South Norwood.
As with the changes to the north of the borough, the latest proposals do not include A-roads. These roads would keep their existing speed limits, and they include:
• Wellesley Road
• Whitehorse Road
• Addiscombe Road
• Portland Road
• Shirley Road
• Wickham Road
• Long Lane
Other roads in this area that would also not change to 20mph are Morland Road and Woodside Green which link two A-roads, the short Croydon-controlled stretch of Monks Orchard Road, private roads or the part of Orchard Way within Bromley Council’s boundary.
Residents, businesses and local groups have until midnight on 20 May to view a map of the proposed area and give their feedback online. The deadline for paper copies received by post is Monday 23 May.
After the survey closes, all feedback received will be analysed and published this summer. If there is enough public support for introducing 20mph limits across this area, the proposal will go to a formal consultation. The council’s traffic management committee would then make final recommendations.
Once in place, the council would monitor traffic speeds within the 20mph roads. If speeding remains an issue, options could include police enforcement and other traffic calming measures.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, introducing 20mph limits reduces vehicle speeds and cuts the risk of being injured in an accident. Other London councils, including Islington and Southwark, have already introduced borough-wide 20mph schemes.
Croydon’s cabinet member for transport and the environment Cllr Kathy Bee said: “Residents in the north of our borough said yes to 20mph last year, and now we want to hear if people from the north-east want it too.
“Croydon had over 1,000 road casualties in 2014, which underlines why our 20mph plans are important and will make our borough safer for everyone if enough people come forward to support them.”
The council agreed last year to ask everyone in the borough by 2018 if they wanted a 20mph limit on their non-main roads. The north of the borough – parts of South Norwood, Selhurst, Bensham Manor, Thornton Heath and Upper Norwood – was first, and after this latest engagement in the north-east the council will outline its timetable for asking people in the remaining three areas of the borough.
Information on the north-east Croydon proposal will be available online from 4 April on the ‘Area 2’ proposal page at www.croydon.gov.uk/20mph.
The link to the online questionnaire for giving feedback can also be accessed from the same page. If you prefer to receive a paper copy, contact 020 8726 6000 extension 52831. (Source: Croydon council press release)
NEW CROSSING TO LINK TWO SIDES OF CROYDON
Work is due to have started on a new pedestrian and cycle crossing to give office workers, residents and shoppers better access across a major Croydon town centre road.
The new surface-level Wellesley Road crossing is part of the larger £50 million Connected Croydon project funded by Croydon Council, Transport for London (TfL) and via the Greater London Authority (GLA), and will form part of a series of improvements to public spaces in and around the busy through-route, which carries more than 28,000 vehicles per day and is often accused of dividing the town.
In addition to the crossing – between Bedford Park and Poplar Walk – proposed improvements include the closure and filling-in of the existing subway; wider, less cluttered footways with new paving, lighting, signs, seating and planting; and improved cycle facilities along Bedford Park and Poplar Walk.
Further improvements, developed by the council in conjunction with the GLA and TfL, include:
• removal of the U-turn north of the Bedford Park junction;
• planting to the central reservation (from the exit of the underpass heading north to the junction with Station Road);
• areas of seating and planting along the pavement on both the east and west sides of Wellesley Road;
• approximately 110 new street trees; and
• approximately 115 items of old street furniture and lighting removed or replaced.
Work on the crossing is expected to last up to a year, and will involve lane closures and diversions for motorists.
Information on traffic diversions and road closures is available at the council’s road maintenance and closures page. This will include any upcoming diversions and closures affecting Wellesley Road. (Source: Croydon council press release)