Cycling on Croydon’s roads is about to become safer
Five Croydon roads are to be closed to motor traffic from Sunday under special coronavirus emergency legislation, in efforts to make streets more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly and to open up new cycle routes for use by key workers riding bikes to work at Mayday Hospital.
The council’s propaganda department finally got round to issuing a press release with the detail of the closures nearly 48 hours after cabinet member Stuart King had first made public the plans for widening pavements and reducing car parking spaces, and as was first reported by Inside Croydon.
In the press release (which the council’s press department did not send to Inside Croydon), they said, “The temporary schemes… aim to reduce rat running in residential roads, improve road safety and better facilitate social distancing.”
The closures, which the council described as “a new initiative” (sic), are to last for 21 days. The roads affected are:
- Holmesdale Road at the junction with Park Road (stadium side)
- Dalmally Road at the junction with Blackhorse Lane
- Elmers Road at the junction with Blackhorse Lane
- Lancaster Road at the junction with Southern Avenue
- Woodvale Avenue at the junction with Avenue Road
“Road markings will be used to create a turning circle at the bottom of affected roads, enabling access to be maintained for residents and for any essential journeys,” the council says.
And it continues: “To further aide [sic] residents in social distancing during lockdown, parking is set to be suspended outside some shops in the borough’s district centres to enable barriers to be installed to increase space for queuing shoppers and pedestrians.”
Stuart King: pedalling new ideas
The first barriers are being installed outside Tesco Express on Portland Road, South Norwood, and between numbers 61 and 87 and 243 and 257 on London Road, Broad Green.
A 20mph speed limit is to be introduced on London Road and a cycle lane installed to improve road safety and encourage more essential journeys to be made by bicycle.
“We are responding to growing concern that since lockdown began vehicle speeds have increased on certain routes around Croydon and these temporary low traffic initiatives will help create safer spaces for residents walking and cycling near their homes,” said Stuart King, the cabinet member for environment and transport.
“At this challenging time, residents must continue to follow social distancing guidelines and temporarily widening footpaths will make it easier for pedestrians and shoppers to safely share the space outside shops.
“Although only essential journeys can be made during this time, it’s important we maintain road safety for those who have to travel and the reduced speed limit and new cycle lane on London Road will, we hope, contribute to this.”
King has not ruled out making any of the schemes permanent after the lockdown if they prove to be successful.
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or what to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and BBC London News
- Inside Croydon named Journalist of the Year at 2018 Anna Kennedy Online Autism Heroes Awards
- ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: For three consecutive years, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Inside Croydon has been the source for award-winning nominations in Private Eye magazine’s annual celebration of civic cock-ups
- Inside Croydon had 1.6million pages viewed by 721,000 unique visitors in 2019
There is one news and information outlet in Croydon that covers the full spectrum of issues facing our borough and importantly provides analysis and reader opinion. It is also a great campaigning platform with a clear track record and is never shy to say it how it is. That’s Inside Croydon.
And then you have the Croydon Guardian and the Croydon Advertiser/MyLondon, which are ridden with spam and adverts and seem to draw their news stories from social media and Google searches. Both these two organs cover petty crime, Croydon celebs and anything that’s on the BTP website. No local politics. No coverage of Croydon Council. No planning issues. Nothing about the Croydon Mayoral debate. Nothing about local services. Nothing about local culture. Nothing about the things which matter to the residents of Croydon.
So there we have it, three media outlets in Croydon.
And who does Croydon Council issue it’s important news and press releases to? You guessed, the last two advertisement rags.
I pay a substantial amount in Council Tax every year as do countless other residents in this borough. We largely fund Croydon Council and I put it to Jo Negrini that it’s not YOUR choice which new organisations receive important news and information releases from OUR Council.
It sums up the petty little officials in Croydon Council who are scared to engage with the residents of this Borough.
I suggest the first thing the new Mayor of Croydon does is reverse this and get the Council communicating directly with residents and their primary new source, Inside Croydon.
Ps – I’m not paid to write this – just sick of unaccountable Council officials whose salaries I pay.
Cheque’s in the post, Seb…
The Sadvertiser moved their offices out of Croydon five years ago.
The Croydon Guardian, owned by Newsquest, furloughed their one and only Croydon staff journalist at the start of the covid-19 emergency.
Both titles get a subsidy from the BBC, through the local democracy reporter scheme, though these reports have a tendency lately to be slow to appear, inaccurate or ill-informed.
When the government decided to subsidise local news organisations recently, they spent tens of thousands of pounds with Newsquest, and the Croydon Guardian, a free paper that relies for its distribution on copies being picked up from boxes outside estate agents. This, during the coronavirus lockdown.
So you have tax-payers’ money being used to advertise in a newspaper with no dedicated journalist and no circulation. Brilliant strategising by our government.
What a fool you are Stuart King.
Yes I am angry.
I live in Avenue Road, South Norwood, which has now become a rat run for cars due to your idea of closing off surrounding roads.
It’s an accident waiting to happen.
These sort of closures are a great idea in my view, but have to be carefully designed to avoid exactly the scenario you’re suffering right now (where the problem has moved from one narrow residential road to another). Being temporary/emergency, it does give them flexibility to re-arrange things.
If you’re able to spend ten minutes at one of the busier times of day counting the rat runners and some estimate of speed (“at or near to the 20mph limit” vs “very obviously over the 20mph limit” will do) that is useful evidence.
I’ve suggested to them that closing the two north/south arms of the “triangle” junction (Warminster Road and the two arms of Lancaster Road, immediately north of the Goat House Bridge junction, thereby preventing anyone cutting through from South Norwood Hill to Penge Road regardless of whether via Lancaster, Avenue, Sundial, Court etc.) would be more effective in stopping the rat runs – you might want to do the same. By leaving the turn-back arm open (Warminster Road turning right on to Lancaster Road) it also makes it easier for refuse lorries etc. to get around.
I am also an angry resident who lives off Avenue Road and have also witnessed cars speeding in frustration at the road blocks down Avenue Road and Lancaster Road, not just during the day but also at night with no regard for the speed limit of 20mph but also the noise they make speeding. I agree this is an accident waiting to happen. Lets hope that doesn’t happen. Would it not have. been polite to notify the residents of your intentions before you put up the road blocks? The first I knew about the road closures was on Friday evening when I returned from work (I am key worker). You have hindered my journey to the hospital where I work every day not made it easier! As we are nowhere near Mayday Hospital I am not actually sure what you have achieved by closing Lancaster Road and Avenue Road other than creating a Formula One racing track. I have lived in this area for over 22 yrs and can honestly say that this has got to be the most ridiculous idea the Council have come up with – would the money not have been better spent putting in traffic calming measures on the more major roads or on Lancaster Avenue where most of the traffic travels from Goat House Bridge and not encouraging the through traffic to use the even smaller roads to get round the road blocks??? Maybe if you lived in this area you would not have come up with this idea. Hopefully you will come to your senses with better ideas before its too late and someone is killed!
Dear Stuart King,
As a long suffering resident on Dalmally Road I would like to ask why you have decided to close access to Dalmally Road from the Blackhorse lane end for 21 days. Earlier in the year, the local residents finally had the bridge reopened after road closures of nearly 3.5 years where many have had to circulate around the whole of Addiscombe to complete certain journeys.
Why weren’t the residents living on the road affected notified of any plans and why is none of this information freely available on the council’s website on the current roads closed etc. Also, I would like to know how these borough-wide road closures have been obtained with reference to the Road Traffic Act of 1984 and council terms and conditions.
It’s simple, Richard: the Coronavirus Act 2020
Dalmally Road will have been chosen at the Blackhorse Lane end because it is London Cycle Network 29 and also that junction is where National Cycle Route 212 joins. Where a residential street is already an official cycle route it makes sense that these are prime candidates for making safer.
Thanks insidecroydon
I would like to ask why my original post above was edited without consulation prior to publication.
Read the site’s comment rules.
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