Earl Aelfheah

@bicknell - I have noticed an increase in traffic on Townley (I think I commented on this earlier in the thread). It was quiet at 5 today, but I accept that might not be the case at other times.

@Rockets - I posted a few photos from each spot. I haven?t faked, edited or ?selected? to fit a narrative. At the end of the day you can?t take photos showing no cars where there is back to back gridlock. I know we?re in an era of alternative facts, but ultimately there is an objective, observable reality, whether it?s convenient or not.

Take a walk yourself. Either there is back to back gridlocked traffic or there isn?t. I have been straight forward, I?m not putting time stamps on my photos, just get of your sofa and go have a look. There are two spots where traffic was heavy as described. The worst congestion is definitely heading south from the library. Whether this is worse than before or not people may disagree, but to my mind this was always a hotspot during rush hour.

Also worth noting that Court Lane and Calton Avenue (previously both with a lot of standing traffic at rush hour) were unsurprisingly, empty.

Other than these two spots (bare in mind that this is rush hour), I saw very little evidence of the 'TRAFFIC CHAOS!!!' people have suggested. My advice would be go and take a walk yourself. Both at rush hour and other times of day.

Second hotspot - Lordship Lane heading south form the library, towards the South Circular. The South Circular itself was not 'that' busy considering it's rush hour. This bit of road has always been pretty chocker during rush hour, although I'm sure others will disagree.

Surprisingly little traffic on EDG itself suggesting the phasing of these lights is not great. The rest of the Village remarkably quiet

Notable 'hotspots' - heading north through the village between the little row of shops / Dulwich Hamlet school and the traffic lights at the junction with EDG

All these pics were taken between 5 and 5:30

OK, so time for some commentary..

Lordship Lane, Plough

South Circular

College Road

Middle of Lordship Lane

East Dulwich Grove

Dulwich Village

I am waking through the village and along the south circular now. I will post the pics when I get home. I can confirm that there is no ?TRAFFIC CHAOS?, just a fairly typical rush hour. Village actually remarkably quiet.

andrewc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Today at 3.45pm These photos show traffic chaos!!

Penguin68 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ultimately, if you want to reduce pollution, you > have to reduce the number of car journeys. > > That simply isn't true. You need to reduce the > polluting effects of motor vehicles - already > starting to be addressed through Ulez and the > increasing number of electric and hybrid cars - > hydrogen powered cars (when and if they come) have > water as their 'pollutant' exhaust. Putting aside > the diesel cheats - cars are now vastly cleaner > than they were - and the trajectory is for further > improvement. I wonder how the anti-car lobby would > respond if all vehicles in Southwark were electric > or hydrogen powered? What would their stick be to > beat the motorist then? > > Air quality in London is dramatically better > already than it used to be in the past - and the > quite recent past (not in those streets with > standing traffic from the road closures, of > course, now). > > I am in favour of people exercising their free > will to cycle and walk, and to do so in safety, > but not, I think, at the expense of those people > wishing to exercise their free will in another > way. People aren't free to drive anywhere though are they? We make decisions about how to allocate space and at the moment there is a massively disproportionate amount of it given over to motor vehicles. I find it incredible that people genuinely want high traffic neighbourhoods.

Metallic Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > rahrahrah Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > > Yet people on this thread are claiming that > > Dulwich Village is back to back trafffic?! > > I went to look this morning. Yes, back to back to > back to back to back, coaches, cars and vans. > What fun to breathe that in if you live in those > cottages opposite the Dog. I passed through the Village on foot at 8:30 this morning and it was extremely quiet. What time were you there? It seems that some people are claiming that all the traffic has been diverted from the Village to the South Circular and others are claiming the Village is at a stand still with back to back traffic. Meanwhile people are pointing to maps published in the Mail. Walk over there and just see for yourselves.

Also, when was the South Circular not red during rush hour? During lock down perhaps, but I'm old enough (over 6 months old) to remember when this was the normal state of things.

Rockets Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That map shows exactly what many on here were > predicting - that Dulwich will soon be encircled > by constant gridlock - although I hasten to add > that I am not using Google Maps on the Daily Mail > as the gospel! > > What is interesting is that it appears both > sections of the A205 west and east were struggling > - at 8.30am it is normally only the west bound > section that is congested but it appears eastbound > too now - no doubt as people avoid using Dulwich > Village. > > It will probably be even worse come evening > rush-hour. > > Also, Lordship Lane now seems to be very red. Yet people on this thread are claiming that Dulwich Village is back to back trafffic?!

Ultimately, if you want to reduce pollution, you have to reduce the number of car journeys. It has been shown time and time again that when you make it more difficult to use the car for short journeys, the number of journeys reduces. Not all traffic gets displaced onto other roads. I would like to see better monitoring of the impacts, as there are likely to be some unintended consequences. I would also like to see more investment in alternatives - public transport, local hire bike schemes etc. But ultimately, we do have to take some action to improve the local environment and creating some low traffic neighbourhoods is a good start. The idea that there is a 'war on the motorist', or that Southwark want to 'punish people who drive' is absurd. Motor vehicles are given massively disproportionate amount of space, resources and general deference. They dominate almost every street in Southwark, despite most people not owning a car. Cars are hugely indulged despite their pretty significant downsides for everyone. I would appeal people to let the schemes bed in and try to honestly assess their impact over the coming months.

I know people keep saying there is traffic chaos, but I haven't seen any evidence of it. Take a walk to Dulwich Village at 7:30 tomorrow and see for yourself. The arguments that the south circular is suddenly polluted and congested as a result of Calton Avenue being made a no through road to cars, is frankly hilarious. As for the claim that people are only concerned about the impact on BAME communities... come on, really? The suggestion that making it as easy as possible for people to drive is the best way to reduce pollution, seems fairly questionable.

Rockets Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I believe some schools have gone back today and as > I ran through Dulwich Village this morning at > around 7.30am there was stationary traffic from > the Village roundabout going northbound all the > way to the East Dulwich Grove junction. The folly > of these closures is there for us all to see and > we know the council is going to try and close the > village northbound to chase the displacement away > from the area but these closures are not working > and are creating far worse problems than before. I ran through Dulwich Village this morning at 7:30. It was pretty quiet. So what's this mean?