Southwark Council plans to reduce the amount of road traffic going through East Dulwich

[edhistory]

This appeared in the Dulwich Society eNews 46 August 2017:

"Southwark Council has appointed consultants Steer Davies Gleav to identify measures to reduce traffic in Village, College and East Dulwich wards. If you have suggestions, or comments on the strategy, please copy them to [email protected] for incorporation in the Society?s response. Feel free to ?phone Alastair Hanton, the Chair of the Society?s Traffic and Transport Committee on 020 8693 2618."

Does anyone know how to access any documents?

Reducing traffic through East Dulwich might be difficult.

[Robert Poste's Child]

Easier in the village as in school holidays the rush hour traffic dwindles to a trickle so there's an obvious quick win there.

[Abe_froeman]

Build a barrier.

As a local politician once said, if I lived there i would want a barrier too.

[dbboy]

Put in roundabouts

[uncleglen]

Reducing traffic in a particular area just shunts it into someone else's manor. The creation of the congestion zone proved that one.

[Nigello]

Unless people become very much more selfless and/or organise their time better, the school run (just call it a drive, please) will be here to stay. If it means getting up half an hour earlier to get the kids to school, do you think anyone will do this? I doubt it.

[Peachpie]

Too many people drive their children to school that could pursue other alternatives at least sometimes and would enjoy the change. A collective mental shift is necessary for all journeys that could be reduced. I think it is essential for quality of life and the benefits are undeniable.

[Nigello]

Pp - agreed, but how to make it happen? It can only really start with oneself, and since I have neither car nor child right now, it does not apply!

[JohnL]

If it's shunted up towards Rye Lane - With all the flats being built there - I'd see complaints from that area sooner or later if they sell to families.

Us singletons don't really care about noise too much - except the revving motorbikes - stop that :)

[jimlad48]

Maybe you could introduce a Car Parking Zone to reduce traffic flow to residents and their visitors? ;-)

[alex_b]

I think there is an issue that Waze and other apps have been re-routing traffic that once would have used the designated A roads onto side streets to save a couple of minutes per journey. My biggest problem is the coaches, trucks and vans that should be using commerical sat navs turning residential roads into major thoroughfares. I'm not sure how you solve it though without closing roads completely.

[kford]

It's the school run mainly. It's really quiet in the mornings now, and when the schools are open, generally quiet after 0915 until the afternoon.

A CPZ will kill the high street.

[wulfhound]

Edinburgh and Croydon have been experimenting with restricting parents' drop offs within some radius of schools. The idea being to make walking quicker than driving for those who live within a reasonably walkable distance.

The other issue tends to be not with school distance (often quite small) but where the parents have to be after drop off. I know lots of people who drive eminently, easily walkable distances on the school run because the school is in the opposite direction to the station. E-bikes and secure cycle parking at stations have a role to play in addressing this.. they aren't the kind of people who are going to cycle all the way in to work, but if it gets them to the station as quick as the car & won't get stolen (E-bikes are expensive!), they might be convinced.

[bobbsy]

I agree that traffic in side roads seems to be a lot greater/faster since the main roads were reduced to 20mph.

[rendelharris]

alex_b Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think there is an issue that Waze and other apps

> have been re-routing traffic that once would have

> used the designated A roads onto side streets to

> save a couple of minutes per journey. My biggest

> problem is the coaches, trucks and vans that

> should be using commerical sat navs turning

> residential roads into major thoroughfares. I'm

> not sure how you solve it though without closing

> roads completely.

Width restrictions.

[kford]

Waze has definitely sent me around some roads I would never think of using.

[Jennys]

Pupils attending the private schools around here often travel very long distances, either travelling by coach or being driven by parents. This causes traffic jams near the beginning and end of the school day. Is there a way to avoid this?

[Peachpie]

Parking 5 mins away before adding to the traffic jam by the school and walking the last bit reduces pollution and congestion. The older children get the more they can bus, bike, scoot, walk. It is just about having initiatives to raise awareness and get everyone enthused. Walk to school weeks, having breakfast available at school so some arrive earlier, I am sure there are more... I guess coaches are a good solution as the children are not coming individually.

[Robert Poste's Child]

But the coaches sit there for ages with their engines running blocking roads that aren't really big enough to accommodate them.

I think some parents, understandably given knife crime etc, worry about letting their teenagers walk, cycle or use public transport to get to school on their own. Perhaps a regular police presence at those times of day might build confidence?

[Penguin68]

The road traffic through ED (outwith commercial vehicles such as skips, delivery vans and lorries etc. serving the area) is a function of the availability of useful public transport options (that is public transport which operates at the frequency and reliability which users require) - which includes additionally routes served (from where/ to where) etc. - together with the 'attractiveness' of the area, both as a destination point and an intermediate point between where people are and where they want to be. The lack of east:west public transport services means that the South Circular is a necessary artery, for instance.

Any study which does not take account of the full transport picture, which includes public transport, will fail, and can be assumed to have other agendas - such as the opportunities to charge for road usage. Actions which simply divert 'optimal' travel through ED to other routes will tend simply to add cost to users and inconvenience to others. In general places which have a positive impact on economies are those to which and through which people travel easily. Isolating areas from transport will bring them down economically, however 'nimby' attractive that might seem to some.

Right now, and looking at East Dulwich, the continuing failures of Southern rail to serve the community consistently and well are distorting the transport picture. Look at road traffic when we have a proper rail service perhaps, but right now would be stupid.

[Bic Basher]

I remember using Uber earlier this year and the app sent the driver along Court Lane, Turney Road, Rosendale Road and Norwood Road to get to Tulse Hill in the morning peak instead of Dulwich Common and Thurlow Park Road to avoid the South Circular Road.

Turney Road was really busy.

[Sally Eva]

You're sure it wasn't just pushing up the cost of the journey?

The charge is raised for the morning peak I think. Is there an increase for length of journey and time it takes?

[Monkey]

"Right now, and looking at East Dulwich, the continuing failures of Southern rail to serve the community consistently and well are distorting the transport picture. Look at road traffic when we have a proper rail service perhaps, but right now would be stupid."

That!

The day I feel I can trust Southern again, I might just stop paying ?125 a month in parking charges in Brixton and driving through Dulwich to get there.

[first mate]

An excellent post by Penguin68 below. Why put further pressure on private transport when our local rail service is so abysmal?

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The road traffic through ED (outwith commercial

> vehicles such as skips, delivery vans and lorries

> etc. serving the area) is a function of the

> availability of useful public transport options

> (that is public transport which operates at the

> frequency and reliability which users require) -

> which includes additionally routes served (from

> where/ to where) etc. - together with the

> 'attractiveness' of the area, both as a

> destination point and an intermediate point

> between where people are and where they want to

> be. The lack of east:west public transport

> services means that the South Circular is a

> necessary artery, for instance.

>

> Any study which does not take account of the full

> transport picture, which includes public

> transport, will fail, and can be assumed to have

> other agendas - such as the opportunities to

> charge for road usage. Actions which simply divert

> 'optimal' travel through ED to other routes will

> tend simply to add cost to users and inconvenience

> to others. In general places which have a positive

> impact on economies are those to which and through

> which people travel easily. Isolating areas from

> transport will bring them down economically,

> however 'nimby' attractive that might seem to

> some.

>

> Right now, and looking at East Dulwich, the

> continuing failures of Southern rail to serve the

> community consistently and well are distorting the

> transport picture. Look at road traffic when we

> have a proper rail service perhaps, but right now

> would be stupid.

[Sue]

JohnL Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> Us singletons don't really care about noise too

> much - except the revving motorbikes - stop that

> :)

Speak for yourself!!!