Roadworks in Melford Road

[Growlybear]

Does anyone know the nature of the roadworks which are being carried out at the junction of Melford Road with Lordship Lane? The end of the road has been closed for a couple of weeks now, and I know there were suggestions in the past about making this section of Melford Road one way.

[Siduhe]

As far as I know, there were two proposals - to make that part of Melford Road one way and/or to limit the amount of on-street parking at the junction with Lordship Lane so that it was easier for traffic to get out of the road (particularly the bus that runs down there). Both proposals were agreed and I believe this is the first stage of the works. In particular, they are narrowing the width of the turning into/out onto Lordship Lane which suggests it's more than resurfacing works.

[Growlybear]

Thanks for that. So it sounds like it should still be possible to turn out of Melford Road onto Lordship Lane once the work has been completed. I'm assuming that if the road is made one way, traffic will be prevented from turning into Melford Road from LL rather than the other way round.

[Siduhe]

That's my understanding - you will be able to turn out from Melford Road onto LL. To get into Melford Road you'll either have to turn down Overhill Road or Wood Vale. I also found the original consultation doc from Southwark - the proposal was put forward by TFL Bus Priority as an alternative to re-routing the P13 bus which runs down there and regularly gets stuck at the bottom.

[SimonM]

I recall the proposal to make Melford one-way being roundly criticised by everyone on here who lives in the vicinity....I know I submitted an objection and heard nothing further.

[Sue]

Why the objection?

The bit of Melford Road at the Lordship Lane end was constantly jammed up with cars and buses trying to get past each other, and often not succeeding.

It is far too narrow for traffic going both ways when you've got cars parked in the road as well, surely?

And there's a bend in the road at that end, too, which made things worse.

[SimonM]

You should read the original thread - sorry don't know where it is exactly. Basically the jams you refer to - which are bad - were a consquence of the totally unnecessary ban on right turns into Underhill Road from the south circular. If you now ban them into Melford then the congestion/jams will just be shifted to Overhill/Beaval.

[Sue]

SimonM Wrote:

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

> You should read the original thread - sorry don't

> know where it is exactly. Basically the jams you

> refer to - which are bad - were a consquence of

> the totally unnecessary ban on right turns into

> Underhill Road from the south circular. If you now

> ban them into Melford then the congestion/jams

> will just be shifted to Overhill/Beaval.

xxxxxxx

But Overhill Road is much wider than Melford Road, isn't it?

Don't know Beaval Road and sorry haven't read the other thread, do you have a link?

But the width of/parking in Melford Road, plus buses coming down it, would cause a problem with jams regardless of the number of vehicles involved, surely? Basically, there just wasn't room for one thing to pass another ......

[Siduhe]

Earlier thread is here.

I'm grudgingly in favour of the proposed one way system - I would much rather the P13 bus had been re-routed, but for so long as it's going to run down that bit of Melford Road and parking is allowed there, the one-way bit seems necessary to me. The problem is (as I said in the earlier post) that it does make it rather harder and more confusing to get into Melford Road/Wood Vale as there is currently no right turn allowed into Wood Vale or Underhill Road if you are heading down Lordship Lane from Forest Hill. Overhill Road/Beaval will be the way most people choose, and that already gets quite jammed up (as SimonM has said).

[SimonM]

>>But Overhill Road is much wider than Melford Road, isn't it?<<

It is already one-way up to the junction with Belvoir, but currently few cars turn right into it. Once Melford is closed off expect to see more accidents at the LL/Overhill junction, and presumably the idiotic process will proceed further north along LL. Belvoir is(currently) a quiet residential road every bit as narrow as Melford, and the Belvoir/Underhill junction is going to be much more hazardous too. Melford only became as congested as it is now when the right turns into Underhill were notionally banned (buses are still allowed to perform this supposedly dangerous turn, and I'd expect the number of illegal right turns here to increase as more cars reject the long detour through the Grove Tavern lights and up on to Overhill).

The simplest way to ease Melford's bottleneck/congestion is to reverse the ban on rght turns into Underhill.

I'd better declare an interest - I'm on Underhill close to the junction with Belvoir. I may have to resort to U-turns on the south circular (still legal at this point) and return home via Wood Vale when driving from the Forest Hill/Crystal Palace direction.

[Sue]

But the issue with Melford Road, as I say, is not about the numbers of vehicles using it to turn off Lordship Lane, it's about the fact that even just one or two vehicles have difficulty passing, particularly if larger than a normal sized car.

It may have become worse with more vehicles using it due to the no-right-turn at Underhill Road, but it was bad before that. Reversing the Underhill no-right-turn would not result in a trouble-free Melford Road. It might "ease" the bottleneck/congestion, as you say, but it certainly wouldn't cure it.

[SimonM]

Making Melford one way will just shift the congestion to adjoining streets. I wonder if they considered a total ban on parking on the bend - which is easily the worst part, being both narrow and almost blind.

[Sue]

Yes I agree, that would be a sensible solution.

[Sherwick]

I wonder if there is congestion there because of the weight of traffic OR because traffic can't move due to parked cars?

I think it's because of the parked cars, meaning not that much traffic will be shifted to adjoining streets.

Just a theory...

[Jah Lush]

SimonM Wrote:

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

> Making Melford one way will just shift the

> congestion to adjoining streets. I wonder if they

> considered a total ban on parking on the bend -

> which is easily the worst part, being both narrow

> and almost blind.

I've always thought that would be a good idea as it would immediately ease the congestion on that end of the street and thus making it easier for the P13 or other vehicles to get through.

[SimonM]

Well as Melford is now completely closed for the time being I wonder who can suggest the quickest, legitimate way to get from Underhill Road (close to the Belvoir junction) to the anti-clockwise side of the South Circular? (I have to drive to Tooting tomorrow...) :'(

[Sherwick]

very simple. just drive down underhill road and join the anti-clockwise south circ by turning left at the bottom!

not sure why'd you'd want to go down melford road to do that!

Ah... I see you really meant the CLOCKWISE side!

You'll have to do an elaborate round route taking you down Barry Road to Upland Road where you turn left, drive down to Lordship lane and turn left again, then turn right at the bottom on to the South Circ.

[SimonM]

Yes sorry, did mean the clockwise side. And I did know the "best" route really - am just appalled at the extent and wastefulness of the diversion required! :)) Least slow route is probably Underhill/Dunstans/LL/Grove Tavern