Councillors support plan to improve Burntwood Lane walking and cycling corridor Post Reply

[Community Editor]

Councillors have backed plans to upgrade the walking and cycling routes in Burntwood Lane.

A public consultation will shortly get underway to gauge views on how best to deliver better and safer walking and cycling routes along busy Burntwood Lane. The proposed changes are part of the council’s Future Streets strategy which is delivering a far-reaching package of cleaner, greener and safer active travel choices

Two options are set to be considered as part of this consultation.

One would upgrade the existing ‘patchwork’ of cycle lanes which run adjacent to the flow of traffic in both directions, while an alternative scheme would see a segregated two-way cycle route unveiled on the southern side of Burntwood Lane.

Further road safety improvements would see raised carriageway and other safety measures installed at its junctions with Swaby Road, Dawnay Road, Openview, Fieldview, Ellerton Road, Marham Gardens and Sandgate Lane. These are designed to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety by slowing vehicle traffic as it turns off the main road into these residential side streets.

Burntwood Lane is a busy cut-through route between Trinity Road and Garratt Lane with more than 500 vehicles using it an hour during peak times and the scheme seeks to:
- Improve road safety by reducing speed and the number and severity of collisions
- Improve the quality of existing cycle facilities and provide new facilities where possible
- Improve pedestrian priority and accessibility, including making it easier to cross the road and access schools

Cabinet member for transport Clare Fraser said: “This is an important link between Garratt Lane and Trinity Road and we want to make it safer and enable more people to make a shift to take up walking and cycling.

“We will shortly begin a consultation which will ask people for their views on how we can achieve this. We have drafted up two options at present but these are not set in stone and we would welcome suggestions from our residents on further changes that help ensure we meet their needs.”

Burntwood Lane is the subject of a wider travel and transport study that aims to improve walking and cycling opportunities in light of the new Springfield Hospital developmentAs part of this study, plans have been drawn up to improve road safety outside Burntwood School – with a proposal to upgrade pedestrian crossing facilities outside the school gates with a new zebra crossing.

To find out more about plans to improve travel options in Burntwood Lane please visit https://wandsworth.gov.uk/burntwood-lan ... g-corridor

[readysteadycook]

And how much is this going to cost ? 

Whilst I agree that Burntwood is not a safe road to cycle along, this massive spending spree Labour have embarked on is just unaffordable at the moment

[KatherineHepburn]

Oh yes... it's simply wonderful news....
Unless that is... you actually live on Burntwood Lane!

For us? It's utter rubbish.

The council pushed through the enormous Springfield development and we residents were told not to be 'such NIMBYs', that 'we need affordable housing' and it 'wouldn't be so bad'.
Well, we've had years, with more years to come of huge lorries thundering up and down the road. Mess, building debris, noise throughout the night and a stack of disruption... and?
Yes, the '1820's Building' of million pound apartments looks absolutely lovely!!

Our road has 315 houses. A couple of small blocks of flats. 2 schools and 2 playing fields. 
Lots of people live here. It is a RESIDENTIAL road. We park our cars outside of our houses.. and even these parking spaces are being removed.

These plans are nothing more than an elaborate and rather expensive way of ensuring that even more heavy traffic can be sent up from Garratt Lane to Trinity Road. Only this time we'll have some wands to keep the very few cyclists that do use our road safe from the lorries, skip trucks, buses, vans and cars that roar up the road with nothing to stop them, dissuade them or curb their speed.

We will have raised paving to 'protect' the 'residential streets' behind us. We will have toucan crossings right outside our houses so that we can live to the steady beep of the crossing while the standing traffic fumes blacken our windows and seep into our houses... and our kids' bedrooms.

This is NOT a good plan.
Unless you drive a truck or wish to cycle alongside one.
It's a hugely offensive payback for making us live with the insane money-maker that is Springfield.

What is worse is that these plans are being speedily pushed through. Having just announced the 'consultation' the deadline will be the 31st December. So very few people will have time to consider and fight back. 

The residents just want the street to be slowed down. The trucks and lorries shared with Magdalene Road, Earlsfield Road and the A24.
And our street to be shown a bit of love.
For the residents, for our children and for the school kids... not just for those people wanting to travel through. 
 

[Kirstie’s Mom]

£3 million

[Kirstie’s Mom]

It’s interesting how the councillors who don’t live anywhere near there support this but residents who live on or near think of it as a vanity project . £3 million can be better spent .
I also take issue to the underhanded way the council is trying to push this through with a short consultation period . I also take issue with the data : 500 cars per hour

[Mrs MM]

The residents have been totally disregarded. The consultation is deliberately being rushed over the Christmas period when people are busy and may forget to respond or be away for the holidays. We were not consulted. £3 million to to start with, for what, to make a huge negative impact on our lives?? It’s very unfair not to hear our voices as residents. We’ve had to put up with and continue to put up with the distribution, noise, lorries, dirt on the road and our homes from the site. I’ve had to remove plants and trees that have been damaged due to these works and now this is how we are being compensated???
The road is 20mph now so why not improve the state of the road and pavements and have a speed camera?
We need more time to review and consider the proposals, so please help us extend the deadline and also reject these plans so they come up with better options. Thank you.
15 years living on Burntwood Lane, we have lovely neighbours and we are a community just like any other Road except with more traffic and we don’t want any more or these raised pavements that weave in and out of bus stops and pedestrians, get blocked with leaves making them dangerous and unusable, wands that are an obstruction, we also as cyclists don’t like them.

[Mrs MM]

£3 million to be wasted!

15 years living on Burntwood Lane, we have lovely neighbours and we are a community just like any other Road except with more traffic and we don’t want any more or these raised pavements that weave in and out of bus stops and pedestrians, get blocked with leaves making them dangerous and unusable, wands that are an obstruction, we also as cyclists don’t like them. We hope they reconsider these plans and listen to the residents.

[PiP M]

It’s an absolute joke. Look at the state of Plough lane!

These raised pavements that weave in and out of pedestrians, bus stops and the road are a danger more than anything else to everyone using the roads. They get blocked with leaves, rubbish & water making them unusable and a waste of tax payers money. ‘Wands’ have ruined Wandsworth! They are an eyesore, an obstruction, get knock off and are a danger for cyclists. I’m a cyclists don’t like them and won’t use them along with many other cyclists so a total waste of money and won’t let my children cycle, they are better off walking.

[Indy235]

Obviously being rushed through over the busiest period of the year in the hope people overlook or forget to respond. These cycle lanes are such a waste of money, don’t appear to work yet they continue rushing these programs through without learning from them and trying better options…
Please think about it before wasting £3 million just to cause more disruption to the borough…

[Matt917]

What a waste of money. They’ve already made it a 20 mph road and a new crossing outside the school.
All they need to do is to get rid of the chicanes and repaint cycle lane and put up a speed camera. £3 million is outrageous! The councillors/council obviously want to show they’re doing something and spending to get more funds in… clearly the residents don’t want it, they’ll be losing 40 parking spaces, some will be families & elderly who rely on a car and need to park near their homes but they risk not even being able to park at all? And how about people that drop their children off to school because of religious reasons, where will they be able to park and safely let their children out? It will be mayhem for everyone that uses the road or lives on the road.

[Objecting]

How about the effect on neighbouring roads - eg Beechcroft Rd already becoming a nightmare if you’re a resident and trying to find a parking space

[Shaftesburymum]

I’m very much in favour of these plans. Burntwood Lane is unsafe for cyclists and cycling infrastructure improvements are making cycling a safe and affordable way for Londoners to travel. It’s right that public space is shared more equitably between people who have the means to own a car, and those who don’t or choose not to. In order to make London’s air safe for everyone we need to encourage people out of cars and onto bikes or public transport. The evidence is clear that the more public space is given over to cars, the more cars are on the roads and the opposite is also true. The more public space is given to safe pedestrian and cyclists routes, the more people use them - build the infrastructure and the people will come. To say there is a low number of cyclists in the area now, is not an indication of demand, rather an indication of how unsafe the route is currently. £3 million is not a large sum of money as compared with what is spent on facilitating the movement of cars and managing road traffic.

I write as a Wandsworth resident who cycles when I can, uses public transport and drives when other options aren’t so viable. Cycling in London is still a risky business in London, but segregated bike lanes are steadily changing that. The job will be done when it’s safe enough for most kids to cycle to school.

[Timedbooks]

The issues of climate change and the damage that cars do seems to be overlooked here. I know that for many people a car is essential and, our car use needs to be reduced.  One of the big deterrents for people to cycle in London is that they don't feel safe.  If more drivers cycled they would improve their health, reduce their impact on pollution including air quality.  This is good for all.  Many have people have shifted their behavior shown by the growth in cargo bikes and electric transport.  

I live in Wandsworth am ex driver, no longer needing my car, and have been a cyclist for many years.  

[Community Editor]

There’s still time for residents to have their say on proposals designed to improve walking and cycle routes in Burntwood Lane – but the public consultation will close this weekend.

The consultation, which concludes on Sunday, is giving local people the chance to comment on plans that aim to deliver better and safer routes along Burntwood Lane for both cyclists and pedestrians.
 
 To take part in the consultation please visit the council's website. The consultation will close this coming Sunday - January 15.

[juliantenniscoach]

As a cyclist all I can say is the cycle lanes on Burntwood Lane are not fit for purpose.  I would prefer to cycle with a painted line on a normal road, rather than be fed into a parked car or ride in a lane full of glass or grit, because the road hasn't been cleaned properly.  As for Plough Lane?  Wow, that's a someone's idea of a joke.  Overly complicated, ridiculous entrances and exits, dodging pedestrians, bus stops before being fed back into the traffic.

The plans in Wandsworth seem to be designed by someone who imagines London being like Amsterdam without having the slightest degree of realism or practical sense.  That's my two pence worth.