I found the stormy cycle v car debate at the beginning of this thread hilarious and had me chuckling. I do however feel if you are planning on moving out of london (presumably because you don't like it here) then your opinions on how we shape our community here are rather discredited... Leave the discussion to proper londoners who have a long term commitment to this amazing city but would just like to improve it a bit.

Here is me putting my hand up to support the scheme, sounds a great innovative idea, and it is amazing when you change things and try new ways of doing things what the unforseen concequences are.

Has anyone hung out on exhibition road recently? they've converted it to a shared space road (not exactly pedestrianised, but with a low speed limit and cars giving way to other users. I haven't made it up there sadly (I also wanted to see the Tony Cragg sculptures)

I also heard a report about how getting rid of traffic lights can get rid of most traffic jams.

I am a guilty car driver - I keep having phases of trying to reduce my use, but with 2 small children it always creeps up again. For my son's 'walk to school week' (that is now actually a month!) I tried commuting with a cycle trailer which was great fun and they loved it, but exhausing, a bit like being a rickshaw driver.

goodluck with the trial

A practical point without getting embroiled in the car v bike debate - there is absolutely no way Wandsworth Council will approve this idea. Schemes like this will have to go through a public consultation process which I would almost bet my house will fail. Too many parties/ people/ businesses will be affected for comparatively small gain...it won't happen.

what a great idea!!fully support, cant wait to walk about...

I would definitely support it. The one good thing about Jubilee weekend was that some streets were closed to cars for 24 hours and children played safely in the street for the first time in their lives - just like I did when I was young. I don't own a car or a bike and use my legs or public transport - quite easy in London.

This is such a great idea. I remember when I was growing up and as a student living in both Washington DC and Philadelphia where a busy road along the creek/river was closed to cars EVERY Sunday. I remember many many family outings as children on bikes, on rollerskates, later with my new baby in a buggy -- you name it. And it would have been impossible to close those routes on weekdays, they were essential arteries to get downtown to work.

But overall traffic (and time of peak traffic) is less concentrated on weekends, so it really IS possible to do this. I have long thought that Richmond Park would be an ideal candidate for Sunday road closures (except for access to the car parks etc), so more of us could actually enjoy that space without traffic zooming past.

Selected road closures could be just from 10 till 4, allowing everyone who needs to drive home from out of town etc at the end of the weekend to have access to the full road network. I too hate to spoil a precious weekend out of the city, snarled in traffic on the way home on Sunday evening!

My understanding of the proposal is that people who live within the closed road would still be allowed to drive in and out (they are not trapped inside it), but it would be closed to cross traffic.

A pilot project as proposed for 6 Sundays would be a good idea, so that routes and closures could be tweaked if needed. I found the impact of the Olympics was mixed, with traffic signals rephased and causing needless traffic jams all the way to the bottom of Trinity Road -- every day, completely unrelated to the actual road events (and other parts of London almost traffic free!). There does need to be an opportunity for feedback to make sure the routes work as intended!

I can't seem to find the actual routes proposed, so it would be good to have a direct link posted.

I will be writing to my councillors, thanks!

Thanks Supergirl very good point well made. It is unfortunate that NappyValleyNet doesn't have a poll facility, as then we would be able to count the votes instead of read posts for and against.

I've just read back through and counted up, it seems including me that there are 7 people who have posted here in favour, 2 sort-of depending on how it is managed, and 4 dead set against. So in terms of a poll here at the moment that would be 69% for, and 31% against. A few more people have voted on the other forum, which may well be some of you, and there with 64 votes it is an 80% in favour majority right now.

On another point regarding congestion/traffic we all suffer from it (whether we own cars or not). One solution is as someone said to move away. My solution is to work to make where I live now a better place for me and my neighbours. Changing nothing, will not solve any of the problems, the problems won't just "go away".

As Supergirl said, they've done it in Paris, and now residents love it. I'm not saying that it would have exactly the same reception here, but I think there is a good chance that it would. All I'm asking is that we give it a go. Have a good day, and rest of your week. I'll check back here next over the weekend.

Go for it!
i a
m completely in!
Where my parents live in paris,
they decided about 6-8 yrs ago to close the roads around the forest every sunday. You have to realise we are talking about paris and there were secondary roads from main roads. People were moaning at first for the same reasons as on this thread: jam, w-e traffic, etc. then people got used to it and they love it now. For all the reasons they disapproved before.

Go for it! It would be sooo good for everyone to be out of a car every now and then!

Just try: put your car keys out if reach from friday to sunday!!!! You might discover a new world

OP - Latchmere Road. Have you actually considered how many people come under the umbrella of resident access off Latchmere? Given the one-way's, dead end's etc there I think that's a non starter.

Well said Abbeville Mummy.

The street parties were for a good reason and one off events and the majority of the community were involved in their own streets so very few people were driving around anyway.

To link those 5 green spaces would impact a huge area. If you want to do a trial, why not start small and link 2 parks and see how much interest you get, rather than blocking off the main roads that link the areas that we are live in.

There is something that has started in Bristol called Playing Out, whereby small residential streets are closed to traffic obviously assuming the residents are all in agreement, so that kids can literally 'play out in the street'.

This kind of thing seems to me to make much more sense than closing major roads in the area and the residents can all join forces and do it together - good for community bonding too!

I don't know much about it but here is a link to the website.

http://playingout.net/inspiration-ideas ... takes-off/

I also think once a month is too frequent to cause this kind of disruption. The street parties, Olympics etc are one off things, so understandably people are more likely to support them.

Thanks for all the comments so far, it is certainly generating a lot of interest. To clarify I'll briefly outline a little further the proposed route which may assist readers/posters to understand further which roads I've suggested could be used. The route would link the following green spaces / borough parks:

Wandsworth Park
Battersea Park
Clapham Common
Wandsworth Common
King Georges Park

From Wandsworth Park to Battersea Park I've suggested that the Thames Path could be used, which would mean that not many roads would be required. Latchmere road is the only main road (under my proposals) which would be blocked except for resident & bus access. People who are within the route, would still be able to drive inside and outside as per usual. Where the route crosses other main roads, then people would cross either using traffic signals or they would be managed by people.

Crossing Wandsworth Gyratory to return to Wandsworth Park, would again happen via the traffic signals. I've deliberately looked at a route which will link up the green spaces, limit conflict with bus routes, and still allow those who need to drive around that possibility.

I'm also only asking for a trial. That is to say 6 days next year, from April-September, one Sunday each of those months. I think a lot of people will really enjoy the ability to use the roads in a different fashion. However, I'm happy to be proved wrong, if the comments and fears expressed by some people turn out to be correct, but I think it is worth trying.

I don't believe that fears of the unknown or a change should stop us trying something new or different. Experiencing how it can work in practise and then passing judgement is a much better way to go. Leicester square in the centre of town used to be a roundabout, as did Trafalgar Square. I think few would argue today, that they should be turned back to how they were before.

If your reservations/fears mean that you aren't prepared to try anything different, then any changes to how we manage our streets, or try to improve our borough will be stopped. I'd hope that people would be ok with a trial.

If you search for Active Wandsworth Sunday Streets you'll be able to find the other online forum (bad form I think using this one to crosspost from another site). I do appreciate all the comments made, both in favour of and against the proposals.

Spanish Pirate - have you read the proposals in the article in the OP? It certainly does not read as though it would close small roads on request. It gives Latchmere Road and Thurleigh Road as a suggested route to be closed.

I believe it is to close small roads occasionally upon request. Not to shut off Wandsworth from the rest of the Universe. Don't panic

when we had the street parties earlier this year, and last year, I don't recall there being gridlock, do you?

No, but then I don't recall Latchmere Road and Thurleigh Road being completely closed for street parties either!!

Minor residential streets are one thing but closing main arteries is just a silly idea. And if minor residential streets are to close then it should just be up to the people who live on those streets.

And no, I'm not a Chelsea Tractor driving mum, or a petrol-head who believes that the car rules the world. I'm just a very busy working mum who has a lot to fit into her weekends such as supermarket shopping, visiting relatives, getting the kids to and from various activities, and running a whole host of other errands that simply cannot be done by cycling/jogging/skateboarding everywhere!!!

Also, once a month is actually quite a lot of time. 1 in every 4 weekends we would be subject to this disruption?! Absolutely crazy idea.

Which forum did you post the survey on? I would very much like to respond to it myself!

pam11 wrote:oh boo hoo.

being a cyclist shouldnt be a risk? couldnt diasgree more! accidents WILL and do happen no matter how many changes you make, it is a fact that with an increase in the number of cyclists there will be an increase in the number of accidents. It may not be right or fair but that is life and our children must be made fully aware of the risks.

I (and my children) enjoy my busy street every single day without feeling the threat of lethal injury because we wait for the green man, look where we are going etc and do not live on cloud cuckoo land and excpect to be able to play games and rollerblade on a busy rat run in resdential London!

street parties are a different issue all together and one i was in full support of.

for the record:
I drive a small car, within the speed limits, cycle to work occasionally, walk my kids to school, walk to the corner shop and only really use my car to drive up and down the M4 every other weekend

The point is not that this will somehow miraculously make cycling safer but it might force selfish car owners who feel they have a right to the road whatever the cost to everyone else to take a step out of their bubble of convenience and self importance and privilege and actually consider other travel options whilst allowing other uses of the streets which we all pay for... It's 1 day per month, not the rest of your life!

oh boo hoo.

being a cyclist shouldnt be a risk? couldnt diasgree more! accidents WILL and do happen no matter how many changes you make, it is a fact that with an increase in the number of cyclists there will be an increase in the number of accidents. It may not be right or fair but that is life and our children must be made fully aware of the risks.

I (and my children) enjoy my busy street every single day without feeling the threat of lethal injury because we wait for the green man, look where we are going etc and do not live on cloud cuckoo land and excpect to be able to play games and rollerblade on a busy rat run in resdential London!

street parties are a different issue all together and one i was in full support of.

for the record:
I drive a small car, within the speed limits, cycle to work occasionally, walk my kids to school, walk to the corner shop and only really use my car to drive up and down the M4 every other weekend