Chestnut Grove zebra crossing plans are a yes Post Reply

[readysteadycook]

I am stunned at our new Labour Council spending £150k on this one small scheme - they are out of control and it won’t be long before Wandsworth has significant debt on its balance sheet.

why oh why did people vote for this party, just to get back at Boris. So shortsighted.

 

[Btw mum]

So the changes are now in.
Boundaries Road is basically an LTN at morning and late afternoon as no cars can turn from Chestnut Grove or go the other direction except from Balham park Road, the queue in Chestnut grove is bad, I can not see any zebra crossings for the kids but they are all breathing polluted air, but what is worst the queue in Balham high road is crazy and now there are vehicles waiting with engine on in front of 3 primary schools and 2 nurseries, Ravenstone, Eveline and Ruthford House. It is terribly how the health of all these kids is put into jeopardy while they should be able to walk to school with a minimum traffic.
Who does approve these traffic management choices?
Who is monitoring pollution in these roads and at the school gates?

[SW11_Cycle]

I am a very keen cyclist and have been very pro this installation.

However I think it's only fair to try to see both sides of the argument otherwise there is no benefit in debate.

One concern was that people would speed more when these roadworks were put in.

To be honest I didn't see how that would happen but I have to admit I was wrong.

The issue now is that the run from the Regent Pub to Balham Park Road is now one way, effectively, and that means that cars are accelerating past the football pitch and not meeting anything coming the other way.

I was over taken by an orange Audi yesterday that must have hit 50mph on that stretch passed where the old laundry used to be.

[Goldhawk]

The widening of the pavement outside the parade of shops between the station and Boundaries Road has improved pedestrian flow so far

The positioning of the zebra crossing & the junction doesn't seem to be working all that well.
Cars coming out of Boundaries and waiting to enter Chestnut Grove block the crossing as the planners have not allowed a sufficient gap between the zebra and the junction

Will there be any enforcement of the no right turn?  
As usual someone drove on the wrong side of the road past the pub and turned right into Boundaries during the restricted hours

[Allconfused]

What a mess. As the majority voted against this (bar the zebra crossings), it’s hard to fathom what can be done to rectify or if they will reassess and tweak for the good of all?
- the zebra crossing lights don’t work. Making the crossing currently unsafe.
- the no right turn is from 3-6pm?! This isn’t even closely inline with any school streets time, and stinks of just trying to create issues for people in cars-which despite the narrative is essential for many at certain times. I’m sure we all avoid driving when at all possible. I know i do.
Most school streets finish at 4.30pm. Even if they wished to extend it by 30mins more, that would MORE than sufficiently cover the school times. In fact, most of the school children are gone by 4.15/4.30 latest. What is the need to keep the no right turn until 6pm, except it would seem to create traffic and stress?
-due to this deliberately obstructive and excessive times for no right turn, the traffic was seen backed up from the lights to calbourne! Never before seen that! Which also means no one can get out of the any of the roads joining onto Chestnut;
Observed traffic back Up waiting to exit from hearnville, tantallon and gosberton, as well as Endlesham and ramsden and beyond no doubt. Essentially, creating new traffic jams on previously quiet residential roads.
- the proximity of the zebra on boundaries to the junction of chestnut, also means it’s essentially no left turn or just very dangerous. Cars just sitting waiting to turn and blocking up chestnut from the lights to the regent.
In summary, blocked from exiting your own road, having to drive longer distances (in mostly stationary ) traffic to get where one’s needs to be…I suspect the council and those that implemented this scheme, ignoring the majority feedback, feel like it’s been a resounding success.

[Kirstie’s Mom]

Are you delighted with the road congestion and pollution that now exists because of these changes ? Most people aren’t .

[Kirstie’s Mom]

You have Jo Rigby to thank for this . Just remember next time you vote . Waste of money . Increase pollution . More traffic . Well done Jo!

[divadiva636]

As a cyclist and a car user, this is a complete sh*t show. Having removed the left turn from Balham High Road onto Balham Park Road, traffic inevitably shifted down Marius, Rowfant and Boundaries Road. Surprise surprise, a whole lot of traffic and congestion concentrated on these roads as Balham High Road ground to a halt and journey times and pollution doubled.
Now, to alleviate this self-inflicted congestion, these further restrictions have funnelled even more traffic onto Balham High Road. I cannot imagine ever wanting to send my kids to any of these schools on the high road as pollution levels must now be off the charts.
We need to open all roads back up and let traffic naturally find its flow. Engineering traffic like this in a large city is solutionising problems that didn't exist and a total waste of taxpayers money.

[Not reducing Pollution]

I live in Nightingale and now have to drive a very long way out to get to my destination on the times I need to drive.
This is not helping pollution in the area and not least the line of cars on Chestnut Grove trying to get out of the grid. I thought this was about reducing pollution around the school? Well its not!

I strongly suggest removing the unusually long timed restrictions and really giving some actual logical thought about how to solve the congestion inn the are a. As mentioned earlier, the closing of Balham Park Road previously was the reason why roads around Boundaries became congested in recent years. This restriction needs to go.

You have to think of the busses too. Increased traffic on the high road means bus users get stuck. Many of them are in fact school children.

Councillor Jo Rigby is in no position to make sane decisions as she does not seem to see anyone other than cyclists. We all remember the disastrous Tooting LTN that she forced through even though it was insanely bad for the environment and had to be removed after just weeks.

Most people do not cycle and will not cycle due to the UK weather and other factors.

The busses in the area are however vital and we need more of them and more routes to reduce car journeys. Shutting roads is just moving traffic to other locations nearby and impacting residents lives adversely.

Let's remove these restrictions while welcoming the Zebra Crossings. Also please do not keep voting for councillors like Jo Rigby even if you do not vote Tory normally as those like her seem only concerned with cycling and nothing else that is important and what councillors should be concerned with. More importantly they just do not respect residents at all.

The restrictions should never have been pushed through without public consultation.