lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Lambeth FOI said:
But they are the official repository for the Borough's Archives
It MUST be a conspiracy
Brixton footbridge
- Thread starter Paulie
- Start date
But they are the official repository for the Borough's Archives
It MUST be a conspiracy
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
Memespring, your link is buggered.....
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Wonder who typed that?
Well in the interests of the wider Urban75 community I today went to the Minet Library in Knatchbull Road SE5 and hunted down the relevant article.
Here is the text:
South London Press 4 August 1978.
Crossing off the bridge
The seven year old “temporary” footbridge across Brixton Road will be pulled down in the next year and replaced by a “staggered” pedestrian crossing with a central island capable of taking 100 people.
The decision taken at a special meeting of Lambeth Public Services Committee on Tuesday ends years of controversy over the bridge which is used by only 87 people an hour – even in rush hours.
The bridge, by Brixton Underground Station, has never been popular with commuters or shoppers because of the long flights of stairs at either side. Among the solutions proposed earlier was a £500,000 covered bridge with travellators. But the cost of that option led councillors to plump for the crossing which will be controlled by phased traffic signals at Acre Lane, Atlantic Road and Stockwell Road.
Duncan Nicholson, Public Services Directors, pointed out that a crossing would inevitably cause rush hour traffic delays in Brixton Hill and Brixton Road. Councillor Johnny Johnson suggested closing off Tunstall Road to prevent a rat run
Here is the text:
South London Press 4 August 1978.
Crossing off the bridge
The seven year old “temporary” footbridge across Brixton Road will be pulled down in the next year and replaced by a “staggered” pedestrian crossing with a central island capable of taking 100 people.
The decision taken at a special meeting of Lambeth Public Services Committee on Tuesday ends years of controversy over the bridge which is used by only 87 people an hour – even in rush hours.
The bridge, by Brixton Underground Station, has never been popular with commuters or shoppers because of the long flights of stairs at either side. Among the solutions proposed earlier was a £500,000 covered bridge with travellators. But the cost of that option led councillors to plump for the crossing which will be controlled by phased traffic signals at Acre Lane, Atlantic Road and Stockwell Road.
Duncan Nicholson, Public Services Directors, pointed out that a crossing would inevitably cause rush hour traffic delays in Brixton Hill and Brixton Road. Councillor Johnny Johnson suggested closing off Tunstall Road to prevent a rat run
And probing further I found the editorial from the Tuesday edition that week:
South London Press 1 August 1978.
Precisely why the members of Lambeth Council's Public Services. Committee will be trooping across Brixton's notorious wooden footbridge tonight is far from clear.
We are reliably informed by our own reporter (of course) that the ceremony of crossing the bridge will be in celebration of a committee decision to recommend the council to knock down the bridge.
We doubt if there will he a dissenting voice among Brixtonians and commuters rushing to and from Brixton tube station. The bridge has ungraced the shopping centre for seven years and in that time managed to unite the population in condemnation like no other feature of the place has managed to do.
The bridge was, of course, intended as a temporary structure, remaining only so long as it took the council, London Transport, the GLC and the Department of the Environment to reach unanimity on a massive new transport and shopping complex which would give grace and pace to Brixton.
But like many other makeshift devices the bridge looked like becoming a permanent memorial to yet another dream which got a rude awakening when the alarm bells sounded to warn of the country’s economic plight.
Even fit youngsters who climbed the steep steps; crossed the bridge and then carefully descended the steps the other side –made hideously slippery by the slightest rain- found the exercise equivalent to a couple of miles of jogging.
As for the elderly, the infirm, those carrying luggage or mothers wheeling prams, the bridge was unusable. So for them it was a hazardous dash across a major trunk road.
One alteration was made in the lifetime of the bridge. On the tube station side the staircase was detached and repositioned to face the other way. That was not done to make the bridge’s users more comfortable but because the stairs got in the way of people queueing at a bus stop.
Obviously there would be no point in just dismantling the bridge and leaving its users to the mercy of the traffic – though no alternative was ever available for those who needed the bridge most but could not use it.
The answer apparently will be a pedestrian crossing, presumably controlled by lights. That should guarantee traffic jams in both directions as far as the eye can see.
Our reporter has a simpler solution, since he is a con¬firmed pedestrian, more by economic circumstances than wish. It is to adopt the New York system of making it safer to cross by the existing traffic lights by giving pedestrians total precedence over traffic entering the main road and fining pedestrians who ignore traffic light signals. We do not think Brixton’s jaywalkers would take kindly to this.
South London Press 1 August 1978.
Precisely why the members of Lambeth Council's Public Services. Committee will be trooping across Brixton's notorious wooden footbridge tonight is far from clear.
We are reliably informed by our own reporter (of course) that the ceremony of crossing the bridge will be in celebration of a committee decision to recommend the council to knock down the bridge.
We doubt if there will he a dissenting voice among Brixtonians and commuters rushing to and from Brixton tube station. The bridge has ungraced the shopping centre for seven years and in that time managed to unite the population in condemnation like no other feature of the place has managed to do.
The bridge was, of course, intended as a temporary structure, remaining only so long as it took the council, London Transport, the GLC and the Department of the Environment to reach unanimity on a massive new transport and shopping complex which would give grace and pace to Brixton.
But like many other makeshift devices the bridge looked like becoming a permanent memorial to yet another dream which got a rude awakening when the alarm bells sounded to warn of the country’s economic plight.
Even fit youngsters who climbed the steep steps; crossed the bridge and then carefully descended the steps the other side –made hideously slippery by the slightest rain- found the exercise equivalent to a couple of miles of jogging.
As for the elderly, the infirm, those carrying luggage or mothers wheeling prams, the bridge was unusable. So for them it was a hazardous dash across a major trunk road.
One alteration was made in the lifetime of the bridge. On the tube station side the staircase was detached and repositioned to face the other way. That was not done to make the bridge’s users more comfortable but because the stairs got in the way of people queueing at a bus stop.
Obviously there would be no point in just dismantling the bridge and leaving its users to the mercy of the traffic – though no alternative was ever available for those who needed the bridge most but could not use it.
The answer apparently will be a pedestrian crossing, presumably controlled by lights. That should guarantee traffic jams in both directions as far as the eye can see.
Our reporter has a simpler solution, since he is a con¬firmed pedestrian, more by economic circumstances than wish. It is to adopt the New York system of making it safer to cross by the existing traffic lights by giving pedestrians total precedence over traffic entering the main road and fining pedestrians who ignore traffic light signals. We do not think Brixton’s jaywalkers would take kindly to this.
Looking further into the archives (fascinating and thoroughly recommended if you have a few hours to spare!) I came across several copies of Lambeth Local which seems to have been the 1970s version of Lambeth Life council newsletter.
Several of these made mention of masterplans to redevelop Brixton town centre with a big shopping centre and transport interchange around the tube station. The proposed travellator bridge would I presume have taken people straight into the first floor entrance of the shopping centre (by the looks of things an Elephant and Castle type structure). The newsletters all mention that discussion were ongoing with the GLC about the redevelopment.
There are several photos of the footbridge in these newsletters - unfortunately all the documents are stored on microfilm and the print quality of the machines means that I was not able to get a picture of the bridge.
Several of these made mention of masterplans to redevelop Brixton town centre with a big shopping centre and transport interchange around the tube station. The proposed travellator bridge would I presume have taken people straight into the first floor entrance of the shopping centre (by the looks of things an Elephant and Castle type structure). The newsletters all mention that discussion were ongoing with the GLC about the redevelopment.
There are several photos of the footbridge in these newsletters - unfortunately all the documents are stored on microfilm and the print quality of the machines means that I was not able to get a picture of the bridge.
A victory for pedestrians over cars then?
Though it sounds like the building of the bridge was a victory of drivers over pedestrians.
And good work SE5.
Yes I was struck by the different emphases of those days - the planners seemed only to be thinking about how to get the traffic moving faster along Brixton Road with little concern for the shoppers and residents of Brixton town centre.
Here's the press cuttings I got back from the council: http://flickr.com/photos/memespring/3222723408/sizes/l/ If anyone want the photocopy they sent, let me know.
They sent me a photo too, but that's of a bridge on Popes Road instead.
They sent me a photo too, but that's of a bridge on Popes Road instead.
This photo and others off the London transport Museum website must have been taken from the bridge.
Look how orderly the traffic is!
There's a photo of the bridge on Lambeth's Landmark website: http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark_fullsize&id=10070
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
I've just found another one (although it's only a bit of the steps)
http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=places&id=10061
http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=places&id=10061
Ah Littlewoods too!
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Mrs Redboots
Ice dancer
I moved to Brixton in 1980 and the footbridge was definitely still there then. I don't remember when it was finally demolished.
Another photo - thanks to Minnie's efforts on another thread (http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/th...-lovely-gothic-building-on-308-Brixton-Road):
http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/...ullScreenImage&sp=Zbrixton&sp=88905&sp=X&sp=2
http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/...ullScreenImage&sp=Zbrixton&sp=88905&sp=X&sp=2
Brixton Hatter
Home is south London mate
good effort!
