Brixton Liveable Neighbourhood and LTN schemes - improvements for pedestrians and cyclists

[Gramsci]

My view is that as a basic principle all parking should be chargable - all of those of us who walk, or even take a taxi home from, supermarkets with parking are effectively subsidising those who drive there and paying higher prices. Parking is not free to provide.

However, I'm not there is anything legally Lambeth Council could do to either force charging or to take their car parks away - how would they practically do it? Compulsory purchase the car park land? Would cost millions and almost certainly be legally challenged by the supermarkets who would have far more money to spend on lawyers than Lambeth. I dont' think theres any way to force them to charge.

The Tesco site on Acre Lane will be redeveloped at some point. I'm sure I've read or heard that there is a long term plan to clear the site and rebuild with an underground car park and flats above - the current site is a hugely inefficient use of the space and I'm pretty sure that bit of Acre Lane is zoned for at least 5 floors (what's Mr Knight got permission for for the Diamond Plumbers site?). There's a *lot* of money to be made on that site.

The one that Lambeth really shouldn't have allowed is the Sainsbury's opposite Hootananny. It's too large a store for the size of the car park, generates a load of car trips that makes the whole area more dangerous for peds and cyclists on a junction where two arms (including the BWL west) have no pedestrian phase. It should have been given permission with disabled parking only. Cycle parking there is a joke as well - a tiny number of spaces in a location where they've been repeatedly driven into so they're unusable.

Here is Chuka ( when he was Labour) on the Streatham development:

Mr Umunna said: “This is great for Streatham’s regeneration and the new ice and leisure centre makes it even more of a destination which is good for all the small businesses here. This is more than a fantastic new leisure centre, it’s created hundreds of jobs and homes too but none of it would have been possible without the smart, strategic partnership forged between Lambeth council and Tesco.”

Streatham has a new Tesco and its ice rink back

 

[thebackrow]

Not that simple. In Streatham Tesco's have started to implement time limits. As they saw people were were using the Tesco car park as parking space to use shops in Streatham not only Tesco's. Tesco's have started to introduce technology to mean that one has to shop in the store and not just use it to access other small business.

I said if Brixton market is to lose its car park ( as it did) then Tescos should lose theirs.

I said that Brixton market lost their car park to facilitate Streatham development with big car park for Tescos Beijing finished.

I also said the. Streatham development was a partnership development between Lambeth and Tescos. So why didnt Lambeth insist on car free development?

I really wish posters would actually read the content of my posts.

I want a level playing field.

Why does this keep being mis interpreted?

It's not. You may "want" things but there's no point demanding something if it's not in someone's power to deliver. *How* should tesco's car park be taken away (see my post above)?

The Popes Road car park was demolished because it was structurally unsound Popes Road Car Park - DDS Demolition
" the steel packer plates between the spandrel panels and the main frame had rusted and blown, which had compromised the structural integrity of the structure. Following a number of structural reports the Car park was deemed unfit for public use and a possible source for falling debris".
It was built at a time when car centric planning was at its height and an elevated Motorway was planned to run down Coldharbour Lane. Research showed that only a small minority of market customers arrived by car and, with Brixton being a major public transport hub, there really is no justification for car parking which encourages short car trips.

I'm guessing Lambeth couldn't insist on a car free development for Streatham as a large Tesco store probably isn't considered viable without it. So likely they had the choice of no parking or no ice rink.

I've offered to buy you a beer now and chat about this stuff in person a number of times now but you still haven't responded. I agree with you, big supermarkets with big car parks are not what we need in cental London. However, I really don't think the answer is to build a big car park for the market and im sure that Lambeth have no way of taking Tesco's away.

 

[teuchter]

Brixton past,present and future

Hi everyone,

Many thanks for your contribution to the project so far. We have had nearly 4,000 contributions and there is still time. The map consultation will be open for four more weeks, please help us with the final push by sharing this News item with your social media friends via Facebook or Twitter using the buttons below.

What’s next?

Over the next four weeks our team will be out on the street running a series of face to face engagement events and circulating materials via local media, project stakeholders, community champions, businesses, GPs, Libraries, Tenancy and Residents Associations and many more.

After the map closes we will be analysing the comments and feedback to help us understand what the main issues are in the Brixton area from the people that know it best, residents and visitors. We will publish a report on these findings towards the end of 2019 which will form the basis of our next phase of collaborative design.

Starting from November we will be developing proposals in collaboration with local residents, businesses and stakeholders to improve Brixton streets. We will invite you to design workshops, surveys, trials and walkabouts to help us shape proposals together. We will share locations, dates and times of the face to face engagement soon; watch this space.

 

[Gramsci]

latest update on this from presentation from last Brixton Neighborhood Forum in January:


Brixton Liveable Neighborhood

This is ongoing project.

Next stage of consultation begins soon.

The project is going to recruit five local people to help.

There is going to be a lot more face to face consultation. Visits to business etc. *Going to people on their terms/ catch people where they already are"

The Brixton Liveable Neighborhood has been divided into different areas. Consultation will be done in these areas. Loughborough Junction will have consultation specific to it for example.

A new Commonplace website will come out soon. I think this is it:

Check out Lambeth Council’s ideas for healthier and safer streets

Have your say on healther and safer streets in Brixton

brixtonstreets.commonplace.is

 

[teuchter]

latest update on this from presentation from last Brixton Neighborhood Forum in January:


Brixton Liveable Neighborhood

This is ongoing project.

Next stage of consultation begins soon.

The project is going to recruit five local people to help.

There is going to be a lot more face to face consultation. Visits to business etc. *Going to people on their terms/ catch people where they already are"

The Brixton Liveable Neighborhood has been divided into different areas. Consultation will be done in these areas. Loughborough Junction will have consultation specific to it for example.

A new Commonplace website will come out soon. I think this is it:

Check out Lambeth Council’s ideas for healthier and safer streets

Have your say on healther and safer streets in Brixton

brixtonstreets.commonplace.is

Interesting that they appear to be revisiting the idea of partially blocking through traffic on Loughborough Road.

 

[sleaterkinney]

Video here, be interesting to see if they can do anything to Railton rd.

 

[thebackrow]

Looks like we're going to see some of the Brixton Liveable Neighbourhood changes sooner rather than later

Covid-19: Transport Strategy COVID-19 Emergency Response

 

[teuchter]

Wait - Lambeth council proactively doing something right? This is all a dream after all.

Good on them, though.

 

[Gramsci]

Ive emailed Cllrs about this section of pavement between Moorlands road and LJ.

To edit. Cllr Donatus has sent this onto the relevant Council officer for consideration.

This section of road is busy. Traffic is going faster as less traffic so cannot really step onto road safely. Pavement is to narrow to socially distance. Houses are directly by the pavement. This stretch of pavvement is used a lot to get from LJ to Brixton and back.

 

[Crispy]

Should be no parking all along that road. There's enough road width for a 2.7m pavement, 1.5m cycle path and 3.5m traffic lane in each direction.

 

[teuchter]

Ive emailed Cllrs about this section of pavement between Moorlands road and LJ.

To edit. Cllr Donatus has sent this onto the relevant Council officer for consideration.

This section of road is busy. Traffic is going faster as less traffic so cannot really step onto road safely. Pavement is to narrow to socially distance. Houses are directly by the pavement. This stretch of pavvement is used a lot to get from LJ to Brixton and back.

Something needs to be done about traffic speed too. The 20mph limit should not be affected by the amount of traffic. It has to be enforced.

 

[Gramsci]

Should be no parking all along that road. There's enough road width for a 2.7m pavement, 1.5m cycle path and 3.5m traffic lane in each direction.

Its a CPZ. Some of my neighbours use it. Alternative might be to give them right to park in nearby roads.

There is idea of a "freeway" so buses can move more quickly. This would mean banning all vehicles from parking through CHL from Brixton to Camberwell ( where Kings hospital is.)

Neither idea is going to be popular with car owners or local shopkeepers. Loco in LJ does a lot of trade from people in evenings parking next to shop.

 

[Gramsci]

Something needs to be done about traffic speed too. The 20mph limit should not be affected by the amount of traffic. It has to be enforced.

Yes its low on police list of things to do around here. Ive seen them have speed traps near Hyde Park Corner. lambourginis around that area. To tempting to put foot down in one of those.

 

[teuchter]

Its a CPZ. Some of my neighbours use it. Alternative might be to give them right to park in nearby roads.

There is idea of a "freeway" so buses can move more quickly. This would mean banning all vehicles from parking through CHL from Brixton to Camberwell ( where Kings hospital is.)

Neither idea is going to be popular with car owners or local shopkeepers. Loco in LJ does a lot of trade from people in evenings parking next to shop.

Some of the opposition to the road closures a few years back claimed to be centred around a concern about the freedom of access along CHL for ambulances to and from Kings. So those people ought to be pleased with moves to ensure the free movement of buses carrying key workers to and from the hospital and I'm sure will not complain about giving up on street parking.

 

[Winot]

This is really good news. A slight moan though - I wish they would link to the actual decision on these news pages. Anyway, it's here Decision - Covid-19: Transport Strategy COVID-19 Emergency Response | Lambeth Council.

I also spent ages trying to find a map for Cycleway 5 on the Lambeth website and got lost in a morass of dead consultations, before I realised that I needed to search for Quietway 5 on the TfL website (although I think they might not be called Quietways any more).

 

[teuchter]

This is really good news. A slight moan though - I wish they would link to the actual decision on these news pages. Anyway, it's here Decision - Covid-19: Transport Strategy COVID-19 Emergency Response | Lambeth Council.

I also spent ages trying to find a map for Cycleway 5 on the Lambeth website and got lost in a morass of dead consultations, before I realised that I needed to search for Quietway 5 on the TfL website (although I think they might not be called Quietways any more).

The naming on cycle routes is a mess... they are in the process of re-naming them all I think. So maps don't always match with signage, and some routes seem to have partial old and partial new signage. All that on top of what is patchy signage anyway.

I think they are renaming them all to "cycleways" so cycle superhighways and quietways are no longer a thing, officially.

The maps here are quite good, but also incomplete and not quite up to date: Route Plan Roll

 

[Winot]

The naming on cycle routes is a mess... they are in the process of re-naming them all I think. So maps don't always match with signage, and some routes seem to have partial old and partial new signage. All that on top of what is patchy signage anyway.

I think they are renaming them all to "cycleways" so cycle superhighways and quietways are no longer a thing, officially.

The maps here are quite good, but also incomplete and not quite up to date: Route Plan Roll

There's an (up-to-date?) TfL map here. I prefer 'fixed' maps like yours but I guess dynamic maps are easier to update.

 

[thebackrow]

OpenCycleMap.org - the OpenStreetMap Cycle Map is probably the best source for London's cycle 'routes' although the number isn't up to date on there either at the moment.

theoretically TfL are renaming only the sections of routes that meet their new quality criteria but that's not still not tight enough and is leading to lots of partial route numbering.

This is the "Oval triangle" - Fentiman Road area - that's being looked at.

 

[Gramsci]

To show what its like now in West End here is Piccadilly on my way home tonght. West End is a ghost town. Never seen it like this. Be

A few buses, Deliveroo bikes and homeless is all I see.

 

[newbie]

To show what its like now in West End here is Piccadilly on my way home tonght. West End is a ghost town. Never seen it like this. BeView attachment 209572

A few buses, Deliveroo bikes and homeless is all I see.

We've been out on bikes to the West End and City a few times during lockdown, it's been perfect for carefree sightseeing and exploring in the emptiest places that we can realistically get to. Here's Marble Arch in the middle of a beautiful day.

 

[newbie]

This is really good news. A slight moan though - I wish they would link to the actual decision on these news pages. Anyway, it's here Decision - Covid-19: Transport Strategy COVID-19 Emergency Response | Lambeth Council.

Wow. This is a surprise. I've been a bit critical of Lambeth (as if) because they haven't opened both gates at park entrances, and here they are cooking up pavement widening around them, to be implemented immediately.

And a pre-emptive strike on the worst of the railway bridges in an attempt to implement (or impose?) a very different vision because they can, while stakeholders other than the emergency services & TfL aren't involved. Spending such a tiny amount of money could have a very profound effect on this area as/when it all gets busier again.

Lambeth Council? This seems more unreal than any of the other stuff that's been going on.

 

[teuchter]

I'm seeing loads of people out on bikes who I don't think normally would be - families with little kids for example. And quite a few people sitting out on their doorsteps when it's sunny. The sort of thing you see in places like Amsterdam where they don't need a global pandemic in order to make the streets places that aren't polluted traffic nightmares.

 

[Gramsci]

LJ has been done. That was quick.

 

[thebackrow]

Looks like much of the Brixton LN programme will be happening much sooner -

There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen

Lambeth Council has today announced jaw dropping plans to enable more people to ride safely locally and to work. These much needed proposals add to the councils recent walking and cycling response …

lambethcyclists.org.uk

 

[thebackrow]

"shits getting real"

 

[snowy_again]

I’m intrigued as to how they will manage the ones on Railton road / Hurst Street.

It took five workmen 5 hours to put up two sign posts for APNR cameras yesterday - which are located on the bend of Railton road where drivers put their foot down and speed down towards Hamilton’s. I suspect there’ll be lots more dangerous driving until drivers start to get fined.

Does anyone know whether there’ll be lane restrictions there?

 

[teuchter]

I’m intrigued as to how they will manage the ones on Railton road / Hurst Street.

It took five workmen 5 hours to put up two sign posts for APNR cameras yesterday - which are located on the bend of Railton road where drivers put their foot down and speed down towards Hamilton’s. I suspect there’ll be lots more dangerous driving until drivers start to get fined.

Does anyone know whether there’ll be lane restrictions there?

Do you know what led to those getting installed? Was it as a result of local residents pushing for it?

As I understand things, it's very difficult to get speed cameras put up until someone's actually been killed because apparently that's how you decide that a bit of road is dangerous ( )

 

[Winot]

I’m guessing that ANPR cameras register whether or not a car has entered a banned zone rather than being able to check the car’s speed.

 

[teuchter]

Oh I see - these are connected to the new restricted zones rather than speeding.

 

[snowy_again]

Do you know what led to those getting installed? Was it as a result of local residents pushing for it?

As I understand things, it's very difficult to get speed cameras put up until someone's actually been killed because apparently that's how you decide that a bit of road is dangerous ( )

It’s a TFL initiative isn’t it? Big central push to get things done quickly which makes a pleasant change. I’m guessing they used the Liveable Neighbourhoods data as a way to start. But yes, licence plate recognition not speeding - hence my confusion as to whether the access is only for the 322 bus and cycles.