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Local transport improvements - Peckham Rye/East Dulwich Road/Nunhead Lane


Improvements to these roads have come up at the last few Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community councils.

Each year Transport for London (TfL) allocates money to the council to deliver local transport improvements. For the next financial year (2010/11) the system used to allocate this funding is changing and should mean that the council, together with the community, can have more say in deciding what kind of schemes are implemented.

Back at the July Community Council meeting, the Council’s transport planners presented five potential schemes for our area (this covers not just Peckham Rye ward but also Nunhead and Lane wards) and asked us to vote on them.

One of these schemes was called ‘Peckham Rye South’ and covers both the east and west branches of Peckham Rye from Scylla Road and Dewar Street in the north down to Barry Road and Somerton Road to the south. The council’s transport planners stated: “These busy streets carry significant amounts of through traffic and crossing them can be difficult for pedestrians. The junction with East Dulwich Road has a very high level of collisions. There is a well used cycle route on the eastern side, but conditions for cyclists are patchy. Not all bus stops meet the required standards. To address these issues a review of the timings of the junctions on East Dulwich Road could be carried out. Additional raised crossings could be provided on both branches of Peckham Rye. A trial of average speed cameras could be carried out to control vehicle speeds. Improvements to the cycle route could be made by implementing additional cycle lanes and removing pinch points.”

At both the September and October Community Council meetings the area around these roads came up again following the serious accident outside Tescos on East Dulwich Road at the start of September. It was noted that there had been other accidents and near misses and that the arrival of Tescos has increased the amount of pedestrians in what was already a very busy area. As a result those attending the September Community Council meeting wondered what could be done to protect pedestrians and whether the council might consider putting in a pedestrian crossing.

The response we got back at the recent October meeting was rather negative stating that the funding bids for transport improvements for 2010/11 were done and dusted and so we would have to wait until 2011/12. Alternatively a pedestrian crossing here may be suitable for a "cleaner, greener, safer project" so we could submit a proposal to the Community Council.

However, remembering the close proximity of this to the ‘Peckham Rye South’ scheme from back in July I asked whether the pedestrian crossing might be tagged on to that scheme. Hopefully we’ll get a fuller response to my suggestion at the next Community Council meeting but in the mean time I’ve chased the transport planners about this directly.

I’m pleased to learn that the proposed ‘Peckham Rye South’ scheme has now been proposed to Transport for London following a favourable response to the consultation. Funding for the improvements outlined above should be confirmed by December. On the downside, the location by Tescos is considered to be outside the scope of the proposed project and so is unlikely to be progressed as part of this scheme. But on the upside, the council’s principal transport planner has said: “I would not rule it out entirely, however, as there is always the possibility that any underspend could be used for this purpose. I will also ask the Road Safety Team to have a look at this issue and advise me of relative priorities in the area.”

I’ll make sure we keep you posted about any further developments on both the progression of the Peckham Rye South scheme and the additional crossing.

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