Tuesday 10 October 2017

Cycle superhighway proposals for Creek Road and Evelyn Street

TFL is rolling out plans to expand the cycle superhighway network across this part of London, and is currently consulting on proposals for a new route between Tower Bridge and Greenwich.

As well as creating fully segregated cycle lanes along the entire road, a whole host of other improvements are planned, not just for cyclists but for pedestrians as well. Simplified pedestrian crossings and improvements to public realm are proposed; one bus stop fewer is proposed for the Deptford Park section of the road, and most of those along Evelyn Street are set to be moved one way or another to make spaces between them a bit more even.

The overview map is shown below - there's no detail as yet on the plans for Lower Road, apparently this is still in consultation with Southwark given that the area around Canada Water is due to be heavily redeveloped in the near future.

The plans so far show the segregated cycle lanes crossing from the north side of the road to the south side just before Southwark Park, so that cyclists and motorists will no longer come into conflict on the unpleasant Rotherhithe roundabout. Further along on Evelyn Street they are back on the north side of the road, but as yet there are no suggestions as to where or how this will happen - presumably at one of the junctions that is earmarked for full remodelling.


(Click for a bigger version)

Plans for the bottom end of Deptford High Street are shown below - the current situation top (although this is now slightly out of date with the new, widened pavement already in place) and the proposed segregated lanes on the second image.



The main change to what's there now are restrictions on right turns and the removal of the two pedestrian crossings, which will be combined into one single crossing and brought much closer to the end of the high street.  

Motorists will no longer be able to turn right out of Deptford High Street towards Greenwich, nor will they be able to turn right into DHS from the Greenwich-bound lanes of Evelyn Street, which makes a lot of sense in terms of simplifying the situation for cyclists and pedestrians here. There will also be a ban on right turns out of Watergate Street.

Being a regular cycle commuter I'm firmly in favour of this proposal, and having used the segregated lanes in central London I relish the idea of similar facilities in our local area, making bike travel safer and easier for everyone.

Consultation is open until 19th November and there are plans available in the Deptford Lounge and Canada Water Library throughout the consultation - there's also a consultation event at Deptford Lounge this weekend where TFL staff will be present to answer questions (see below).

The online consultation has links to much more detailed maps of each section of the proposed route.

Consultation events:
Saturday 14 October 11am-3pm, Deptford Lounge 9 Giffin Street, SE8 4RH 
Tuesday 17 October 4-7pm, St Alfege Church Hall, 3 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BJ 
Saturday 21 October 11am-3pm, James Wolfe Primary School, 21 Randall Place, SE10 9LA Wednesday 25 October 3pm-7pm, The Finnish Church, 33 Albion Street, SE16 7JG 
Saturday 4 November 11am-3pm. The Finnish Church, 33 Albion Street, SE16 7JG 


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Dame. I consider you very good at picking up the faults on all projects (saying this as a compliment!). I am glad to see there are finally some projects that are done well enough that we cannot complain much and cannot wait to see them finished. Maybe because it is TfL and not Council related.

Anonymous said...

So presumably that is the end of the bus lanes? Seems crazy to me on an already congested street. There is already a quiet route for cyclists.

Deptford Dame said...

@anon 16.24 not at all. The vast majority of the route still incorporates bus lanes, you can see them on the other renderings if you scroll down the consultation page. I assume they could not fit them in here and/or they felt they were not required.

Anonymous said...

Hard to see this as anything but a positive and something Lower Road has needed for some time. I expect the militant motorists will mobilise to object.

Anonymous said...

The concern I have is that the rat run through the Home Zone of Watergate and Borthwick and Deptford Green, past two nursery schools. This plan seems to put more traffic through this supposedly residential street because it intensifies the rat runners. This area would be a much better cycle route than a car rat run.

Nicholas Sack said...

Bravo, Deptford Dame! Once again you bring the shameful failings of developers and council to our attention. Empty properties at a time such as this in the inner city are indeed a scandal. All power to your elbow in highlighting negligence and injustice.

Best wishes from Nicholas Sack

Anonymous said...

It is not needed - just get everyone to use Q1 - the quiet route for cyclists. The super highways for cyclists become congested, still experience bus & taxi fumes and shrink the road for all other users. Q1 gets you from deptford to waterloo or one of the bridges before that experiencing very little taxi and buses nor sitting at red lights for ages. Cycle routes should be designed so that the routes do not go from A to B as the crow flies but goes from A to B via C&D if it means you keep cycling and not stopping for lights or other users - and lo and behold you actually arrive with a quicker time and with half of the pollution.

Anonymous said...

Alas it has to be said that once peaceful tranquil haven formally known as Folkstone Gardens Park off Rolt Strret is sadly no more....pedestrians and dog walkers take their lives in their hands on a daily basis come rush hours since the impodition of the suposedly quite way 1 cycle route slap bang through it... speeding silent aggressive commando cyclists hurtling in and out from all 5 exits/entrances in every direction on all pathways.. it's only a matter of time before the number of colision near misses I've witnessed become actual fatalities..... Which misguided bright spark duped residents with the term 'QUIET' way

Anonymous said...

There's been a cycle route through Folkstone Gardens well before Q1.