Borough Road - Healthy Streets

Overview

We would like to know your views on proposals for Borough Road. We are proposing improvements to the environment to encourage cycling and walking in line with the Healthy Streets approach. Borough Road is part of London's wider strategic cycle network as well as the council's Southwark Spine route, and together with Harper Road links Cycleway 6 at St George's Circus to Cycleway 17 at Falmouth Road creating a strategic east-west route.

The key measures proposed are

• segregated cycle lanes along each side of the road,
• early release for cyclists at the Southwark Bridge Road junction, and
• separate cycle signal at the Harper Road junction.

Please respond to the online questionnaire below by 4 November 2019.

Background

In 2014 over 1400 people in Southwark were consulted by the council on cycling, and the proposed Southwark Spine cycle route was a key feature of the proposals, linking the north and south of the borough. The 2015 cycle strategy subsequently identified the Southwark Spine as a key deliverable to offer a direct, safe, attractive, comfortable and easy cycle route, for all ages and abilities.

Borough Road and Harper Road comprise the northern section of the Southwark Spine. Street improvements in Harper Road between the junction with Borough Road and Falmouth Road have been consulted on separately to link in with the proposed refurbishment of Dickens Square Park; a link to the informal consultation and updates on timescales of projects in the area are provided in www.southwark.gov.uk/harperroad. 

Why We Are Consulting

We have identified a number of issues with the current road layouts that make Borough Road and Harper Road feel unsafe and intimidating for vulnerable road users, particularly cyclists, and that affect bus journey times. 

• Traffic volumes are very high in both Borough Road and Harper Road and average traffic speeds are high (at least 26 mph in Borough Road and 24 mph in Harper Road) creating an intimidating environment for people walking and cycling 
• The existing route falls short of cycle route quality standards, with cycle lanes being unsegregated and stopping abruptly at bus stands, forcing cyclists to merge with intimidating traffic.
• Bus journey times through Borough High Street and Newington Causeway are negatively impacted by the absence of a continuous bus lane through the Borough Road/Harper Road junction.

Our proposals  

We would like your views on the following proposals which aim to reduce these issues.  

• Protected cycle lanes segregated from traffic on both sides of the road
• Relocation of parking bays to the outside of cycle lanes to create a buffer from traffic and emissions, for people walking and cycling along the road.
• Narrowing of carriageway to reduce traffic speeds
• Early release traffic signal for cyclists at Southwark Bridge Road to ensure safety for cyclists
• Segregated cycle lane and separate traffic light signal phase for cyclists in Borough Road and Harper Road to ensure safety for cyclists
• Stones End Street to become one-way southbound and right turn only to prevent collisions with cyclists
• Bypass cycle lane for left turn from Borough Road into Borough High Street to prevent left hook danger for cyclists (subject to further surveys)
• A new southbound bus lane in Borough High Street operating 7am to 7pm
• Banned left turn from Borough High Street into Harper Road (cycles excepted) to accommodate bus lane and improve bus journey times. Please refer to FAQs in regards to potential scenarios and impacts in Trinity Street.
• Yellow box junction at junction of Borough High Street and Trinity Street to prevent queuing in junction.
• Segregated cycle lane in Harper Road in north-west bound lane to avoid left hook danger for cyclists and a separate cycle signal
• Widened footway at Harper Road entrance to slow down traffic.
• A raised table at Harper Road to slow traffic.

The proposals improve Healthy Street indicators including making it easier to cross the road, improving the environment for pedestrians from all walks of life, helping people feel relaxed and safe, and encouraging people to walk, cycle and use public transport. The results of the draft Healthy Streets check (subject to change) are shown in the spider graph below.

The proposals would benefit those using sustainable modes of travel, however we appreciate that there may be an impact on journey times for a small number of motorists who would no longer be able to use Stones End Street to travel northbound or to turn left into Harper Road. 

Any concerns about traffic in the streets surrounding Harper Road would be addressed by the planned complementary measures to create a low traffic neighbourhood  in the Harper Road area, soon to be consulted on. There are no predicted negative impacts to bus journey times along Borough High Street and Newington Causeway.

You can see maps for all the proposed changes in the "Proposed design" link at the bottom of this page.

Next Steps

Following this consultation we will analyse the responses and review the design. The design would then be subject to decision making and statutory consultation prior to implementation.