Our Healthy Streets - Dulwich (Phase 3)

Overview

We want to hear your views on draft proposals to improve roads in the Dulwich area. Everything in this survey will be subject to modelling and further consultation before implementation.

Objective

In response to concerns from local residents, we are proposing an area-wide approach in Dulwich to reduce traffic volumes and make the streets safer and healthier, to encourage active travel such as walking and cycling.

What you have told us so far

Phase 1 (Spring 2019): You told us you are concerned about  traffic levels, poor air quality, and road safety issues on Dulwich Village, Calton Avenue  and Townley Road. 

Phase 2 (Autumn 2019): You told us you favoured radical action at the Calton Avenue / Court Lane  junction, including a permeable road closure that stops motor traffic but allows access for pedestrians and cyclists. There was strong support for measures to reduce through traffic on Dulwich Village and Townley Road, particularly during peak hours. See summary here.

Other evidence (see documents at www.southwark.gov.uk/ohs-dulwich for further information)

Motor traffic:

See summary map of traffic flows.

• Approximately 60% of all trips recorded on a typical weekday in the Dulwich area are ‘through trips’- they enter and exit the area within less than 10-15 minutes.
• Although most traffic uses main roads, many vehicles use residential streets such as Calton Avenue, Court Lane and Burbage Road to bypass busy roads and junctions.
• The Dulwich Village / Calton Avenue / Turney Road signal  junction is  operating at capacity during peak hours. This means that some arms of the junction have too much traffic for the junction to cope with, resulting in long queues.
• The busiest (or peak) hours, when weekday traffic levels are very high, are between 7am and 10am, and from 3pm to 8pm. This demonstrates that while school-related traffic is clearly an issue in this area, traffic remains very high outside of school travel hours. Traffic flows indicate that large numbers of people travel through the Dulwich area without stopping.
• In the morning peak hours most of the traffic through the Dulwich area is travelling northwest via Dulwich Village and Townley Road. 
• In the afternoon peak hours the majority of traffic is northbound on Dulwich Village and southbound on Townley Road.

Pedestrian traffic:

• The junction of Dulwich Village / Calton  Avenue/ Court Lane / Turney Road has an  extremely  high volume of pedestrian traffic during the peak hours - when motor traffic is highest.
• The junction of Townley  Road / Calton Avenue / East Dulwich Grove has an  extremely  high volume of pedestrian traffic during the peak hours.

Air quality:

Air pollution is at its worst during the peak hours when pupils are traveling to and from school, especially at the Dulwich Village / Calton Avenue junction and the Townley Road / East Dulwich Grove junction.

Our proposed solutions

We have divided the area into 3 zones (A, B & C - see maps) for the purpose of this project. Area B has been the centre of much of the previous discussion. However we want to make sure that traffic concerns in Areas A & C are also considered, and especially that they are not worsened by our approach - this is why we are taking an area-wide approach. If agreed, it is expected that measures will be implemented simultaneously.

Combined, we think these measures could remove around 7000 motor vehicle journeys every day from the Dulwich Village area, making the area far more accessible and healthier for active travel.

Area B:

We are proposing a 'permeable closure' of Calton Avenue and Court Lane at the junction with Dulwich Village. This will close these arms of the junction to all motor traffic, providing a safer junction for walking and cycling, improved bus operation for the P4 route, wider pavements and a new public space (see artist's impression of how this might look).

We are proposing a timed access restriction for Townley Road - using cameras to filter out through traffic but allow access for residents and other permit holders. There would also be a timed restriction on the turn from East Dulwich Grove into Townley Road. This would make Townley Road much safer and easier to access for walking and cycling.

We are proposing a closure at the junction of Eynella Road and Lordship Lane. This will simplify the junction, make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to get across and create a new public space (see artist's impression of how this might look)

Area A

Melbourne Grove experiences high levels of motor vehicle traffic currently - this could increase if some of the above proposals are implemented. We want to explore options with residents for either:-

• a northbound no entry restriction (south of the Tell Grove junction); or
• a permeable closure (no motor vehicles) between Tell Grove and Ashbourne Grove.

Area C

Burbage Road, Turney Road and Dulwich Village all experience high volumes of peak traffic, and there is a risk that this could increase with some of the proposals above. We want to create healthy conditions for active travel on these streets as well, and therefore we would like to explore with residents options for:-

• Restrictions on Burbage Road - either a northbound no-entry (south of the junction with Stradella Road) or a permeable road closure (no motor vehicles) south of Stradella Road.
• No entry restriction eastbound on Turney Road, between Burbage Road and Dulwich Village.
• Timed access restrictions northbound on Burbage Road and Dulwich Village (at the junction with College Road), to reduce the volume of traffic taking short-cuts through Dulwich Village.

Parking controls

We have proposed timed access restrictions on a number of streets (Townley Road, Burbage Road and Dulwich Village). These would require a permit system to allow residents, businesses etc continued access. This would work best in conjunction with parking controls.

• Without parking controls in the area south of Townley Road, there is a risk the area could become a destination for parking - especially during the school peak hours and for commuters accessing stations. Parking controls would remedy this.
• Surrounding areas, and some local parks, will soon have parking controls, and there is likely to be some parking displacement into the area.
• Parking controls would complement the overall healthy streets approach to creating a safe, healthy environment for active travel in Dulwich.

As with all the proposals above, parking controls will only be implemented after further, detailed consultation - at this stage we are gauging local interest.

The questions in this survey look at each part of these proposals. We are interested to hear what you think about the individual elements as well as about the overall approach.