Row over plan to maneuver a pedestrian crossing 50 yards – ‘at a value of £650k’
Under a proposal by Transport for London (TfL), a crossing in the capital is being moved just 50 yards away at a cost of a whopping £650,000 – councillors branded it a ‘sham’
Furious councillors have branded plans from Transport for London (TfL) a “sham” over a proposal to move a crossing just a stone’s throw away.
TfL plans to begin preparations for a £650,000 project to move a pedestrian cross just 50 yards. Local Liberal Democrat councillor Donna Harris said that TfL had not listened to residents’ views on the project to shift the crossing on Streatham High Road, which will require the Gracefield Gardens side street to be shut.
She said according to London News Online: “The idea that delaying works by just a few days represents ‘listening’ is obviously absurd and an insult to everyone’s intelligence. People are becoming exhausted with consultations that seem to be worthless because the results are ignored.
“There are so many local problems on which £650,000 could be better spent but Transport for London just doesn’t take any notice of people, as they have proved with this latest sham of a consultation.”
In 2022, a TfL report said 80% of people who commented on the proposals opposed it. Just 15% of people approved of the idea.
Ms Harris added that “Streatham is a town centre not a motorway”, while fellow Lib Dem Hina Bokhari said it is “not too late” for TfL to change its mind.
She said: “It’s not too late for TfL to pause and stop what could be a serious and permanent mistake. The mayor has had to intervene before when wrong decisions were made and he will be urged to do it again here.”
But TfL said the plan to change the location of the crossing is all about reducing “danger on roads across London” and that this project is “carefully designed to tackle the high number of collisions here.”
The body added: “A full public consultation into the scheme was carried out previously [in 2022] and a decision was taken to proceed with the scheme. Recently, we consulted on the traffic regulation orders needed to deliver the scheme, and all objections raised prior to the deadline for this have been fully considered and responded to.”
The Metro reported there have been 68 crashes near Streatham High Road and Gracefield Gardens over the last decade.
A TfL consultation letter to councillors said there were six serious injuries caused and a further 38 people injured. In response to the consultation, 140 people said they thought the crossing was either ‘unsafe’ or ‘very unsafe’ – amounting to around 40%, while 170 (49%) said they thought it to be ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’. Over half said they believed they thought there would be a negative impact.
The Evening Standard reported that the nearby Exchange Surgery had opposed changes over concerns for access for staff and disabled patients.
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