People-friendly streets for Telegraph Hill to make it safer to walk, cycle or even just cross the road.
The Problem.
Telegraph Hill suffers from increasing volumes of traffic and associated pollution, with Jerningham, Pepys and Vesta Roads constantly used as cut-throughs.
The combination of wide roads and a steep hill means traffic tends to excess speed, and the existing speed ‘cushions’ and other measures are wholly ineffective: when Lewisham Council measured in 2018, over three-quarters of the traffic on Jerningham Road was breaking the speed limit and a significant proportion of cars were over double the speed limit.
Jerningham Road has Haberdashers' school sites at both the top and bottom of the hill, with students regularly walking between them. Pepys Road also has a school site, and runs alongside our local family park. Accidents are inevitable but entirely preventable.
Lewisham Highways wrote a report to this effect in 2004 but even after such high speeds were measured in 2018 nothing has changed.
Vehicle speeds on Jerningham Road
In 2021 alone there were three accidents near the junction of Vesta Road and Sandbourne Road, all categorised as serious.
Lewisham Highways and recorded vehicle speeds of over 60mph on Jerningham Road on a daily basis by Haberdashers' School.
What Residents Want
During 2021 we conducted a local survey to find out if residents wanted to introduce either a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) or Traffic Calming Measures or indeed, Do Nothing.
An LTN was overwhelmingly the most popular choice but LTNs have become a contentious issue in Lewisham and nationally.
We hope the time will come for vehicular access restrictions into Telegraph Hill but for now we feel we must push for traffic calming measures on Vesta Rd, Jerningham Rd and Pepys Road as some of the measured speeds on these roads are unacceptable.
Presented below is our draft proposal, we are open to feedback from interested parties.
Traffic calming aims to increase ‘friction’ on roads and thereby reduce traffic speeds.
The draft scheme we’ve created proposes pedestrian crossings, width restrictions, and parallel parking (as already exists on Waller Road).
Lewisham Highways agree with us in the need for change and they have said so for over 20 years…
“Officers have developed alternative ideas for reducing traffic speeds in these streets, featuring a combination of kerb extensions, bus boarders and angled parking to create a ‘chicane’ effect. Residents in Waller Road already park in this fashion and the practice is widely perceived to have a traffic calming effect there.”
“Officers consider that the ‘bus-friendly’ option of introducing sets of speed cushions would not reduce traffic speeds sufficiently on these roads.”
Lewisham Highways - 2004