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I’ve posted about this a few times before, but investigated a little further when asked by a resident recently if it was still happening. They had not seen any of the works they expected taking place.

I was also a little confused when Transport for London (TfL) started working on the other side of Latchmere Road. Part of me did wonder if they had made a mistake!

However, it is all going ahead as planned. If you wander down to Tyneham Road the preparatory work on the some of the junctions there has already taken place, with the junctions further in the estate next in line. In fact, the whole programme is going more or less to schedule, although the start was delayed slightly by the adverse weather.

The TfL works are down to them having decided to implement a cycling scheme. This will see the two junctions of Amies Street and Latchmere Road along with the junctions with the Poyntz Road triangle at Knowsley Road and Shellwood Road get entry treatments. The Heathwall Street and Sabine Road treatments will be completed as part of this work (and in the same style as the road cushions inside the estate).

Incidentally, while trying to find out about this I came across TfL’s roadworks map. It’s not the most accurate, it’s showing the us as the ‘owner’ of some works that are theirs and lists one of the schemes as cancelled, which it certainly hasn’t been. However, it’s a potentially useful resource – or just interesting if you are geeky like me.

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Following consultation with residents the Shaftesbury Park Estate will be getting a 20mph zone, one of the borough’s first.

Reducing speed limits has been a frequent request in all my time as a councillor. The problem was that it just couldn’t be enforced – the police have other priorities and traditional speed bumps have severe problems, they are noisy as cars go over, they frequently damage vehicles and would be very unsightly in a conservation area. However, the trial treatments that have been installed at various points on Sabine Road and Elsley Road seem to have addressed those problems.

Overall 87% of residents were in favour of a 20mph zone and between 67% and 75% in favour installing new raised platforms at the various junctions that don’t already have them.

The council is due to be starting work on 1 February. TfL will be responsible for the works at the junctions with Latchmere Road and are planning on performing the work during February.

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Shaftesbury Park EstateFollowing on from the introduction of the local safety scheme on the Shaftesbury Park Estate the council is now looking at introducing a 20mph speed limit on the estate’s roads.

20mph zones are tricky, largely because they need to be enforced and are not (I would say quite rightly) a priority for the police at the moment. This means they only work where the average speed of the traffic has already been significantly reduced – and this is where the safety scheme has played a part.

Personally I think the current scheme has been incredibly successful. The raised beds are attractive and in keeping with the conservation area and, living close to one, don’t seem to create the noise problems so often associated with traffic calming – and the evidence shows they have slowed traffic, speeds on Elsley and Sabine Roads have been reduced by 6mph on average.

The 20mph zone will require some more roadworks – Grayshott and Tyneham Road will be getting the new raised beds (like those elsewhere in the area) at their junctions with Eversleigh and Ashbury Roads. Additionally there would be raised entries to the estate at the junctions of Heathwall Street and Sabine Road with Latchmere Road, and raised entries to Wickersley and Wycliffe Roads. Together these also have the benefit of providing traffic calming in the roads serving local schools.

The proposals are due to be considered at next week’s Planning and Tranportation Committee. You can get all the details from the (rather dry) committee report on the council’s website.