+ And here comes Phase 2

As predicted, the displacement of traffic caused by the closures of Dulwich Village junction and Melbourne Grove has resulted in huge traffic jams that often back up the entire length of Dulwich Village all the way to the South Circular. It has also massively increased traffic on main residential roads like East Dulwich Grove, Lordship Lane, Half Moon Lane and Village Way, while side roads off Dulwich Village and Court Lane have turned into rat runs, and many of the shops in Dulwich Village are badly impacted as a consequence.

We receive daily reports of the effects of the closures – people with breathing problems unable to go out, traders who can’t deliver goods or medicines, near misses caused by cyclists jumping red lights or cycling on pavements, cars doing dangerous three-point turns, and children playing in the middle of the road, having been given a false sense of security by the flowers painted on the tarmac.

In May we asked Village Ward Councillors for a meeting with them and a traffic engineer to discuss our pragmatic proposal for restrictions at peak hours instead of 24/7 closures. Finally, it looks as if a meeting may happen shortly.

[The meeting took place on 13 August. The Council officers are considering their response. When we hear back, we will let you know.]

Phase 2 update

In the meantime, we had hoped to hear by now what Southwark Council is planning for Phase 2 of the Experimental Highway Measures. However, it now turns out these are not going to be shared by Councillors with residents until the middle of August, making it very likely they will be introduced just as the schools come back at the beginning of September.

[Phase 2 proposals for the Melbourne Grove area and the Dulwich Village area have now been published on Southwark's website.]

A little more information about changes in Dulwich Village ward emerged at a meeting on 28 July between Councillor Margy Newens and representatives from local residents’ associations:

1) Changes to traffic lights

The long tailbacks from the traffic lights at the junction between Dulwich Village and Village Way/East Dulwich Grove are recognised as being unacceptable. Although One Dulwich has previously been told that lights can’t be changed as part of a trial, TfL have been asked to alter the traffic lights at this junction, so that cars wanting to turn right into East Dulwich Grove from Dulwich Village north will have a couple more seconds to do so. The Council hopes that TfL will do this before the schools return, when a full coach service for the independent schools will be in operation. At Dulwich Village junction, the lights have been rephased so that the green phase exiting the junction is dictated by the volume of traffic wishing to exit Turney Road into Dulwich Village.

2) Cameras, closures, permits

Having been told by our Councillors that cameras couldn’t be considered for Dulwich Village junction as they were too expensive, it seems they can be afforded elsewhere in Dulwich as part of the Phase 2 measures. Timed closures (again what we have proposed for Dulwich Village junction) are possible, as are further permeable closures (i.e. planters stopping motorised traffic), but it hasn’t yet been disclosed which roads will be affected. Closures will apply to everyone as residents’ permits aren’t being considered at this stage, although permits could be part of a permanent solution in future.

3) Bus gate on Dulwich Village?

On Dulwich Village itself there may be a virtual bus gate, with cameras allowing through only buses, emergency vehicles and private school coaches on a timed basis, possibly weekdays only.

4) Monitoring traffic . . .

On 19 June, Cllr Livingstone wrote to Southwark residents about the first round of interventions, saying: “These are all experimental measures – we will be required to conduct full public consultation before any of these are made permanent, and within eighteen months from installation. The measures are flexible as the experimental nature of the trial allows us to make amendments and changes within the first six months. An option will of course be to return the highway arrangements to the original state if the trial is not deemed to be successful. We will be monitoring the impact of these changes throughout that period, using counts of motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.”

However, it now turns out the Council only plans to monitor traffic on selected local roads on a quarterly basis. Click here to see the map of these roads. Roads were monitored with rubber strips throughout June. They will also be monitored throughout September and then in December. (Will the results be collated in time for the six-month review of the Experimental Traffic Order?) Some roads (for example, Woodwarde and Dovercourt) had their strips removed at the beginning of July. The strips on Calton Avenue were cut on 1 August. Cllr Newens said that she would be happy to receive feedback about additional roads that should be monitored.

5) . . . but not pollution . . .

It turns out the Council has no plans to monitor pollution levels, even though increased levels of traffic are producing more pollution past many local schools. In a newly published set of FAQs, the Council says this is because “it is not possible to solely filter out the traffic contribution to poor air quality”, and that, instead, they will be “using change to traffic levels as a proxy for the air pollution contribution by motor traffic”. This clearly is not acceptable when it is possible for slow-moving traffic jams to register lower volumes of vehicles passing through, while their idling engines produce up to twice the amount of pollution. We believe it is essential that something as crucial as understanding changes to air quality is evidence-based, and are pressing the Council to monitor actual levels of vehicle emissions, especially on the main residential roads on to which traffic has been displaced.

6) . . . or social impact.

We have heard that the Council has no plans to carry out an assessment of the impact of the ‘experimental’ traffic measures on people with vulnerabilities, such as mobility-poor and less able residents, and those with higher Covid-19 risk exposure, such as shielding residents and BAME communities. As these experiments are being introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it seems odd not to be assessing whether it is helping to reduce the risk among these vulnerable groups. Apparently an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) was conducted prior to the closures, which concluded that, because everybody is still able to access their homes, the experiments do not discriminate against any disadvantaged or vulnerable people. There has been a request for this to be published, including details of who was interviewed.

When we find out more about what Phase 2 involves, we will let you know.