Beyond daft?

I took this photo 6.40am today. Exactly the same traffic managementwas in place at 6pm last night and a number of iterations of this have been proceeding south to north along Walworth recently.

We also had the same issue at Goose Green in East Dulwich recently.

I don’t doubt that all these road works are necessary but why are lanes closed and temporary traffic lights in place for the hours outside when a whole lane needs closing?
Other local authorities I’ve worked with would insist that the lane required by workers when working to ensure their safety are released outside the working period.

Instead we have 16 hours out of 24 hour day where temporary traffic lights are in operation when they needn’t be. Sometimes such pointless traffic management is left in place over whole weekends.

I’ve contacted the Labour cabinet member to ask why this is now allowed to occur. If you also think this is beyond daft email barrie.hargrove@southwark.gov.uk the politician responsible and copy me james.barber@southwark.gov.uk.

Residents kept in the dark…

I was amazed to discover that Southwark Council is considering switching of Southwark street lighting. Clearly adjusting street lights is an ongoing sage managing over 16,000 street lights in Southwark.

What’s really amazing is that this news is buried in Highway Electrical Newspage 12. The article is titled “42% of Councils in England and Wales Planning Some Street Lighting Cuts”. It shows Southwark as one of of the local authorities in the “Councils planning total or partial night switch off”.

I haven’t knowingly heard this before. Have you?

It’s the only London Authority listed in this category. No public announcement. No public consultation even with the Police let alone residents or businesses.

Another example of no democracy in a Labour led Southwark.

What is particularly galling is that it took me four year to get all the street lighting in East Dulwich ward brought up to modern standards – bright white light rather than faded yellow light. This saved buckets of electricity. So really frustrated to hear they might be turned of.

Capital Projects

At the last Dulwich Community Council meeting we decided (in no particular order) how to allocate our limited capital to projects:

1. Artistically illuminate East Dulwich station bridge £10,000 – we think making the station area more attractive will help reduce crime and the fear of crime there.

2. Go slower signs £6,000 – residents often contact us that people are speeding on there roads but they don’t want speed humps. Where do you think we should put the 4-5 active speed signs?

3. Cycle contraflow on Henslowe Road £8,500 – some residents have told us its a long cycle round while others have told us they don’t like pavement cycling. This should solve both points but we hope to do it for a lot less than the ridiculous sum council officers have suggested.

4. Fix North Cross Road grot spot £4,000 – just by the electricity sub station.

5. Community notice boards £3,000 – they’ve worked well so far and more should work even better.

6. 20mph Lordship Lane £15,000 – we’re hopeful that with the new crossings on Lordship Lane simple signing of a 20mph speed limit will work making Lordship Lane even more attractive.

7. Trees on Lordship Lane £8,500 – we want to make Lordship Lane even greener and more friendly.

8. Goose Green School £5,400 – they’ve asked for help greening the school grounds.

9. Goodrich School £3,300 – they’ve asked for help greening the school grounds.

10. East Dulwich Crime Reduction fund £8,000 – some more funds for local Police to tell us how to reduce crime further.

11. Worlingham Road grot spot £5,000 – space between sheltered accommodation and 31A Worlingham Road.

12. Goose Green playground £5,000 – a little help to make it an even better playground.

Total £81,700 (with reserve of £312).

Bollards to you

Southwark has 1,282 illuminated bollards. They cost £27 each per year in electricity alone or £34,614 in total.

To replace them all with non illuminated or solar powered bollards would cost around £540,000 giving a rate of return 6.3%.

I’m hopeful that the illuminated bollards in the Dulwich area replacement will start in the new financial year. But with time non illuminated bollards will be used which are even cheaper than solar powered one.

These two initiatives over time will help reduce Southwark’s carbon footprint, clearly save money and hopefully make our street look less industrial.

New Lordship Lane crossing – update

This is the latest update I’ve received from council officers. Generally good and progress news.

Site 1 (Lordship Lane / East Dulwich Grove) is now fully complete and was commissioned for use at 9:30am yesterday. I am pleased to inform you that the facility is working well and is already heavily used by pedestrians. The operation of the signals is also assisting with local traffic management by assisting vehicles turning in and out of East Dulwich Grove whilst the lights are red to general traffic on Lordship Lane.

Site 2 (Outside the Supermarket) has been constructed (including all civils works, footway buildout, carriageway table, antiskid surfacing and paving). Unfortunately we are still waiting for BT to disconnect the existing telephone box outside the supermarket, which is in line with the western crossing location. We have requested a detailed response from BT as to why there has been a delay in disconnecting the power supply to the box when their planning application and agreement to proceed with the scheme was granted in September last year. We anticipate that we will have a confirmed date by the end of the week and TfL are on standby to install the signal equipment once this date has been confirmed.

Once the telephone box has been disconnected and removed, then it will take approximately 5 days to install and commission the new signals. I will keep you updated accordingly.

The new parking bays are currently being installed, with line marking and sign post implementation to be completed by the 30th March.

Hellish forecast

Road traffic volumes are being forecast to balloon by 50% over the next 25 years from 2010 to 2035.
What a depressing forecast from the Department of Tansport.

This seems beyond a stark contrast with a decade of falling car use – often called beyond ‘peak car’ use.

Partly these predictions are from planned population growth from immigration etc and partly from predictions of people driving more. But at no point has the price of fuel been considered, increased use of the Internet avoiding the need to travel or the fall in the levels of adults holding driving licenses.

It also assumes no step growth in cycling or urban transport in our cities. Effectively a forecast of my idea of hell on the roads.

What possible motivation could a Department of Tansport with a history of being the Department of motor transport have for such obviously wrong forecasts?

Satnav insurance

The AA announced this week that they’re also going to offer Satnav  telematic insurance. Effectively a method to change insurance premiums depending on how well you drive and adhere to speed limits etc.

Initially, as with Aviva, they view this as a way to more selectively insure younger drivers. Massive 30% discounts for people driving well.

The industry views this as a trend likely to extend over time to most vehicle insurance policies. This has to be one of the most promising road safety technologies going forward. If the majority of drivers were so monitored collisions and driving standards would make a step improvement.  

Driving with more care should also mean greener driving – less frantic acceleration and braking – so good for the environment as well.

Good luck AA – I hope this new product does exceptionally well.

Perhaps something for the government to encourage – perhaps applying VAT even at the lower rate to vehicle insurance that doesn’t have such telematic encouragement of better driving.

Cyclists don’t count

Southwark Council have had a traffic counter installed on Camberwell Road near a bike shop. It been carefully installed to not count people cycling in the cycle lane. But not so carefully installed to allow all cyclists to cycle past safely – you can see the tubes are across the road surface and proud by several inches near the kerb and are a side way slip hazard just inside the cycle lane.

Anyway else spotted such hazards? Irony is this has occurred the same week the council leader has committed Southwark to The Times cycle manifesto which includes recording cyclists and making the roads safer for them.

Cycling covenant

I’m delighted to see that The Times newspaper has today launched a campaign for a new Cycling Covenant. But saddened to see that one of their colleagues and friends grave cycle injuries were requried to inspire them.

They propose:
1. Trucks entering cities by law must have sensors, audibles alarms, extra mirrors and side bars/guards to stop cycling being thrown under them.
2. The 500 most dangerous junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors allowing lorry drivers to see cyclists.
3. A national audit of cyclists to keep track of making cycling safer and more popular.
4. The Highways Agency should earmark 2% of its budget for next generation cycle routes providing £100million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities being graded on the quality of cycling provision.
5. The training of cyclings and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.
6. The default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes should become 20mph.
7. Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycle ways and cycling super-highways.
8. Every city even those without an elected mayor should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms.

These proposals if implemented well would see a step change for the better at making cycling safer and more attractive. Only number 8 seems to mis the mark – setting targets for local authorities instead would achieve more than a commissioner.

More people safely cycling would see a fitter, heathier nation spending money more locally. Huge opportunities for regeneration and community growth.

But will the coalition government listen.

But many of these we could implement here in Southwark…

£10 gift

The Lib Dem GLA team have submitted their amendments to Boris’s budget. Lots of useful suggestions to save lots of money from what appears wasteful or overly generous staff perks – such as free housing for senior Police officers to free travel for TfL friends and family.

This budget would see £10 less taken from every London family every year while providing the following extras:

  • Reinstate the 150 sergeants -I’d hope we’d get our East Dulwich sergeant back again.
  • One PCSO within each Safer Neighbourhood Team to work with young people.
  • Fund  more Safer London Foundation to boroughs with the highest levels of gang crime.
  • Improve cycle safety including vital junction safety improvement works.
  • Better and fairer fares package: the One Hour Bus Ticket to allow passengers to change buses and only pay one fare; part time Travelcards to stop the discrimination faced by those who only work part of the week; reintroduce a Zone 2-6 one day Travelcard to save people having to pay Zone 1 fares when not required; and to help those often low income earners, we will introduce an ‘early bird’ fare for the Tube, TfL rail and DLR.
  • Promote walking.
  • Ensure continued operation of the London Fire Brigade Museum and develop a ‘Blue Light Museum’.
  • Protect environmental projects and speed up the rate at which London’s buses and taxis become cleaner and develop a central Clean Air Zone where pollution is worst.
  • Guarantee the roll-out of easy-to-install energy efficiency measures.
  • Tackle rogue landlords establishing minimum standards for private rented housing.
  • Take effective action to build more affordable housing in London.

All in all a great budget amendment to make London a better place.

What would you do to make London work better?