Monday 3 June 2013

Ladywell streetscape improvements - latest timetable

Leaflets have now been circulated detailing the latest timetable.  This information has also been published here on the Council website.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of September this year.
Robert Sheppard

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I might well have got this completely wrong but I just do not understand why Algernon Road needs to be so narrow. There does not seem to be enough space for two 484 buses to get past each other. There used to be enough space for one car to turn left and one to turn right out of Algernon Road on to Ladywell Road. Now it looks like enough space for just one. Isn't this going to make traffic down Vicars Hill and along Algernon queue back even more during busy times. I'm all for a nice, safe road but I think we'll see chaos and danger as drivers get frustrated. Cars won't disappear they will just take even more liberties.

Anonymous said...

I think you're absolutely dead right - I wonder if the planners took that into consideration when they were 'improving the public realm' - I would have that that getting cars moving rather than having them stationary with their engines running is also 'improving the public realm', but no, it also appears that having a bench beside the carriageway is an improvement as well.

Anonymous said...

what about no cars at all or is that thinking the impossible? I have to say that without all the through traffic in the area since april ladywell has felt like a different place.Just wait for when the next phase starts in july -we will be well and truly punished for this brief period of peace and quiet!!!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the next stealth tax from Lewisham council will be residents only passage through Ladywell in cars. Seems like the ideal compromise!! Seriously though it has been pleasant to have little traffic but I suspect there will be chaos once everything is opened up and we realise how much less space there will be for cars to pass through.

val said...

On the other hand, there are almost no viable alternative routes for those who live here to get out and to work (no, don't suggest public transport, I'm not able bodied enough to do a day's work after a bus journey) and the shops in Algernon Road are really suffering.

Anonymous said...

We're all trapped here! Please someone get a message out. We need deliverance from appalling planning!

Anonymous said...

It's not the planners at fault here - it's the original plans commissioned by the (I assume unelected) 'improvement group' that took absolutely no account of the very large volume of traffic Ladywell gets through daily.

This appears to be essentially a vanity project pushed through by a small group of people which will cause months of disruption and leave traffic even slower moving than it is now.

LVIG said...

It's Always dangerous to assume, Anonymous (18 June). Rather than gripe at 'doers' from the comfort of your armchair why not get involved, eh? It so happens that over the last few years there's been unanimity about the need for improvements on Ladywell - barely a whisper of dissent. Be ready to eat a big dollop of humble pie when the works are completed, when Ladywell's new streetscape looks fantastic and business is booming. This is absolutely not a vanity project, this is a triumph for residents and businesses standing up for their area and looking to improve things.

Chris said...

Well said LVIG - Ladywell would be in the same sorry state it was a few years ago if it wasn't for the LVIG. This area can thrive with positive actions like the streetscape improvements. How anyone can see them as anything other than good is beyond me.

Anonymous said...

in the Newsshopper it claims (as I'm sure the good burghers of LVIG also claim) that there will be 'better traffic flow' - this remains to be seen, and when it is shown that the traffic flow either remains the same or is worse, I hope the previous LVIG poster will also be ready to eat humble pie for badly implemented project (I'm not saying the project is bad, by the way, just its implementation).

Simon said...

Ok....so here is how I see it.

Firstly congratulations to LVIG and everyone involved in persuading the council to spend hard to find money on a much needed improvement to the road environment in and around Ladywell. Many thanks to these people who at least show an interest and a willingness to get things moving and improving in our part of South East London and I am sure that eventually we will all enjoy the benefits.

Secondly the council has clearly not done a good enough job in looking at the potential difficulties in creating such a changed environment. This includes delays, infrastructure, the knock on issues of reduced road width and increased dangerous driving. We are not going to get rid of cars or even make them drive any more safely - just look at how quickly people drive over the speed humps already in existence.

Thirdly and most improtantly little consideration appears to have been given to the businesses in the area. There is no doubt that they are sufferring and continue to suffer the longer this process goes on. Without the shops and businesses we do not have a Ladywell worth visiting or living in. It does not matter what these shops do, they bring people, money and atmosphere. If we see just one business fail as a result of these changes then it will be one business too many. The voices of these businesses need to be heard and treated appropriately should they be able to demonstrate a clear drop in takings during the construction period. Further we all have a responsibility to continue using them.

This disruption has been going on for a very long time and looks like extending in to September. Whichever side of the fence you sit on its tough to argue that this is anything other than unacceptable. The good intentions and great work encapsulated in point 1 are being undermined by the issues present in points 2 and 3.

Anonymous said...

Its nice to see that traffic, including buses, are going back to their old habit of going the wrong side of the central reservation at the bottom of Vicars Hill - I saw a bus do it at 9 o'clock on saturday morning!

That's one thing that qualify as an 'improvement'

John Gaffen said...

I hope the huge disruption caused by this project in Ladywell, is ultimately worth all the aggravation and inconvenience already caused to local people. Roads have been closed for far too long. Local businesses are really suffering and I have wasted money on petrol, having to drive miles out of my way around diversions. Progress has seemed far to slow on a project of this size.

val said...

I really hope there is a penalty clause in Conways' contract, because they have been a disaster. The excuses about not being able to get into basements to do surveys, so the problems under the road did not come to light, is a complete crock. Ground penetrating surveys would have shown up the problems under the road, but I suppose they might have cost a few thousand pounds. Instead of the vast sums and huge inconvenience because of their inefficiency.

As for TfL, still very disappointed that no one seems to have been circulated about the free 522 bus to link up at Brockley. Looks as though it's been discontinues already. Well, how would anyone have known to catch it if they didn't know it existed? Cheap alternative.