More temporary measures to encourage walking and cycling on Croydon residential streets and improve the local environment are due to come into force next week.
From next Monday, Croydon Council will use planters and signs to transform three more local streets into spaces where people can enjoy socially-distanced exercise and travel while maintaining access for residents, visitors, cyclists and pedestrians. The measures will involve temporarily turning the streets into cul-de-sacs for through vehicles with signs on alternative routes available.
This latest initiative is part of the council’s Streetspace scheme, which is funded by Transport for London and encourages more people to exercise by walking and cycling and cuts pollution levels as the borough’s Covid-19 recovery continues.
The new schemes being introduced from Monday 3 August are in Upper Norwood – Sylvan Hill, Stambourne Way and Fox Hill – bringing the borough’s total so far to 16.
Ahead of these changes, the council has informed around 1,500 residents, community groups, local representatives and emergency services, as well as installed formal road signs. The council has also informed Google so these measures show up on the latest version of drivers’ satellite navigation systems.
The initiative, put in place under a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order, will be reviewed in the autumn.
The closure points – and alternative access routes – for each of the affected new streets are:
• Sylvan Hill: closure around halfway along Sylvan Hill. Local access will be maintained via both Church Road and Auckland Road ends of Sylvan Hill.
• Stambourne Way: closure at the junction of Stambourne Way and Auckland Road. Local access will be maintained via the Church Road end of Stambourne Way.
• Fox Hill: closure at the junction between Fox Hill and Braybrooke Gardens. Local access will maintained via the Church Road end of Fox Hill.
Similar schemes already put in place by the council to encourage socially-distanced active travel during Covid-19 include closures on Lancaster Road, Warminster Road and Woodvale Avenue to cut rat-running and keep local access in South Norwood; and a bus gate at the junction of Auckland Road and Cypress Road allowing the number 410 and cyclists continued access while barring cars.
For more information, visit the council website.
“In lockdown we saw a dramatic drop in traffic and pollution levels across Croydon, and these low-traffic schemes are about seizing the initiative to make our residential streets safer and more attractive to walkers, cyclists and residents alike.
“We have come up with these temporary measures because they make more of our roads attractive spaces for people to walk and cycle in, give everyone a safer and healthier local environment and they continue to allow traffic to get from A to B. If these latest schemes prove successful, we will consult the public to ask if they should become permanent.”
Councillor Stuart King, cabinet lead for transport and the environment
