Devonshire road closed from the Forest Hill end

Taken at 15.20 seems to be due to the water leak

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Again! More chaos on the South Circ tonight then!

I was amused by the Thames Water van parked exactly where that pond is, totally ignoring it and marking the pavement up for the next round of ‘improvements’

And all surrounding roads - the rat runs and Honor Oak Road. Absolute chaos.

Is the ‘chaos’ more to do with the poor signage than the closure itself?

Often the signs advertise a closure when there isn’t one, so drivers mistrust them. When there is a closure in Devonshire Road, it is usually the case that there is no easy way to find out where exactly the closure is, except by driving until you discover the blockage and have to turn round.

I am a massive proponent of making either one way or blocking of the entrance, but the council won’t do it because when they send the survey out half the tenants don’t drive so don’t care.
That would completely solve the diversion issues!

This afternoon walking along Honor Oak from Forest Hill the tail back was to Ewelme and a stream coming up from the diversion on Devonshire. Devonshire isn’t wide enough in many places for two cars to pass with parking on both sides of the street. Going towards Honor Oak you rely on good manners and sort of slalom approach and i’ve pretty well given up going the other way. It’s too narrow, cars have got huge and people want to straddle the middle line. One of my friends calls it panel beaters’ alley. So it’s bad enough normally so chuck in dark evenings and impatience and it’s a toxic recipe. At least on Honor Oak there is space t do a U turn. I think there is merit it Devonshire being one way. But surely it’s such a key road it should’nt just be the voice of its residents that decides it. Something for Leo Gibbons and his fellow councillors to look at? And thinking back many years so many of us thought having speed humps along Devonshire would deter traffic!

I am strongly opposed to one-way. It would solve nothing for residents, only increasing the volume and speed of traffic.

If the current closure goes on for a while we will be able to see whether Waze directs traffic away from the area altogether.

I am sure local residents would vote for closing Devonshire at the junction of the A205.

Surely the solution is a double yellow line down one side of the road?

I’ve driven down it once in the 15 or so years I’ve lived here and that was enough. Much as I don’t want more traffic on Brockley Rise as I live on it, sure the most logical route would be (from FH) to continue down the South Circular, turn left onto Brockley Rise and then let again towards One Tree Hill?

I’d suspect making it a dead- end at the South Circular end as @DevonishForester suggests wouod greatly reduce traffic for residents on that road, though it could arguable be done at the other end also.

That was the option when the road was asked for their choice on a CPZ a few years ago. The option was:
(i) yes to CPZ and double yellow from A205 to Ewelme Rd. or
(ii) no CPZ or any control.

Re i, the road is already a -run so making it even easier with double yellow would make it more popular to drive through as it would be a higher speed run while everyone locally pays for the privilege. This is not better for residents - it was not accepted.

I don’t think closing the junction is a feasible option. The entry to Devonshire Rd. (DR) from A205 is a diversion for over height vehicles before the railway bridge. Closing the DR entrance would require a consultation with TFL and plans for an alternative overheight vehicle route - we have to be realistic that this is not a viable option for Lewisham as they don’t care, and neither have the skills nor ambition for such a project.

Closing the exit from DR to A205, or stopping traffic flowing into DV after Woodcombe Ave. would make things a little better.

The main cause of the rat run route is the poor layout and management of the forest hill junction on the A205. The junction has poor traffic flow for vehicles and is bad for pedestrians crossing the road hence why so many cross not using the crossings.

Yesterday I came over Honor Oak in my car after a visit to the plot and it took me 15-20 mins to get from the top of the hill to the lights on Brockley Rise.
I was just try to save time as driving down Brockely rise was also a mare…

I would greatly welcome Devonshire Road turning into a one-way street. The drivers that use this road, I must say, are some of the biggest morons I’ve ever encountered. Our road is constantly backlogged with inconsiderate drivers speeding and not giving way and sounding their horns. This week is a very stark reminder of these idiotic drivers who speed down the road and ignore both sets of diversion signs currently in place. These drivers took it upon themselves to mount the pedestrian walkway and drive along them just to get round the roadworks instead of following the 2minute diversion. I have witnessed this happening all week. Yesterday I decided film them and have sent it to the police in the hope that these idiots are reprimanded- this was at 6pm in the evening when children could have been on this dark path!

That will negatively impact the actual residents who will have a lack of parking space.

If your main concern is congestion, and helping traffic to flow, then maybe.

If you take the view that the problem is high volume of traffic destroying quality of life, adversely affecting health and life expectancy, then facilitating high volumes of traffic in 100% residential streets to flow, is definitely not helpful.

This is an urban myth. The rail bridge is higher than many on the South Circular.

Has anyone ever seen an over-height vehicle turn into Devonshire? Where could it go? Most over-height vehicles are also wide and/or long so I doubt such a vehicle could even turn into Devonshire without smashing the pedestrian island, and if it did what would be the route from there? All turnings further along are 90 degrees, narrow, and cars parked on every junction. The trees along Devonshire are another problem that would be faced in the hypothetical case of an over-height vehicle turning in.

If this was a serious over-height facility, the notice would not have been out of order for YEARS, and generally obscured by trees. The turning is also far too close to the bridge and on a sharp bend. I don’t think a driver of an extra-large vehicle, managing a sharp bend, will be reading street notices. This supposed emergency turn may have ticked a box in someone’s scheme many years ago, before over-height vehicles had the current technology to pre-plan every inch of their route.

If there really is a case for an emergency turn for over-height vehicles, then the proposed road barrier could be 40 yards in from the junction with the A205 - allowing sufficient space for a vehicle to turn in and wait for police to assist in reversing back to the town centre.

Technical problems can always be overcome when there is political will.

You may believe it to be an impractical and underused turning, but that doesn’t make it an urban legend.

The route along DR allows overheight vehicles to go over the train line at Honor Oak rather than under at Forest Hill.

Feel free to convince both TFL and local government that something needs to be done and then get them to coordinate an action.

How about making DR one-way going towards Honor Oak Park, and making Honor Oak Road one-way in the other direction?

This has come up many times. The residents of Devonshire overwhelmingly do not want parking restrictions and/or changes to direction of traffic etc.

It is what it is.

Yes, both ends.

No problem. Close the road back from the junction with enough space for an oversize vehicle to swing in, contact the police and wait for them to open the gate and provide escort along Devonshire Road.

Absolutely not. That would simply facilitate fast-moving high volumes of traffic.

@Hollow you tend to find it is the residents of Devonshire Road who either have drives or don’t have cars who don’t care. The rest do.

@DevonishForester and @Andy you can’t get a normal sized bus down DR - I once saw one try for 15mins to turn in - only destroyed one of the bollards in the process. I have no idea how they expect an actual oversized load to get down there and over the hills. (yes I am aware height does not always indicate width or length - but generally it does!)

John_Wilson - are you aware that there is a ‘working group’ looking at traffic issues in Forest Hill? This is comprised of residents and Councillor Sophie Davis (@SophieDavis) . Residents at the top of the ward (Tewkesbury Lodge Estate) are well organized and well-represented, but residents on Devonshire Rd, Woodcombe Crescent, Ewelme Road, Benson Road, Tyson Road etc, are not showing up. Anyone living on Devonshire or the roads between Honor Oak Road and Devonshire Road, please notify Councillor Davis if you would be interested in having your views heard. John I have also PM’d you.

Can someone PM me? I’m on Tyson and would be keen to participate.

I’d be interested to be part of the working group if possible, as I live on one of them roads.

Ditto. I’d be interested too. thanks

Hi all,

Yes, we are looking for people from other parts of the ward (especially those mentioned by @DevonishForester) to get involved in the working group. If you’re interested, please email me on Cllr_sophie.davis@lewisham.gov.uk and I’ll add you to the mailing list.

Thanks,
Sophie