Roadworks!

Hi there

Is anyone else being driven mad by the roadworks in Forest Hill? Dartmouth Road is constantly clogged up and it seems its going to be for the another year or so. Does anyone know why they are narrowing the road and making huge wide pavements. Is there a logic to this?

I have been using kirkdale then Sydenham Rise route to get my daughter to school , this is also pretty busy due to a backlog of traffic getting on to the south circular but its going to get much worse as this week they have started roadworks on Sydenham Rise .

I can’t be the only person struggling to get my child to school or get into work on time. Who can we complain to? I email my local councillor and MP who helpfully ignored me

I feel your pain. For what it’s worth, more info on the #dartmouth-rd works here: Dartmouth Road Reconfiguration

Thanks Chris , everyone seems really happy about the so called improvements but as far as I can see they are making life pretty difficult. There is a limit to how much enjoyment I can get from walking on a slightly wider pavement!
Where are the advantages?

The works on Dartmouth Road are due to be finished in February, I think. So not another year. I think it is really hard to judge how the final traffic flows will work while the work is still going on. The will be changes to permitted parking (and hopefully a clamp down on illegal parking) when the scheme is finished, and I for one am hopeful that will improve things in the long term. As someone will slight mobility issues, I am also very grateful that the footpaths are being sorted out.

It does seem counterintuitive to make the carriageway narrower but the fact is that it’s perfectly wide enough for buses etc to pass at the moment, but illegal and half-pavement parking, and legal parking on the single yellow lines on evenings and weekends, is what caused most of the traffic jams in the past, not the width of the road. As far as I remember, the single yellow lines at the FH end of the road will be made double yellows.

I well remember the disruption in Sydenham when a similar project was undertaken on Sydenham Road. It all settled down very quickly when the works were finished.

Do you have any alternative to driving?

I am looking forward to the road surface being redone. ATM it is literally a pain in the arse (on my bike)

If it was just me I would walk but its a long walk for a 6 year old (from sydenham park road to horniman school ) and very hilly. And we can’t get the bus as the buses are so gridlocked on Dartmouth Road

Dartmouth road still closed! Some shop owners have gone out of business. Traffic up kirkdale and down to the museum still a nightmare. And all for some fancy paving stones .It’s a joke

Ah but narrowing the road is designed to help enforce the infamous 20mph limit, by trapping all cars behind busses.

I’m sure that will cheer everyone up on their way to work in the morning…

Yes I can’t wait!

I propose another street party to celebrate!

The street party was held by the FHTA and FHS to help the traders. And many of them had their biggest daily takings for months. A good thing maybe?