Dartmouth Road - Open for Business

Well it never really closed for business, just traffic.

But finally, after a gruelling 16 weeks or so - the carriageway works are now complete and the road was reopened for through traffic as of early this morning.

Why not get yourself down there this bank holiday weekend and take a look at the results - and while your there, show the local shops a little love. I’m sure they could do with it!

[if someone PM’s me a picture of the road open with traffic flowing, preferably with a bus in it - I’ll add it to this post, which should also get the message out over the various Twitter/Facebook etc.]

Let’s all hold our breath and see what happens at rush hour when two buses are coming in the opposite direction…

Good luck to all the traders this weekend - weather looks fantastic so hopefully lots of people will be out and about on Dartmouth Rd.

That’s a really supportive heads-up from you guys @armadillo and @anon17648011 - so yes everyone, the bus stops are more conveniently located now and, for those of you in Honor Oak Park, it’s only 1 stop down the line or, if you’re driving in, there’s 2hrs FREE parking in Sainsburys & Perry Vale car parks.

If anybody sees people parking on those double yellow lines, take a photo, or at least pretend to do so. We need to make sure people understand that parking on the double yellows on Dartmouth Road is not acceptable.
We have been promised an increased presence from traffic wardens.

Are the buses running along the road yet?

Yes, saw a 197 this morning.

Thank you! I can now visit some local shops instead of having to get a taxi back from shopping in Penge or Dulwich!

Buses passed each other today with no problems & the traffic flowed all day today with no back ups at all

The only person that I saw parking on a double yellow line today was the Royal Mail van, with the same driver that I had words with about parking on the pavement last week (this didn’t go down very well though I stuck to my guns) - just to point out there were parking spaces on both these occasions where he could have parked.

Next time I will blatantly take a pic and report him to both LC & Royal Mail!

Better still, call the parking attendant to be in the area about the same time the following day. I doubt that RM will pay for the fine instead of its drivers.

Best to leave the traffic wardens to do their job. I certainly wouldnt antagonise someone by ‘pretending to take a photo’ of somebody wants to show a complete lack of consideration by parking badly they are hardly likely to take much notice of a local would-be vigilante waving a mobile phone around.

No probs, I’ll be taking down
the. registration next time Mrs x

I have never seen one issue a ticket in Dartmouth Road.

When I walked through on Sunday evening, there were three cars parked over double yellow lines, and well up on the pavement - outside the Bird in Hand, opposite the Sylvan Post. It spoils the scene and there were plenty of parking spaces not far away.

There is a new camera high up in front of Heron House pointing down the road to South Circular.

With the road as narrow as it is now, I can’t wait to see how it copes with traffic.

As far as I know it should be in working order within the week

I spent a couple of hours yesterday on Dartmouth Road, walking up and down, there wasn’t a single point during that time that there wasn’t at least one lorry or van parked on the double yellow lines, and often cars as well, with their hazard lights on mostly. Not once did I see a traffic warden, and although the new traffic camera is a good idea, it seems to be partially obscured from seeing much beyond the Bird in Hand.

This lunchtime there were four delivery vans or lorries parked temporarily (?), with their nearside wheels half on the eastern pavement, as we drove southwards, with a bus coming in the opposite direction. Not surprisingly there was a hold-up, though to be fair not a very long one.

Can anyone remember whether we had any sort of official promise that there would be a blitz by traffic wardens, at any rate a temporary one, immediately after the road re-opened? I though we had, but I may be misremembering.

I was just thinking about this as a I rode down there earlier - every time I have been down the road it has been perfectly fine but of course that is just a snapshot so I was wondering what it is like in general. Nice to hear from folks who live/work on the road…

Now we have our new road and pavements I was wondering if there is a shop traders association who could encourage the shops that don’t already to make their shopfronts more appealing? things like:
Painting over the graffiti on their shopfronts/grills which crept on during road closure.
Washing Windows and providing good window displays?
Taking charge of the pavement in front of their shops as far as rubbish removal is concerned.
Someone to take care of the “empty” shop frontages for now.
and lastly, If funds permit, adding hanging baskets, flower pots etc?.
I know some shopkeepers are on top of this already but not all and it would be great to see a thriving vibrant high street looking the best it can after all the disruption.

I noticed this car parked well over the parking bay outside Woodland Express & Gloss Nail Salon as I walked past yesterday afternoon. Included are pics of the vehicle.

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You obviously are not aware that BMW drivers do not have to comply with rules of the road! I did read somewhere that new models will be fitted with indicators for optional use. That said if one deploys the park anywhere lights on any vehicle they are absolved of all misdeeds.

My suggestion to prevent this type of parking back in April 2015 when the consultation was open -

…very strong bollards all the way through the bottle-neck right out to the kerb line to protect pedestrians.

It’s still not too late to do it though!

These people only speak one language. Money. I heard council’s are struggling for money these days. Time to get out there. We got a goldmine on Dartmouth Road.

I think that you are confusing them with Audi drivers.

I think we need a concerted campaign about this (maybe a new thread, @moderators?) to nip this in the bud.

The first thing I am wondering is: are the illegal parkers a small number of repeat offenders who know there are no consequences? The vast majority of people park responsibly. So why do we have a recurring problem on this stretch of road with illegal parking?

How long are they parked there? Which establishments are they visiting? Are any of them in liveried vehicles so the drivers could be reported to their employers?

Much like the community speed checks, I think a community parking watch project is needed. If people could take photos EVERY time they see illegal parking, showing the vehicle reg and where they are parked, and post it in a dedicated thread here with the time, we might find a pattern. At the very least we would have documentation to present Lewisham to press them to get tickets issued, and fast.

As someone pointed out, there’s money to be made here for Lewisham. I see the moped parking attendant in the local council car parks a lot, ticketing people who are at least parked in a car park. Let’s get him out on Dartmouth Road for, say, a week, and see how many tickets he could issue.

Great idea Rachael

A thread with miscreants is a good idea.

This morning at 9am there were no illegal parkers though there was a man on a moped already checking.

Noticed a delivery driver the other day, parked on the other side of the road with spaces available.

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Also got to say, the traffic speed has really increased, people are really bombing down there now.

The dastardly postman was at it again yesterday!

Took pics, tweeted then & got a reply from both our new Cllr Sophie Davies & from Royal Mail.

Will keep y’all posted

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Just needs a concentrated blitz on illegal parkers over a couple of weeks to have a long term effect until memories fade.

I’ve worked in retail display for over 10 years and am currently on maternity leave if anyone does want any advice on that sides of things! Would be lovely to see the road do really well and be a bit of a destination now it is reopened!

We’ve added olive trees outside the library & bay trees outside mine & @leafandgroove yesterday that were left over from a previous FH Society #EdibleHighRoad & had been looked after by Jake from Devonshire Road Nature Reserve

The more greenery the better…looks good and also helps with traffic polution. Are there any plans to roll out to all shops as happened a few years ago and which looked so good.

When quite a lot of us had them it was the individual shops that paid for them that got them.

These were the ones that were left over from then, I got my shop ones as my previous ones were stolen & it was decided to put the others at the library & @leafandgroove because of the community connection,

Myself & @Zoleipar from @TheArchieParker were chatting the other day & we’re trying to brighten up our little strip

It looks lovely when she has the Just So pop up flowers outside at the weekend & she’s doing another pot for outside @leafandgroove then in about 4 weeks time we’ll have a new shop on the other side of me which will be a Florist (so lots more greenery outside there) by a local Mum, some may know her already as she’s done workshops at Stag & Bow previously & will also be doing workshops at her shop when she opens soon

Royal Mail have been very swift getting back to me. They have DM’d me with a reference number etc.

So tomorrow I’ll email Sophie at LC & Royal Mail with pics and all details needed.

If everyone can take a pic of any culprits please do & Mail LC with info, if anyone feels uncomfortable doing this or is not sure who to send them too please send them to me & I will report them.

My email is sugarmountain.info@gmail.com

Happy Sunday all

I appreciate what everyone’s trying to do here to keep the traffic moving on Dartmouth Road, but I’m afraid that I have some sympathy with the Post Office delivery guy as he’s doing an important job for us; and, generally, he’d only be parked for a very short while to make a quick drop-off.

The photo on post 29 makes it look like he’s just being plain ignorant but, giving him the benefit of the doubt, I’d say there must have been a car parked in the bay when he pulled up.

He’s done it so many times now & I’ve had many arguments with him & he has been so rude to me when I told him not to park on the pavement.incase he damages it.

He’s parked on the pavement & yellow lines so many times now.

P xx

Fair enough!

I appreciate your passion and pride for the place Pauline.

What happened to the store that opened next to you Pauline - seems like it didn’t last very long? I seem to remember it was a beautician-type place…

Hi Jon, I’m the landlord - yes, unfortunately the beautician’s mother was in very poor health.

Moving on, the shop is being refurbed to a good standard by the new tenant and will be opening in a couple of weeks.

I’ll leave it to them to announce themselves.

Gosh, that’s a shame. Thanks for the update.

I know.

Just seen two more culprits parked outside the JobCentre as I was walking back from the Library.

I’ve looked for this, but haven’t managed to locate it so far. Is it attached to the building? Which floor? Definitely working?

Not the best screen grab from Google - but almost lost in the trees in this old shot is the camera.

The output from the cam does not appear on any of the TfL Jam Cam feeds.

Please tell me where to look - foreground? Lamp post? Building?

I have been updated this evening from a reliable local resident.

The camera has been removed.

It was still in-situ when our inspection of Dartmouth Road was carried out on 18 April 2018 - but 'tis no more.

Just when it might be useful …

So having spent ££££££ on a nice new landscaped pavement, we have no traffic wardens, no cameras … business as usual.

Excellent and probably not too expensive or perhaps the ‘bells’ that are on some road corners. Or maybe cubes to allow the odd weary shopper to sit for a while.

I know we’re all on the same page re: maintaining parking standards etc, but is it fair/a good idea to be posting people’s cars and number plates without a) their permission b) blurring the numbers?

I don’t see a privacy issue here. It’s a public space and they are breaking a law. It’s very different from posting pictures of, for example, someone’s house. When you see the media blurring licence plates it’s because they are showing a well-known person with their vehicle.

Public space, photography and posting of such is very much legal.

You could always ask the illegal Parker’s if you can take their cars photo. I wouldn’t advise it though as I well know.

Ok, lack of knowledge on my part.

We shouldn’t have to become parking wardens, it’s the Council’s job.

Agreed, but I think collecting evidence we can present to the council to ask therm to send the parking warden up the road more often is a good idea.

Who in the Council? I can imagine the responses
“We don’t have resources to process this information”
“We don’t have a process to deal with this information”
Unfortunately - in common with other Boroughs - the pattern is to issue tickets on quiet streets where there is no shortage of parking. Where they are really needed - next to schools, on bus routes, high streets, etc. wardens are scarce. My hypothesis is that where there is a danger of altercation, they avoid the scene.

He’s still at it. Post Office van parked on the double yellows this morning despite there being MANY free bays. Unfortunately I could take a picture as I was driving.

I’ll get back on the case tomorrow Rachael

I’ve been away from things for a while but walking along Dartmouth Road pavements seems to be a very sad affair considering the excitement, anticipation, effort and time that went into its renewal just a few months ago. Some thoughts, mainly negative unfortunately…

It’s filthy! Sure it’s no longer erupting down towards London Road and the bits that are ‘high quality paving’ are quite prettily laid out - beneath the grime, chewing gum and chicken shop style grease. The regular pavers have the same grubbiness without the nice design. All this further enhanced by leaking rubbish bags and the constantly fly tipped rubbish.

The road surface is very good but why do the nice slim yellow lines look like they’ve been applied like transfers with extra wide gluey margins. Just messy.

This may have been addressed before, but how are the ‘uncontrolled pedestrian courtesy crossings’ supposed to work? Cars don’t seem to know about them - they’re not raised and aren’t signposted as far as I can see so I don’t understand how they are intended to be used.

Why the concrete spheres? I didn’t see these on any of the original improvement drawings and they don’t seem consistent with the rest of the road in design terms. It looks like someone ordered them by mistake and had to find somewhere to put them.

So, does anyone know if there is a council plan to clean the pavements and to organise the bins on the pavement. It’s such a shame that some sort of a ‘bin plan’ was not built into the re-paving scheme.

Also, does anyone know if the falls to the drains were corrected after the snagging inspection to allow rainwater to properly clear from the pavements - I’m sure we’ll get rain again one day!

I totally agree.

I think a lot of those oil and grease marks were caused by the contractor’s machinery while they were on site because I’m sure I remember thinking how shabby it looked from day one.

I reckon it needs a good de-grease and jetwashing.

There are more Road works on D Road near the Bricllayers pub which means there are no buses running on D Rd, though drivers can access the Road both ways by using Willow Way as a shortcut, this is the Road on the left by the Bricklayers Arms that will bting you out at the Tesco Metro at Kirkdale.

ALL BUSINESSES ON D ROAD ARE OPEN AS USUAL!

Most have been quieter than normal this last week due to this, so pop by and say hello over the weekend if you fancy it, we’re a friendly bunch

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Anybody know how long the current roadworks are going to last?

Does anyone know when Dartmouth Road will be open to buses again please?

Looks like on Saturday the 13th, according to TFL’s bus route status site.

The 176 was diverted last night.

The new street scape scheme in Dartmouth Road also caused a lot of complaints.

At least the Council recognised the number of complaints about this project and it has presence on their “increased complaints” list.

Looks like the finishing date has been put back again,
I’ve just seen on the TFL website it’s now showing as not finishing until Sunday 21 October 2018!

It’s another smack in the face for traders with the buses yet again diverted away from Dartmouth Road and London Road.

far as I lnpw these works were Thames Water and wil be finished on the 21st October.

Then there will be more works starting next week just outside Ald Life Charity Shop!
It’s never ending

More like the 21st November. If they ever put a date on works finishing in Dartmouth Road, just add a month. It’s a remarkably accurate formula.

It would be helpful if 176 drivers could announce the diversion before they turn right towards Sydenham,

Most of them do.

Forgot to upload this pic on Tuesday. Car parked right on the pavement in front of PaddyPower. Unbelievable how people think they can just park where they like any time of the day.

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I just saw my first Christmas advert and it encouraged viewers to shop local, and use visa.

Consider the first bit.

Received this update from Kier’s on 26 November, regarding the remedial and snagging works to be carried out.

Started this week and scheduled to be complete in four weeks.

Dear Mr anon5183jd,

We have re attended site today, the works will continue for four weeks to carry out the snagging on the project. This includes the areas that have been concreted instead of paving. The paving is in our depot and our teams will be changing these areas over.

I hope this information is satisfactory,

If you need any more information please feel free to email me,

Kind Regards

Curtis Woodruff | Schemes Site Supervisor

Kier Services I Highways I 191 Tunnel avenue, Greenwich, SE10 OPA

Edited to correct an omission

Kier’s did not confirm that a request to power-wash the paving surfaces would be carried out to restore the aesthetic of those surfaces…

Clarification has been sought.