#Roads & Transport
Target:
London Borough of Bromley
Region:
United Kingdom

Mead Road Infant School and local residents need the speed of traffic in the narrow section of Green Lane to the north and south junction of Mead Road reduced. The pavements are narrow, the road is narrow, the speed of cars exceeds the current speed limit of 30mph.
Bromley council will not enforce a 20mph limit along this stretch of road due to low collision data. Children should not be a road accident waiting to happen - surely a fatality is not needed before the council will acknowledge that this is a dangerous stretch of road for pedestrians. This is not about volume of traffic, but speed of traffic. There is currently insufficient signage to slow the traffic even at 30mph.
Green Lane is a through road for Chislehurst and is also a major bus route. Buses and cars cannot pass freely at the south end of Green Lane, and buses have to swing out into the centre of the road to avoid pedestrians on the pavements.
Children, not only from Mead Road Infant School, use this route to walk to school.

We have for several years been petitioning for the speed limit in Green Lane to be reduced, predominantly at the Belmont Parade to Centre Common section – where the road narrows and the pavements are also narrow and uneven.

Our requests, to Bromley Council, have been turned down in the past as collision data is insufficient for this stretch of road and no fatalities have occurred. This is not a valid reason not to review the speed of traffic on this busy stretch of road.

Our concern is not driven by the volume of traffic, which fluctuates throughout the day, but purely at the speed of the traffic on this narrow section.

Points of issue:

1. Cars and buses are unable to each other pass safely (at the current speed of 30mph) unless bus mirrors overhang the pavements and a car pulls in tight to the fencing. There is no ‘free flow’ of traffic with buses and 4x4 vehicles. Hence the current speed does not support ‘free flow’.
2. The current speed sign that highlights cars exceeding 30mph is small and obscured by trees and only lights up as the car reaches it, and not in advance, by which stage the car travelling is already passing Mead Road.
3. There is no clear school signage on approach to Mead Road from centre common to Mead Road. The sign currently is faded and is hidden by garden foliage.
4. Cars turning out of Mead Road do not have clear sight of vision onto Green Lane – so cars (already travelling on Green Lane), travelling at or exceeding 30mph are unable to slow to allow ease of passage in and out of Mead Road.
5. The footpaths are narrow and uneven and are unsafe for school children walking to school. The pavements are barely wide enough to walk side by side with a child holding an adults hand. Buggy and wheelchair access is limited with no safe crossing area.

Previously we have been informed that there is no collision data for this section. However, there is excessive collision data for centre common at the cross roads, which only highlights the speed of traffic coming from Green Lane.

The children of Mead Road Infant School and other local schools are not ‘accidents waiting to happen’ and, as we see daily on the news, events happen, with loss of life, that can be avoided,, as people have previously highlighted concerns. We are asking for your support with our request for:

1. A reduction in the speed limit from Belmont Parade up to and through centre common.

2. Improved signage to reduce the speed of traffic on approach to the Ponds and Mead Road, from centre common.
3. Improved visibility of school signage on approach to Mead Road from centre common.
4. Speed cameras on the stretch of Green Lane exiting Mead Road.

The children of Mead Road Infant School have created their own road safety video, which will be posted on Facebook. We are asking local residents, parents and friends to sign a petition to action the above.

This narrow section of road is a main thoroughfare through Chislehurst, however, it should not be seen as a fast 'cut through' for drivers, when there are young children about and residents who want to enjoy the outdoor space of the area without the use of their cars.

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The Reduce traffic speed in Green Lane, Chislehurst petition to London Borough of Bromley was written by Sue Horler and is in the category Roads & Transport at GoPetition.