As lockdown is eased, we will see more people walking and cycling. This is expected to become the new normal as we follow social distancing guidelines and avoid public transport.

  Lambeth Council is working with the GLA and TfL to align strategies and has taken decisions to accelerate the Council’s transport strategy to support this. 

Over a dozen Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) are planned, including Tulse Hill. Healthy Routes to boost walking and cycling for everyone by building safe routes are to be installed. The Brockwell Park to Gipsy Hill route, including along Rosendale Road which has created a lot of local controversy in recent months, is not included in this programme.

One additional local measure is footway widening and we have seen temporary bollards set up along the Norwood Road in Herne Hill and plans for Station Rise, Tulse Hill are currently being assessed.  Unfortunately due to ongoing works by Thames Water plans to implement footway widening under the Tulse Hill railway bridge on Norwood Road will not be happening at this time.  If you are aware of pinch points where it is difficult to socially distance, let Lambeth know so these can be considered for the programme.

In addition TfL have created London Streetspace to create more space on streets so people can walk or cycle while social distancing.  The focus is on three key areas and some of these temporary measures could become permanent:

• The rapid construction of a strategic cycling network, using temporary materials, including new routes aimed at reducing crowding on Underground and train lines, and on busy bus corridors
• A complete transformation of local town centres to enable local journeys to be safely walked and cycled where possible. Wider footways on high streets will facilitate a local economic recovery, with people having space to queue for shops as well as enough space for others to safely walk past while socially distancing
• Reducing traffic on residential streets, creating low-traffic neighbourhoods right across London to enable more people to walk and cycle as part of their daily routine, as has happened during lockdown

It is unknown at this time what measures will be taken in Norwood.

Perhaps most ambitious of all is the announcement by the Mayor of London to close off large parts of central London to cars and vans to allow people to walk and cycle safely as the lockdown is eased (see this article  from The Guardian). It will be one of the biggest car-free initiatives of any city in the world whereby the main streets between London Bridge and Shoreditch, Euston and Waterloo, and Old Street and Holborn, will be limited to buses, pedestrians and cyclists.

See our earlier story on government advice on safe travel.

Picture: Norwood Road outside Brockwell Park