It was announced at yesterday’s public meeting, that the current phase of works along Norwood Road will now not end on 14 December but continue to Friday 20 December 2019. This is to enable the works at Lancaster Avenue to be completed before Christmas and so remove the need to close Lancaster Avenue again in 2020.  The remaining work of this phase is to complete the Elmcourt Road to Ullswater Road section of new pipe, excavate some trial holes and do the connections to the new pipe work.

This timetable though is dependent on no further unknown obstacles - such as encountering unknown services. Finding old pipes or areas of concrete during excavation works, rather than during the geophysical survey that took place, has already led to delays as this necessitates hand digging around the old pipe etc, changing the depth of excavation and a redesign of the intended engineering solution.

It is therefore expected that the current traffic problems affecting Norwood Road and neighbouring residential streets will continue until 20 December, with a respite over the holiday period and until 6 January 2020. All Thames Water portacabins, compounds etc will be removed from Norwood Road etc, and all the side roads such as Leigham Vale, Lancaster Avenue and York Hill will be reopened for these two weeks.

 From 6 January Thames Water intends closing Robson Road and installing portacabins and a compound at the junction with Norwood Road, and start work on the next phases - the works from Robson Road to Chatsworth Way which are due to run until June 2020. Two gangs will operate, with the works starting at the Robson Road end. One gang will do works at the top of Knights Hill near Crown Point for two weeks after some initial work.  A traffic management scheme involving a traffic light controlled section (which will advance northwards as the works progress) will be installed. Side roads will be closed as the works reach them. Local businesses have been consulted to ensure deliveries are accommodated.

474m of new pipe and two new monitoring stations will have been installed by 20 December – approx. 366m remains to be laid.

The public meeting enabled some concerns to be raised, but unfortunately Lambeth and TfL officers were not present to explain the detail of their traffic management and bus (rerouting and stops) proposals, explain which options had been considered and discounted for valid reasons, and hear suggestions from local residents. The following issues were aired, many in the light of experience throughout the existing works:

• Closure of Robson Road: Thames Water will look again at this, but currently it is stated there is a need to turn off these traffic lights so as to reduce traffic flow and avoid congestion with queuing traffic along Norwood Road. Also, the assessment was the necessary excavation works would not provide room for traffic to turn into the road from Norwood Road. Thames Water agreed their portacabins and compound could in theory be installed elsewhere – e.g. in Chestnut Road.
• Rerouting of 322 bus: could the junction with Robson Road be kept open at least one way so only the northbound bus needed to be rerouted. York Hill was to be closed entirely to accommodate the current works but it was found to be possible to make this closure one way only so the 315 bus in the Balham direction did not need rerouting. If not, could consideration be given to splitting the route at Robson Road.  If rerouting was required, this should be via Rosendale Road and Thurlow Park Road, with new temporary bus stops being installed along the diverted route.
• Bus stops: the need to minimise closures, always look to relocate rather than close, avoid closing consecutive bus stops, and ensure that closure information at stops is always accurate.
• Road closures: the importance of considering likely rat running traffic and whether side roads might be completely closed or made one way only for the benefit of local residents.
• Traffic enforcement: motorists have been jumping the lights and causing further long delays by performing U turns once stuck in traffic. Also, a number of blockages have been caused by large lorries parking up in restricted sections to undertake deliveries. Traffic cameras and warning signs should be installed to enable prosecutions; the Lambeth "Periscope" car also could be mobilised. 

Decisions on these and other issues will be taken by Lambeth Council and TfL over the next few days, and we suggest that you send any concerns and suggestions you have to the Knight’s Hill Ward or Thurlow Park Ward councillors so these can be considered.

The Thames Water PowerPoint presentation can be viewed here.

Lastly, don't forget the local free delivery cargo bike is now available to deliver your town centre shopping to your home - see our earlier story here. Just drop it off at Bon Velo and the electric bike will deliver it later in the day.