This is the driver's view of those new traffic lights at London Road approaching from Dartmouth Road. It's amazing how carefully the traffic lights for drivers were placed exactly behind the lights for pedestrians. It must have taken a lot of skill and effort to get them so precisely misaligned.
This post was last modified: 02-09-2015 04:23 PM by Mr_Numbers.
TfL are more interested in the benefits for car drivers than pedestrians that use the crossings. Pedestrians are still playing Russian roulette by crossing on red to reach the station as they haven't changed the phasing and the same traffic islands are still there.
Rb, pedestrians are safe if they use the crossing correctly, not like the couple yesterday who were so keen to check out FB etc that they just wondered across the road coming within inches of being squished. I am also amused at the pedestrians who stand there waiting for the lights to change having not pressed the crossing button. The crossing on the Pedder side IS pedestrian controlled, don't press it and you will wait a long, long time to cross.
The traffic island is not the greatest and the placing of the poles in the middle is really stupid but it is a good refuge.
I think that there are a number of problems with the junction itself. It was previously enlarger to accommodate trams and [in my opinion] is not functional for modern traffic.
I've very quickly annotated an aerial view to outline in yellow the roads that comprise the junction, outline in red the vehicular stop line, outline in green the advance stop line used for bicycles, and outlined in blue what I believe the pedestrian islands to be.
[attachment=3727]
The junction is a huge area without any road marking for traffic to follow. It is confusing for drivers who are not used to it as the road course follows a right angle rather than a natural progression up the South Circular, past the station and along Dartmouth Road.
The huge are of the junction means that the car "start" lines are very far apart meaning that it takes longer for traffic to enter and exit the junction thereby reducing the efficiency of the junction because the time between traffic phases is increases.
The future traffic phase is not clear to pedestrians and the long pauses between phases induces crossing on red.
Personally, I see a lot of "near misses" between pedestrians and cars. I also see the crossing zone nearest the station being full on a regular basis and pedestrians waiting outside the containment fences.
I do not consider the junction to be well designed from a road planning perspective. The poor design leads to slow traffic progression, which increases pollution, especially associated with the slow moving traffic starting and waiting on the hill close to the station. It creates conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles. It is aesthetically hideous and an eyesore to Forest Hill. From my experience speaking to people who do not live in Forest Hill, it is what people associate with the area: "That junction on a hill: I've driven though it."
I'm sure that people familiar with road design could identify further issues or more precisely describe those that I mention above.
This post was last modified: 07-09-2015 03:00 PM by Ligersaur.
Hi all (especially rshdunlop who suggested I tell TfL). Here's the response I got from TfL. I'm quite impressed, actually. A positive reply within barely 2 weeks isn't bad going, I reckon.
Here's what they said (key sentence highlighted)...
Quote:
Thank you for your feedback form of 2 September 2015 about the positioning of the traffic signals on London Road.
I appreciate your taking the time to bring this matter to our attention. In managing London’s very sophisticated traffic systems, we seek to balance the needs of everyone within a heavily over-subscribed road network to ensure safety of all road users while keeping London moving.
Following your concerns the sites have been checked. Arrangements are being made to relocate the pedestrian signal so it does not restrict visibility of the vehicle signals. Whilst I cannot specify a date at present our contractors are aware that this needs to be rectified as soon as possible.
Thanks again for contacting us. If there is anything else we can help you with, please reply to this email. Alternatively, you can speak to one of our Customer Service Advisers on 0343 222 1234, who will be happy to help.
Well done Mr Numbers. A position on the Forest Hill Society transport committee is available to you if you would like it!
(or anybody else who is interest in transport issues in Forest Hill - but particularly Mr Numbers)
Anybody who is interested should email me michael@fhsoc.com