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Traffic light problems again?
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gbrownings


Posts: 96
Joined: Aug 2012
Post: #1
22-02-2014 03:15 PM

Took more than half an hour to get from Barry Road/Dulwich Library to the London Road Horniman Museum area today (same happened last weekend).

I am pretty sure the culprit is the traffic light sequencing at the recently 'improved' junction with Sydenham Rise.

South circular (towards FH) was pretty much clear past this junction which was holding us on red for ages and then letting just a few vehicles through.

Traffic was backed up all the way down the to the old Grove PH and down the south circular and along Lordship Lane. (Made BBC traffic news)

Anyone else having issues or able to offer alternative suggestions as to the cause?

I don't recall this stretch being a particularly bad one until recently.

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MightyMouse


Posts: 122
Joined: Apr 2012
Post: #2
22-02-2014 03:18 PM

I've just got in (from a late lunch at Canvas and Cream, yum!) and the centre of Forest Hill is crazy with traffic - and it was when I went out too. Didn't notice it so much coming from East Dulwich, but certainly going the other way (towards the junction you mention) is extremely congested.

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gbrownings


Posts: 96
Joined: Aug 2012
Post: #3
22-02-2014 04:02 PM

BBC Travel News (12 mins ago...)

A205 South Circular Road Dulwich, eastbound between College Road and Sydenham Hill

A205 London - Queueing traffic on A205 South Circular Road eastbound in Dulwich between the College Road junction and the Sydenham Hill junction.

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gbrownings


Posts: 96
Joined: Aug 2012
Post: #4
22-02-2014 04:04 PM

Updated 16 minutes ago
Show on map
Traffic Incidents
A205

A205 South Circular Road Forest Hill, westbound between Westbourne Drive and A2216 Lordship Lane

A205 London - Queueing traffic and long delays on A205 South Circular Road westbound in Forest Hill between the Westbourne Drive junction and The Grove.

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #5
22-02-2014 04:21 PM

But the question is what's causing the queues? It's been like that all day.

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edpaff


Posts: 51
Joined: Apr 2012
Post: #6
23-02-2014 12:00 AM

I'm pretty sure gbrownings is spot on here. The recently rejigged junction outside The Horniman seems to have developed an additional very long red phase for traffic travelling away from FH on the South Circ. Presumably the same in the other direction too.

Definitely much worse since the junction changes - hopefully temporary...

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #7
23-02-2014 09:23 AM

How is it today?

I think it's more likely that there is a new fault at the junction rather than any rephasing after the works at Sydenham Rise months ago being the problem. Traffic was backed up along Perry Vale all day yesterday. That only happens very occasionally at rush hour on weekday mornings. For it to be like that all day on a Saturday (and not at all on previous days this week) suggests a new problem.

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gbrownings


Posts: 96
Joined: Aug 2012
Post: #8
23-02-2014 11:43 AM

My other suspicion as to the cause is that a pedestrian crossing phase has been added to the lights which means cars on the south circular are being held on red for a lot longer than previously.

It might be that at weekends in particular more pedestrians are using the junction for example to get acrosss to the Horniman or use the small park on the other side.

Whatever, it does not seem to be working well because it was still causing a traffic problem eastbound at 8pm last night.

Email being drafted to TfL......

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #9
23-02-2014 11:47 AM

Do let TfL know. It was half-term last week, there would have been more pedestrians than usual all week heading to the museum and park, but the tailbacks (stretching back some two miles in places) only occurred yesterday. A faulty signal still seems more likely to me, especially if there were still problems into the evening.

In any case, let's hope it gets sorted soon. Can anyone report on how it looks today? I need to know if I need to replay my route for tomorrow!

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rbmartin


Posts: 1,075
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #10
23-02-2014 01:38 PM

This is the second weekend in a row where traffic in FH and Dulwich has been affected by the poor phasing of lights at the Honor Oak Road junction.

Last week was even worse due to temporary traffic lights in Lordship Lane at the junction of Upland Road.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #11
23-02-2014 03:26 PM

I reported this problem last week after seeing traffic queuing at these lights. The south circular lights are turning green for 20 seconds at a time. It appears that either the phasing is the wrong way round or cameras are not detecting traffic on the south circular.
I think it is possible that the weekend phasing is different from the week, as I didn't see the problem occuring last week.
It might not hurt for others to report the problem at https://reportit.tfl.gov.uk/pub/servlet/...xl0Q%3D%3D

Yesterday was particularly bad because there was an ambulance on lordship lane after an accident, which forced all the traffic into a single lane rather than the filter lane for cars turning left to follow the south circular.

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gbrownings


Posts: 96
Joined: Aug 2012
Post: #12
23-02-2014 04:29 PM

BBC Travel

A205 Forest Hill, westbound between Perry Vale and Sydenham Hill

A205 London - Queueing traffic on A205 westbound in Forest Hill between Co-Op Traffic Lights and the Sydenham Hill junction.

Slight - 18 minutes ago

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rbmartin


Posts: 1,075
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #13
23-02-2014 06:05 PM

Just to correct my earlier post, it's the phasing of the Sydenham Rise/London Road lights.

I went for a walk into FH at 5.30 and the level of traffic at Devonshire Road/Dartmouth Road/London Road are at weekday peak levels which is all snarled up. However if you go past Sydenham Rise into Dulwich, the road is mainly clear from FH. Towards FH, it's snarled up from just past Dulwich Library.

It could be a badly phased pattern considering it's been half term for the last two weekends, which revert to normal from tomorrow. As Michael mentions, the weekday phasing is normal.

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gbrownings


Posts: 96
Joined: Aug 2012
Post: #14
23-02-2014 06:38 PM

Quote:
rbmartin

Just to correct my earlier post, it's the phasing of the Sydenham Rise/London Road lights.


Indeed. Just as I originally surmised.

You are also correct that the phasing at Honor Oak Road is also causing unnecessary congestion although hopefully the proposed improvements for that junction will help traffic flow. I won't be holding my breath though....

Email sent to ENQUIRE@tfl.gov.uk as the link provided by Michael did not seem to work.

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nottinghillbilly


Posts: 654
Joined: Dec 2010
Post: #15
23-02-2014 11:06 PM

This is something I was about to start a thread on too. It is very frustrating to get through the lights, both ways, only to get to a clear road. It is causing back ups along Honor Oak Road. This is a road that carries more traffic than Sydenham Rise but only has a few seconds of green light.....I am seeing people diving down the back doubles onto Devonshire Road from HO Rd. I will write to TFL.

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #16
24-02-2014 10:43 AM

It's as clear as a bell this morning. Assuming TfL haven't actually fixed it yet, this supports the theory that the lights have a different phasing at the weekends and that it is incorrect.

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rbmartin


Posts: 1,075
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #17
24-02-2014 01:02 PM

I've also reported the phasing issue to TfL today.

If it's not repaired, the real test is to see if the phasing is different this weekend as the schools have returned today.

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mcbain23


Posts: 32
Joined: May 2013
Post: #18
24-02-2014 03:19 PM

I knew something was up with this section, was sat for (what seemed) an age coming down to London Road from Honor Oak Road this Sunday.

Thanks SE23.com for the crowdsourced confirmation!

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #19
25-02-2014 03:26 AM

The northbound traffic on Dartmouth Road was just nuts yesterday morning. My barber said she was told that TfL had been messing around with the Dartmouth/London Rd sequence but even if that's true the traffic still looked bad going up London Road, so Sydenham Rise could be the culprit.

I've reported the Co-op lights to TfL before and they said there was a problem with the pedestrian crossing button box and they fixed it within days, so it could be something as simple as that. Always worth writing to them if you can spot a traffic light bottleneck.

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gbrownings


Posts: 96
Joined: Aug 2012
Post: #20
26-02-2014 07:46 PM

Email from TfL today

Quote:
Thank you for your email of 22 February 2014 regarding the A205 LONDON ROAD - SYDENHAM RISE traffic signals.

I am sorry that you have experienced problems with signals along your route and can appreciate the inconvenience this is causing you.

I have raised this matter with our engineers for them to investigate. Please be assured that this matter is in hand.

If you continue to experience a problem, then please let me know and I will be happy to look into the matter further.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Please contact me again if you need any further assistance, or if you would prefer to talk to us about this matter, please call us on 0343 222 1234.

Yours sincerely,

Nabeel Shahid

Customer Service Adviser
Transport for London Customer Services

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