Much needed but, as ever, vital they get it right.

I have written to TfL several times since moving to FH a couple of years ago about the inherent dangers of this junction (living as I do close by). For various reasons it is one of the worst I have come across for road users (motorists and cyclists) going through the traffic lights on red - from all directions.

My initial concern was cars travelling west on the A205 seemingly failing to even notice there were traffic signals (possibly because they are quite close to the pedestrian crossing lights which might have been on green) and my being in several near misses with cars coming up the hill as I turned right out of Honor Oak Road.

It is also not uncommon to see cars turning left out of the garage completely failing to spot, or forgetting, that there are traffic lights as they sail merrily across on red.

The other issue I raised with TfL recently was the signalling timings of the lights at the junction.

At one time fewer than four vehicles were managing to get out of Honor Oak Road which I suspect increased the temptation for some to go through on red. One morning I needed to get the P4 bus and watched from the nearby bus stop as, at every single light sequence, at least one vehicle (and sometimes up to three) went through the red light.

TfL did acknowledge there was a problem with the light sequencing and said they had been adjusted but that priority would always be given to traffic on the south circular especially at peak hours (fair enough).

A spin off problem if the queue develops on Honor Oak Road is that it can back up as far as Manor Mount and beyond and, for some, this presents an irresistible temptation for people to ignore the No-Entry sign and race down what is a one-way street.

So while welcoming the proposed alterations at this junction I really hope they get the traffic light sequencing right and the changes make it less likely that people will feel the need to risk going through red lights.

This post was last modified: 14-01-2014 05:04 PM by gbrownings.