Traffic on Lyndhurst Grove

[Sally Eva]

Harris is a secondary school. Very few teens (IMO) will allow themselves to be taken to school by their parents even if the parents want to do it (why?)

Do you mean Oliver Goldsmith school in Peckham Road? There isn't a school in Southampton Way though OG is on the corner. OG is a state primary and has a local catchment area. It's not a highly regarded school and therefore the catchment are will be very local. There will be a school run but it is probably early and small.

[Sally Eva]

Yes, the private nursery and prep school probably have a school run -- pretty small I would have thought.

I'm just puzzled by this because I use Lyndhurst Way at all times of the day and it always seems to have lots of speeding through traffic with no particular problems around Harris, the Villa or around Oliver Goldsmith at school in and out times.

[rendelharris]

Aren't we conflating two roads here? Lyndhurst Way runs south from Peckham Road past Harris Academy and I agree very seldom seems to have traffic problems. Lyndhurst Grove runs west off Lyndhurst Way towards Camberwell Grove (turning into McNeill Road before it gets there) and the parking on both sides means it is only wide enough for one car, and it's frequently blocked (particularly during the school run with parents dropping off to the private nursery and pre-prep near the brow of the hill).

Sorry if I've misunderstood what people are saying but there appears to be some talking at crosspurposes.

[taper]

I lived on Lyndhurst Grove for a decade or so. It is a well known rat run that can take you from Camberwell through to Nunhead,Deptford and beyond a lot more quickly than if you stick to the A roads. That said, it didn't bother me much, other than when Camberwell Grove was shut and occasionally when driver stand-offs happened at the east end of the road, where the road narrows. The school run to The Villa was sometimes a problem when parents parked idiotically. If you introduced a no-right-turn rule at the junction with Lyndhurst Way, that would reduce a lot of traffic down the road and into Bellenden. But it would need to be thought through as part of a wider plan. It's a terrific street though. I loved my time there and made a lot of friends.

[Grotty]

There are 3 issues on Lyndhurst Grove

1) Parking - hugely affected by The Villa School and Nursery - many parents drive and leave cars there and then walk to either Peckham Rye/Denmark Hill - I know this from being a parent there myself and from living on the road. At the weekends there are huge numbers of empty spaces. If I use the car midweek, when I return I regularly spend 10-30 minutes (no exaggeration) looking for spaces and often have to park 10 minutes walk away. CPZ would made a big difference to this.

2) Traffic - It is a rat run, with people trying to avoid the often awful traffic on Peckham Hill Street, made worse by the closure of Camberwell Grove. CPZ or double yellow lines on one side will have no impact on this at all. The only thing that will help with traffic is the re-opening of Camberwell Grove.

3) Blockage of the road and Antisocial behaviour as a result of the narrow section between Talfourd and Denman Roads - I have recently been at home midweek more than usual and can say that on average 2-3 times a day you will get 2 cars entering the narrow section at the same time, refusing to budge, horns blazing, swearing and very aggressive behaviour. It also means through traffic is blocked for however long it takes for someone to back down - anything from a couple of mins to half an hour! Also, with the increased use of the road, you can get traffic stuck in this narrow section, causing a jam coming the other way. Double yellow lines on one side will solve this problem, but of course will mean the road is more appealing to rat run users and may increase traffic. If double yellow lines are put in, then a CPZ will be necessary more than before as we will lose parking spaces on an already overused stretch of road.

[taper]

Of the ones I saw, the record for a standoff was about 40 minutes. Those of us who lived either side learnt to enjoy them as spectator sport.