Rye Lane buses again: Consultation open on one way option

[legalalien]

So - it seems the decision on Rye Lane has been made and the result is

TFL/bus users 1 Southwark Cyclists 0

i.e. the Council is going for the two way bus option.

The report

“ 4. Recommends that once the bus arrangement has been formalised, further interventions are implemented based on

other feedback received during the consultation. This will include a full review of the restrictions on all Rye Lane side roads. Specific areas to focus on are outlined in Appendix 1 and include consideration of safer cycling infrastructure, increased footway width to ensure pedestrian safety and potential additional space for retail and hospitality, review of side roads for increased public realm and disabled parking, and will support waste management and refuse collection. A further report will be brought should further interventions be proposed on Rye Lane.”

Link to report here

https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110310/Report%20-%20Rye%20Lane%20Traffic%20Arrangements.pdf

Paragraph 17 is an interesting read, picking out points in Southwark’s policies which justify the decision:

“. The recommendations in this report will support achieving the following objectives of the council’s delivery plan:

24a - Work with local communities to design safer, greener and healthier streets for walking and cycling, prioritising areas with high health inequalities and low car ownership first.

24c - Deliver on our equal pavements pledge, working with older people, those with disabilities and limited mobility to make sure Southwark’s streets are accessible for everyone

25e - Ensure older and younger people, women and our Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities all have a full say, so we design streets and public transport that works for everyone.

25a - Work with TfL to reduce traffic on main roads and and to make bus journeys quicker and more reliable“

(Anyone think the Dulwich scheme ticked these boxes?)

The report on the consultation responses is at https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110311/Appendix%201.pdf

Around 1500 responses, 61% in favour of two way buses. The demographic breakdown of responses is in the Appendix and is pretty much what you would expect.

A lot of responses raised the need for better rubbish clearance and that’s going to be looked at.

[malumbu]

Very useful info but no need for the dig at cyclists - as per the lime bike and LTN threads too. Not helpful this manufactured car Vs bike war.

Usec Rye Lane as my commute until recently. My issues were vehicles parked on double yellows, which would block the buses, and endanger cyclists, pedestrians just walking into the road without looking, the phasing of the lights, and the condition of the cycle route on the pedestrianised section. Took the former up with Southwark and shared a very comprehensive FOI response on here about enforcement. Got nowhere with TFL and Southwark on damage to cycle path due to buses. But it was time to move on.

Ambivalent to the pedestrianising the road, pleased that there are far fewer vehicles parked in recent times.

[Bic Basher]

The pedestrianised section of Rye Lane which has a cycle lane is awful. I navigated it in the week at a crawl because of pedestrians who depart the buses at the bus stop opposite who then cross the road and also not in any rush either.

As for the main part of Rye Lane, the current two way bus set-up works fine, luckily there didn't seem to be any delivery vans/trucks blocking the road for once and all I had to do was overtake a bus by the station.

[Jenijenjen]

“The pedestrianised section of Rye Lane which has a cycle lane is awful. I navigated it in the week at a crawl because of pedestrians who depart the buses at the bus stop opposite who then cross the road and also not in any rush either.”

It’s hideous for pedestrians as well, badly marked. I always have to remind myself it is a cycle lane before stepping on to that part of Rye Lane.

[Nigello]

I’m pleased this is the result and hope the powers that be clean up this midden once and for all. It’s a disgrace that landlords/business owners should be allowed to get away with dumping rubbish and not cleaning their walls and tatty shutters. Avoid at all costs.

[Spartacus]

I’m pleased this is the result and hope the powers that be clean up this midden once and for all. It’s a disgrace that landlords/business owners should be allowed to get away with dumping rubbish and not cleaning their walls and tatty shutters. Avoid at all costs.

 

For some context Nigello

Most shops at the Rye end of Rye Lane don't have rear access for the rubbish and recycling lorries to access so there is an agreement with the council for them to put their waste out on Rye Lane between certain hours for collection.

Unfortunately some traders do abuse this and put waste out when they shouldn't and Southwark do occasionally crack down on them.

The Graffiti is a different problem, traders are loath to clean it off as a clean space attracts more "artists" and where it is sprayed on shutters it often goes through the shutter and damages the window as well.

The Rye Lane police have it as a priority to reduce and they and the council are working in schemes to make it better.

Please don't blame the traders for Graffiti as they are as frustrated by it as everyone else and the situation was made worse when Rye Lane was shut to traffic as there was less people on the Lane to observe and stop the issue.

[IainJ]

I welcome the Council's decision to make the two way operation permanent and to recognise the need to make significant improvements to Rye Lane. The 61% support for the two way operation is significant and it is good news that the Council has recognised the strength of feeling about the issue.

But the consultation was flawed.

The Council report does not take any account of the importance of Peckham Rye Station as a strategic transport interchange and continues to treat this as an issue only about Rye Lane itself. The 25% response rate trumpeted in the report is presumably based on the number of returns divided by the number of persons leafleted and is a false statistic. The leaflets were only sent to those living in and around Rye Lane, and these were the people most likely to walk and not to use the buses. Also the Council chose to hold the consultation in the summer when people were away and less likely to be engaged. it was clear all along that the Council did not intend to consult those living in East Dulwich, Nunhead and Honor Oak in order to minimise the support for the two way option. There were a few Council posters in Rye Lane itself and we are told there was one leaflet distribution in Peckham Rye Station. Unless you were on the Council's email list you would not have heard about it directly.

Many more people responded as a result of seeing these postings of EDF, from Southwark News - which highlighted the issue in two editions, alerted by Peckham Vision - the stall at Peckham Rye Fete and the posters on all the bus stops feeding into Rye Lane. So the headline response rate will be much lower.

The report does not quote either the responses from Peckham Vision or Network Rail, nor give any indication that disability organisations were consulted. Despite all that we are pleased that the two way seems to have prevailed. Let us hope it is now secure.

So thank you to all you EDFers who responded to the consultation.

[malumbu]

Thought I'd posted the biggest road safety issue on Rye Lane is delivery riders on e bikes (virtually all illegal) and e scooters, due to the speed and lack of training.

The Lime Bike rider took the biscuit this morning - several cyclists riding in the top part of Rye Lane. Young chap was riding fast, all over the shop (I sussed out he was probably on his phone), At one point no handed as he took a call, then weaving out of the way of a bus. He turned into traffic on Peckham Road, still on his phone.

Clearly very good awareness of what was in front of him (not behind), but pretty hazardous. This is not a rant against Lime bikes or cyclists, just an example of extreme behaviour that other road users, including pedestrians, need to be aware of.

[Nigello]

I don’t blame the shop owners for the graffiti. That is solely the responsibility of the (mostly) young men who do it. I do blame them for doing nothing. They could remove it, paint their shutters with a varnish that helps with easy removal of further vandalism or install shutters behind glass or install those shutters that are grilles. They could demand action from the council and MP, asking, for example, for assistance in removing the tagging. Councillors could try coming up with and then fighting to implement the ideas that have taken me three minutes to think of and type here. But they simply CBA and have no interest in collectively making the place more attractive to current and future patrons.

[Spartacus]

I don’t blame the shop owners for the graffiti. That is solely the responsibility of the (mostly) young men who do it. I do blame them for doing nothing. They could remove it, paint their shutters with a varnish that helps with easy removal of further vandalism or install shutters behind glass or install those shutters that are grilles. They could demand action from the council and MP, asking, for example, for assistance in removing the tagging. Councillors could try coming up with and then fighting to implement the ideas that have taken me three minutes to think of and type here. But they simply CBA and have no interest in collectively making the place more attractive to current and future patrons.

 

A lot of those ideas have been explored in the past and various issues around who actually owns the property have stopped physical changes to the buildings (most shops are in rented units and there are issues getting to and getting the owners to agree to changes)

The council and police are trying to bring in a scheme to add art to shop fronts but the traders are against it as it will potentially attract more graffiti and there needs to be a zero tolerance approach by the council, police and businesses to drive the taggers out but that is another issue.

It's worth discussing issues with the traders group Peckham SEfifteen

Peckham vision is also another good port of call and talk with the Rye Lane SNT to help put pressure on the council assist the police to get a zero tolerance policy in place.

Sadly the tagging has been going on for decades and got massively worse when Rye Lane was closed to all traffic as taggers could operate without the fear of passing traffic or people waiting at bus stops seeing them.

I personally think its not for the lack of ideas or trying, but it is down to a failure to have a joined up anti graffiti policy that all agencies and business can sign up to.

[Nigello]

I’d like to agree but see evidence of great progress in other parts of Southwark, such as Walworth Road, where fronts have been scrubbed clean in what seems an organised effort. I see a lack of real conviction on the part of all players. Landlords who are living far away and not in the slightest bit bothered about their tatty properties seem to the the big contributory factor (after the vandals themselves). The fact that many people who work, live and visit there are working class and relatively poorly off must have something to do with the lack of imagination and effort on the part of all parties. I go only when I have to and lament the lack of true interest by politicians and business owners there.