So after years of speculation, meetings, announcements and campaigning, a plan to get rid of the infamous A205 Catford Gyratory is finally here for public consultation.
What is it?
Transport for London (TfL) are consulting on a new junction layout in Catford Town Centre, which in addition to removing the gyratory by re-routing it through the Laurence house car park, also includes a new protected 2 way cycle track on parts of Catford Road and Sangley Road, as well as 1 way protected cycle lanes on parts of A21 Rushey Green which connects Catford to Lewisham (pictured below).
The deadline for the consultation is Monday 5 June 2023 . You can Lewisham Cyclists’ full response to the consultation here . It’s quite long and detailed but covers a lot of the good bits and a lot of the issues with the scheme. In summary, we think it’s a big step forwards, but also missing a number of key issues which we talk about below. You may want to raise them in your own response. Scroll down for more.
It’s really important to get as many responses as possible to the council. The TfL consultation is here. You can respond by logging on the portal (you’ll need to register) or email your comments to haveyoursay@tfl.gov.uk
TfL are also holding a number of engagement events, details here and below.
25 May 2023. Public drop-in event, St George’s Church
16:00 – 19:30 St George’s Church, Vancouver Road, London SE23 2AG
03 June 2023. Public drop-in event, Catford Library
11:00 – 15:00 Catford Library, Catford Centre, Winslade Way, London SE6 4JU
Proposed consultation responses
The first few questions in the survey relate to your reasons for visiting Catford Town Centre and how you travel there. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably walked, cycled or used public transport there at some point if not driven through it. This is how we suggest you respond to the key questions that follow:
- Question 3. We would rank “easier access for cyclists” as top priority, followed by reducing road danger.
- Question 5. We think the facilities for cyclists would make it slightly better, and road safety slightly better too.
- Question 6. There’s a free text box to talk further about suggestions and comments. If you’re short on time, we’d ask you mention the following:
- Provide fully protected cycle lanes on A21 Bromley Road & A21 Rushey Green in both directions for the full extents of the proposed scheme, with a term view to providing protected cycle lanes along A21 from Lewisham to Downham.
- Provide a full CYCLOPS (Cycle Optimised Protected Signals) junction on all arms where A205 and A21 meet.
- Extend 2 way cycle track on Catford Road westwards to connect to Halfords site, by bringing forward plans for the cantilevered cycle bridge as part of the first phase of future development, incorporated into this scheme.
- Extend 2 way cycle track on Sangley Road eastwards to connect to Plassy Road using bus stop bypasses, by using land from Catford island and/or reallocating carriageway space where needed.
- Install 20mph speed limit throughout the scheme extents
- All proposed signalised crossings should be shared toucan crossings to allow cyclists to access town centre development.
If you support our response you can also say.
“I support the response from Lewisham Cyclists as found here https://tinyurl.com/Catford-Gyratory“
Our Summary
We welcome the overall principle of removing the gyratory which is hostile to cyclists, but have strong reservations about aspects of the new design. This is a once in a generation project and there are many examples of bike lanes stopping prematurely leaving people on bicycles stranded without segregated space. We believe these gaps need to be eradicated enabling people on bicycles to move throughout the junction’s footprint safely. Considering a number of newer junction designs have superseded this type, we do think a lot of questions remain unanswered.
Our other main concern is that the planned cantilevered bridge to provide safe space for cycling opposite the two stations should be provided as a first phase of the project and not designated as a second phase subject to further funding, which is the proposal.
A proposed refurbishment of the current underpass we feel is likely to be inadequate as a potential replacement for the cantilevered bridge and to us seems to relegate cyclists to a very poor experience. We’ve heard an estimate of the cost of works between £55 million and £60million and are convinced the new bridge should be funded from that budget. We also believe the A21 should have fully protected cycle lanes for it’s whole length between Lewisham and Downham.