Richard and Heather were delighted to see their campaign to improve safety for pedestrians at the narrow, single track bridge in Kings Lane finally come to fruition.

The bridge poses a hazard for pedestrians, particularly those with mobility problems, with buggies or small children, as it is narrow and the cars approaching from the Hillcroome Road end do not see pedestrians until they are almost on the bridge. 

Traffic engineers we consulted suggested building out the kerb on the left hand side at the intersection with Hillcroome Road, with a bollard to slow traffic and hatching, as well as improved signage. This will ensure that cars crossing from that end will start their journey across the bridge from a more central position. They will be more visible, earlier, to cars coming from the other end and to pedestrians on the bridge. In addition, warning signs alerting drivers to the road narrowing and the presence of pedestrians are being upgraded and repositioned to make them more prominent.  

The improvement is being funded by Transport for London. It is a small, low-cost but helpful step.

Consultation with local residents led to some modifications to the original scheme.

More radical proposals, such as making it one way, widening the bridge or building a second bridge, are either too expensive or would be too inconvenient for drivers.

Richard said “This is a useful safety improvement. I live locally and walk across the bridge almost every day. I am glad we have finally got an improvement to slow the traffic and assist pedestrians.”

The photo below is of the bridge viewed from the Hillcroome Road end before the works. The photo above is of Richard and Heather with the workteam.