Wandsworth Council has installed new traffic monitoring devices on several residential roads in Putney as frustration mounts over the area’s gridlock.
Yellow boxes linked to black rubber tubes have appeared on Disraeli, Norroy and Chelverton Roads, all of which feed directly onto Putney High Street. Their purpose is to measure how many cars are using side roads to dodge the jams on the High Street and bridge approaches.
The system is simple but effective. When a vehicle passes over the rubber tubes stretched across the tarmac, a burst of air pressure is sent to the roadside box. By laying two tubes a set distance apart, the machine can record not only the number of vehicles, but also their speed and in many cases the type of vehicle. Over a week or two, the data will show the council exactly how many cars are “rat running” through residential streets, when peak surges happen, and whether heavy traffic is spilling off the main roads.
The move follows months of angry complaints from residents and community groups about Putney’s worsening traffic. The closure of Hammersmith Bridge to vehicles has already pushed thousands of extra journeys onto Putney Bridge, while the recently redesigned junction where Putney High Street meets Lower Richmond Road and Putney Bridge Road has become a major pinch-point. Bus journeys are slower, side streets are clogged, and every part of the area now suffers from knock-on effects.
It is only intense local pressure that has forced the council to act. Petitions, public meetings and repeated media coverage have highlighted how cut-through traffic is making life unbearable on once-quiet side roads. The new counters will provide data to back up what locals have been saying for months – that congestion is spreading far beyond the High Street itself.
Yet many believe the council and Transport for London are still unwilling to face up to the bigger issue: the redesign of the High Street and junction has backfired. Millions of pounds were spent on widening pavements, changing traffic signals and reshaping the layout, all with the promise of smoother flow. Instead, residents and commuters report that traffic is slower, queues are longer, and displacement onto surrounding roads has worsened.
Critics say the monitoring devices are only a sticking plaster. They might reveal how serious the rat-running problem has become, but unless Wandsworth and TfL are willing to acknowledge that the junction scheme has failed, the underlying cause of Putney’s gridlock will remain unaddressed.
Why Norroy? It only runs away from the High Street. Also Chelverton now has a no turn protection until 9.45 from the Upper Richmond Rd. Felsham Rd is now a total rat run for the Lower Richmond Rd. Residents in Weiss Rd are virtual prisoners every weekday morning and traffic flowing towards Barnes is constantly held up by this traffic pushing into the traffic jam on LWR. Erpingham Rd appears the prime access for rat running. Until the 10am Upper Richmond Rd opening at Dryburgh Rd it is a nightmare if we need to access our homes in the River roads. What takes the cherry is that very very little of this traffic is local.
Agree that unless Wandsworth and TfL are willing to acknowledge that the junction scheme has failed, the underlying cause of Putney’s gridlock will remain unaddressed. That said, it does appear to show that they are collecting data – something that I doubt was done properly when coming up with what surely is one of the worst pieces of town planning in London. It would be worth putting a counter in Fawe Park Road too, as this has become a rat run of note – and there is a school there. This really needs to be sorted out – Putney has become a dreadful traffic mess and this works for nobody. We all lose – motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, businesses. Not to mention the pollution
The manufacturer of these has highlighted that they do not accurately count slow moving traffic – which is handy when Councils are trying to prove that their crazy ideological cycling schemes or revenue-raising Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are working…