Safety Improvements in Lavender Hill

Battersea Lib Dems welcome the proposed changes in the layout of Lavender Hill’s junction with Elspeth Road, being led by Transport for London.

Local residents and businesses have been alerted to details of how this busy junction will be reconfigured, involving safer routings for cyclists and pedestrians, and clearer lane markings for drivers.  The number of conflicting movements will be reduced by banning the turn for drivers between the eastern arm of Lavender Hill and Elspeth Road ­– but decent alternative routes are available further east.

This crossroads is the focal point of the local area, surrounded by the Magistrates Court and many shops and restaurants;  it sees a growing number of cyclists, adding to the heavy pedestrian traffic.    TfL’s intervention, jointly with Wandsworth Council (the highway authority for Lavender Hill itself) is a belated response to the tragic death of a cyclist in 2016.

But the Latchmere Road / Elspeth Road route is also a major corridor for commercial and other traffic, part of the only designated Primary Route crossing the river in over 8 miles of west London.  The improvements now planned are the best and simplest way to make the junction work better and improve safety for all.

TfL will be running a statutory consultation on the proposed changes for four weeks from Friday 11 December, and, if all goes to plan, the work should be completed by next May.  Battersea LibDems supports the proposal and the benefits it should bring for all those who need to use the crossroads. 

Phil Carey

Liberal Democrat Member