A-ROAD CRAWL: TfL announces plans to slow down 65km of the capital’s road network to 20mph

Transport for London (TfL) has launched local engagement on plans to slow down 65km of the capital’s roads with new 20mph speed limits within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Lewisham, Southwark, Wandsworth, Merton, Bromley and Lambeth.

Lowering speeds is a key part of the Mayor's Vision Zero goal to eliminate death and serious injury from London's transport network and enable more walking and cycling in the capital.

A 20mph limit would be introduced on sections of the following roads:

• A205: Woolwich Common, South Circular Road, Catford Road, Stanstead Road, London Road, Thurlow Road, Christchurch Road, Poynders Road, Dulwich Common

• A20: Eltham Road, Lee High Road, Lewisham Way

• A202: Queens Road, Peckham High Street, Camberwell Church Street, Camberwell New Road

• A2: New Cross Road, Old Kent Road

• A201: New Kent Road

• A100: Tower Bridge Road

• A200: Jamaica Road

• A3: Clapham Road, Kennington Park Road

• A3204: Kennington Lane

• A203: Stockwell Road

• A23: Camberwell New Road, Streatham Hill, Streatham High Road

• A214: Tooting Bec Road

• A24: Clapham Common South Side, Balham High Road, Upper Tooting Road, High Street Colliers Wood

• A4: Cromwell Road, Brompton Road

• A3220: Pembroke Road, Holland Road, Warwick Road, Redcliffe Gardens

• A232: West Wickham High Street.

Subject to the engagement, works to introduce the new speed limits could begin in September 2023.

The new speed limits would be supported by new signs and road markings, and TfL would work closely with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to ensure that drivers understand and comply with them. Existing speed cameras would have their enforcement threshold changed to reflect the new speed limit. Banners attached to streetlamps in the new 20mph areas would also be put in place to increase driver awareness. Following implementation, TfL plans to carry out monitoring to determine whether further measures to reduce vehicle speeds are required.

TfL is working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police on its commitment to improve safety on London's roads and increase the levels of speed enforcement undertaken by the police, building the capacity to enforce up to one million speeding offences per year by 2024/2025. This year, 2022/23, the police will enforce around 650,000 speeding offences, an increase of around 30 per cent compared to the previous year.

Late last year, TfL launched local engagement on plans to introduce 28km of new 20mph speed limit on its roads within the boroughs of Camden, Islington, Hackney, Haringey and Tower Hamlets. TfL is now working to lower speeds on more than 140km of its roads by May 2024 in inner and outer London, after introducing 13.7km of new lower speed limit schemes in February 2022.

Penny Rees, TfL Head of Healthy Streets Investment, said: “We are determined to eliminate deaths and serious injuries from London's roads in line with our Vision Zero goal. Millions of walking and cycling journeys are made across London every day and a person is five times less likely to be killed if hit at 20mph than at 30mph. That's why we've committed to reducing speed limits on our road network in the capital - and these proposals will make a real difference in cutting road danger and enabling more people to walk and cycle. We really value people's feedback on our proposals and I'd encourage everybody to use this opportunity to share their views on our plans.”