Every home in this street is desperate for action to curb speeding cars

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A Greenwich street described as being ‘blighted’ by speeding cars, has become the subject of a unanimous call from every home on the road for the council to add traffic restrictions.

Eltham residents in Cedarhurst Drive have asked Greenwich council to add a 20mph zone to their street to curb speeding drivers, with a petition, discussed at a council meeting last Wednesday, also asking the council to introduce a residents-only parking scheme on the street.

Labour councillor Rachel Taggart-Ryan, who represents the Middle Park and Horn Park ward, said at the meeting that all 47 households on the street had signed the petition.

Cllr Taggart-Ryan said: “It has recently been completely blighted by excessive speed, commuter parking and parking for Sutcliffe Park, which has reduced access for residents to their own streets, and the danger of people going down this very small residential street at speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour.”

Greenwich council has been asked to respond to traffic issues on several neighbouring roads in Middle Park previously. Local resident Mike Pudelek previously said that residents of Winn Road and Mottingham Road frequently suffered ‘verbal abuse’ from drivers and the area had become a ‘rat run’.

He said in October: “It is a source of continuous traffic. We’ve asked for traffic cameras to be installed. Will you put traffic cameras on Mottingham Lane, so you know the extent of the problem? We’re living with it, you don’t know what it is. You will never know what it is unless you put traffic cameras on Mottingham Lane.”

The council responded by saying data was being used to determine the location of future traffic management schemes. Officers added that Winn Road was largely managed by Lewisham council, while the A20 which connects Mottingham Lane was primarily the responsibility of Transport for London.

Lewisham council claimed the authority had added a series of improvements to the wider area including a new bollard and repainted road markings. TfL also claimed it was happy to speak to councils on local proposals. The petition for Cedarhurst Road will be reviewed by Greenwich council and given a response at a future council meeting.

Pictured top: Cedarhurst Drive, which sits in the Middle Park and Horn Park ward of Greenwich borough (Picture: Google Street View)