Residents warn of ‘accident waiting to happen’ in quiet road used as rat run

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Greenwich residents claim an “accident is waiting to happen” in their street as rat run drivers speed through the quiet road and parking over driveways has left people “imprisoned” in their homes. 

Miriam Crozier, 78, has lived in Cedarhurst Drive –  which sits just west of Eltham in Greenwich – with her husband Andrew, 79, for 22 years. 

The couple claimed that parking in their road has become a recurring issue since the nearby Sutcliffe Park Sports Centre opened, as well as the rising popularity of the park itself. 

Mrs Crozier said: “We’ve had people park across driveways or blocked it so people can’t get out.

“People come and leave the car for two or three weeks because they have gone on holiday.”

She said that the street’s location between Eltham Road and the South Circular Road has also led to it being used as a rat run by drivers. 

She claimed that speeding cars alongside the lines of parked vehicles has led to a number of near head-on collisions on the road.

She said: “We’ve been saying for a long time because we get this channel of cars parked on either side of that stretch of the road and you’ve got people charging through here, it’s waiting for an enormous accident to happen.”

Chris Palmer, 40, has lived in Cedarhurst Drive for 20 years. He said parking on the street has become more difficult since the pandemic, especially on weekends, but also maintained that speeding was of a greater concern to residents.

He said: “It’s a worry because we have kids that play on the close. It’s a concern.”

Mrs Crozier sent a petition to Greenwich council, asking for a 20 mile per hour zone and a residents-only parking scheme on the street. 

Labour councillor Rachel Taggart-Ryan, who represents the Middle Park and Horn Park ward, said at a council meeting on July 24, 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.”

Mrs Crozier claims she has received a response from Greenwich council that confirmed it would be moving ahead with plans to introduce a 20 mile per hour zone. The move would see speed bumps being added along the road as well as speed limit signs.

The resident said she was pleased with the result but would like to see action taken to curb the excessive parking too, such as a controlled parking zone or similar scheme. 

She added that she plans on starting a residents’ association to tackle other issues that have arisen on the street.

She said: “They come into our road, they need a pee so it goes in a bottle and it’s chucked out of the window of the car. All the rest of their sandwiches and bits of detritus is just chucked out the window and left.

“Our road just isn’t clean, our paving stones are in a terrible state. We feel totally neglected.”

A Greenwich council spokesman said: “We sympathise with the residents of Cedarhurst Drive and thank them for raising these issues – we will review the points made in their petition before responding directly when appropriate.

“But, in line with our Transport Strategy and Road Safety Policy Framework Action Plan, we are committed to Vision Zero: for all deaths and serious injuries from road collisions to be eliminated from our streets. We are prioritising safety measures in residential streets to reduce traffic, including introducing 20 miles per hour zones and speed humps, as well as warning signs against fly-tipping.”

Pictured top: Miriam Crozier, beside her husband Andrew, in Cedarhurst Drive (Picture: Joe Coughlan)