More than 700 people sign petition for measures on “terrifying” road where two have died

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents are pushing for changes to a “terrifying” road where two people have died, saying the “clock is ticking” before another fatality.

Residents around Shooters Hill Road in Greenwich have sent a petition signed by more than 700 people to Greenwich council to add traffic safety measures to the busy street, with two people having died there since 2006.

Laura King, 44, has lived near Shooters Hill Road for 15 years. She said she feels safer driving her children to the local primary school because she doesn’t feel confident walking them through the busy junction at Well Hall Road.

The mum said: “The secondary school kids are walking themselves to school or getting off the bus round the corner. And they have to navigate that on their own. It’s already terrifying as an adult, but when you’re a kid [it’s even worse]. Even as a non-driver, you’ve got no ability to judge speed and distance.”

Ms King, who started the petition, said she has heard nothing from Transport for London (TfL) on the concerns raised about the busy junction.

She said: “I had a friend who was killed by a driver while he was out running in 2019 in a similar sort of environment.

“I was just walking back from dropping the kids off [a few years later], and there was the aftermath of an accident. I thought if nobody else is going to [start the petition], someone’s got to.”

Daniel O’Loghlen, 43, is the secretary for the Shooters Hill Safer Neighbourhood Panel. He said one of his friends saw so many accidents from his home in Shooters Hill that he set up a camera in his window overlooking the junction.

He said: “Frankly, it’s not nice to be woken up, let alone your children be woken up, by metal on metal in the middle of the night. Having to phone the ambulance because nobody has and hear the sirens, that’s not great.”

The petition was brought to Greenwich council last month to be discussed by its highways committee.

At the meeting, the committee agreed to recommend a 20mph zone be added outside the local Christ Church School in the council’s 2023/23 work plan.

But, given TfL is responsible for the junction with Well Hall Road, council officers said they had to ask the authority to investigate how the dangerous crossroads can be improved.

Labour Councillor Danny Thorpe, who represents the Shooters Hill ward, said at the meeting on January 11 that the number of people who had signed the petition was a “clear indication” that there is a problem in the area.

He said: “There’s 10 people who have been injured or even lost their life [on the road], which is clearly a horrendous situation to be in. What we don’t want is any more accidents, we are going to need more action.”

Greenwich council and TfL were approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.

Pictured top: Laura King, 44, shown with her children, Annabel and Evan, on Shooters Hill Road at its junction with Well Hall Road in Greenwich (Picture: Joe Coughlan)