Planters designed to calm traffic are no match for passing vehicles
By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter
A planter on a busy road has been left badly damaged after reportedly being hit by passing vehicles at least twice – something residents feared could happen.
Hammersmith and Fulham council, which installed traffic-calming measures along Wandsworth Bridge Road last year, including planters and seating decks, has confirmed it will be carrying out repairs.
The local authority added it would be progressing work towards the summer for raised pedestrian crossings and new kerb lines.
The council installed the planters last autumn in a bid to reduce congestion and pollution, and support local businesses.
Those opposed to them pointed to reduced space on the road, with cyclists potentially veering into the road to avoid them and drivers having to slow down to avoid hitting them, and fears they could actually increase accidents.
They are designed to work as part of the wider South Fulham Clean Air Neighbourhood (CAN), a scheme which has also seen cameras erected on streets to the east and west of Wandsworth Bridge Road to prevent out-of-borough drivers rat-running.
The parklets – as the seating areas are also known – have continued to draw attention, with Conservative councillor Jose Afonso calling for them to be removed in a letter to Cllr Sharon Holder, cabinet member for public realm, earlier this year.
One of the planters has since been badly damaged.
Silva Deakin, whose home faces the planter, said it had been hit three times. She described the measures as an ‘idiotic scheme’, claiming ‘the whole neighbourhood is up in arms’.
“It’s just a nightmare,” she said. “And where do they find funds to do ridiculous things like that?”
Another resident, who did not want to be named, added that while the installations had slowed the traffic down ‘to a crawl’, which is good for residents, they believe it poses challenges for drivers.
A worker in a nearby shop said: “I think come summer people will eventually enjoy them, as they’ll use the seating, but they have been more of a hindrance.”
A spokesman for Hammersmith and Fulham council said: “Residents and businesses told us they want a high street, not a highway. We are returning Wandsworth Bridge Road to its former self, as a high street at the centre of the community.
“The project features not just parklets but also improvements to side-street junctions, improved pedestrian crossings, new kerblines, de-cluttering of pavements and new benches, which have already been installed.
“These measures all have safety at their heart. They will reduce congestion on the road, manage vehicle speeds more effectively and create a safer, cleaner and greener environment while increasing opportunities for businesses.”
It was recently revealed that concerns were raised about the impact of the Wandsworth Bridge Road installations on cyclists’ safety in a council-commissioned audit.
The report, released to a local resident following a Freedom of Information request warned of ‘side swipes or crash avoidance manoeuvres, which may result in cyclists and motorcyclists being struck as they filter through traffic or are overtaken’.
WSP, the consultancy which produced the audit, recommended greater clarity from the council on how cyclists and drivers should use the road.
Caroline Shuffrey, the resident who submitted the FoI, said: “To many residents living in the area, this traffic scheme is utter madness posing a danger to all, vehicle drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and most of all to the people sitting in the parklets on the road itself.”
A spokesman for the council said: “There were 14 road safety audit recommendations across two reports and the vast majority of those recommendations were either fully accepted or partially accepted in Wandsworth Bridge Road relating to parklets.”
Pictured top: Planter on Wandsworth Bridge Road (Picture: LDRS)