Residents forced to move cars for lorries struggling to turn into their streets after road closures

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Shocking videos show huge lorries struggling to turn down a narrow side street that residents say a council road closure has turned into a rat run.

In one clip, two police officers try to guide a lorry around a tight corner between cars parked on either side of the street, with residents appearing to have been asked to come out and move their cars.

In a second clip shot in the same road, a freight truck blocks the road as it tries to turn into the residential street.

Lorries struggling to fit down Ufford Street in Waterloo (Video: Dominic Green)

The two videos are among numerous clips filmed by residents living in side streets in the Waterloo area in the past few months.

They say traffic restrictions introduced during the pandemic that closed part of high street, The Cut, to vehicles has resulted in drivers being rerouted around their once peaceful neighbourhood.

Residents believe that vehicles that would have once used The Cut to move between the main thoroughfares of Waterloo Road and Blackfriars Road now turn right into Short Street and get into Blackfriars Road via the residential Ufford Street and Boundary Row.

Ufford Street resident Terry Blissett, 85, said traffic had been a “nightmare” ever since the restrictions had been introduced.

Speaking in August, he said: “It’s absolutely crazy. It’s a rat run. Everybody is fighting it. This is no benefit to anyone down here.”

Lambeth council said it had listened to residents’ concerns and was introducing changes to stop traffic being rerouted down the side roads.

These include a ban on vehicles going down Ufford Street, unless they’re accessing a property in the road and the removal of a ban on right turns at the junction of Bayliss Road and Waterloo Road.

The council’s Liberal Democrat opposition said a “local access only” filter should be placed where The Cut meets Waterloo Road.

Chris French, Liberal Democrat London Assembly candidate for Lambeth and Southwark, said: “We absolutely support traffic calming measures, but the proposal as given will aggravate the ongoing problem.”

Labour-run Lambeth council said cycling rates have almost doubled since it introduced restrictions on vehicles using The Cut and nearby Greek Street.

Speaking previously, Councillor Rezina Chowdhury, cabinet member for clean air, said: “The Cut has been transformed from a space for vehicles to a place for people to stop and enjoy themselves.

“The traffic filter created more space for people, for green planting, for trees, and it has created more space for businesses as they recover from the pandemic.”

Lambeth council has been contacted for comment on the traffic restrictions.

Pictured top: A lorry struggling to turn down Ufford Street in Waterloo (Picture: Dominic Green)