Residents ‘let down’ by council road safety plans over fears someone may ‘lose their life’

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents on a set of roads feel “let down” by their local councils following requests for speed cameras as they fear the traffic will cause someone to “lose their life”.

Residents living in Winn Road and Mottingham Lane have asked Greenwich council to consider adding traffic calming measures to the area.

Michael Pudelek, a resident of the area, said at a Greenwich full council meeting on Wednesday that the street had seen a marked increase in traffic from lorries since the opening of a building materials supplier on the nearby Sidcup Road.

Mr Pudelek said: “Will you allow the residents of Winn Road to appoint a firm of consultant traffic managers to liaise with Greenwich Traffic Management department and Lewisham Traffic Management Department to come up with a solution that makes our lives worth living again? We feel very, very let down by both boroughs.”

The resident said that locals were happy to independently raise funds to appoint local traffic consultants themselves, and asked Greenwich council to consider improving Mottingham Lane’s layout with its junction at the A20.

Other residents also suggested adding a pedestrian crossing and speed cameras to Winn Road, as well as speed bumps on Mottingham Lane.

Mr Pudelek said: “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.”

Labour Greenwich councillor Averil Lekau said in a written response that the authority was collecting data to prioritise areas in the borough for future traffic management schemes. She added that she would not be able to comment on potential locations for the schemes until early next year.

Resident Richard Mather said at the meeting: “There’s a real major problem there… It’s very serious because someone is going to get killed and it’s frightening. Coming out of where I live, it’s dangerous.”

The councillor also said the A20 was primarily the responsibility of Transport for London, while only 70 metres of Mottingham Lane was in Greenwich borough and feared how traffic measures would affect neighbouring boroughs such as Bromley and Lewisham. She added that Winn Road was largely maintained by Lewisham council.

Pictured top: Mr Pudelek asked the council to consider improving the layout of Mottingham Lane at its junction with the A20 (Picture: Google Earth)