At last the New Park Road safety scheme is finished! Trees have now been planted in the tree pits to complete works on the New Park Road safety scheme, funded by Transport for London and Lambeth Council.

It started in 2015 with anxious parents at Richard Atkins Primary School asking their local Councillors to make New Park Road safer for their children. It was used as a rat run, and several had been injured as a result.

After considerable consultation with residents from a wide area, some false
starts, and a certain amount of ill feeling, Sustrans, our consultants in the project,
came up with the present layout. Funded partly by the Council, but mainly by TfL, the
final stage has been reached – a dozen or so trees planted to complement the chicane,
the build-outs, the coloured circles and the raised road level.

Most people agree the road is now much safer – though a few have said they are
confused by the ‘silly’ coloured circles. We think it slows the drivers down and makes
them think – which leads to greater safety for all.

Initial surveys suggest that average speeds are down substantially and the number of cars passing the school has reduced by around 500 per day, but surveying is due in January to look at this further. We will continue to monitor this.

Cllr Adrian Garden is joined by the Council Leader and children from Richard Atkins School last April to launch the trial scheme