Roehampton Lane, Upper Richmond Road, Rocks Road junction

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Added by timlennon

Letter for TfL, copied to RCC, by local resident:

I am a resident of the Dover House Estate area and regularly use the crossroads of the Upper Richmond Road (A206) with Roehampton Lane and Rocks Lane (A306) as pedestrian, cyclist and/or car driver. There are three major issues with this junction which need to be addressed.

The first is the pedestrian crossings, which are poorly timed/synchronised and inadequate. There is a significant volume of pedestrian traffic to and from the station and bus stops and the university, yet to cross the road safely using the crossings can easily add 5 mins to the journey. This is mainly as there are push button crossings on only two of the four arms of the junction, a third having provision to cross which requires too much calculated risk (and insufficient island space considering the probability of standing in the middle for some time), and the fourth having no sensible provision at all. There is a high proportion of children using the crossing - with buggies, scooters, bikes, and on the south west corner insufficient pavement space for the volume of pedestrian traffic at peak times. The timing/synchronisation of the green men requires pedestrians to stand in the middle islands for an overly long period of time - during which time they cannot help but notice the very high level of exhaust fumes. Given that the only traffic flowing south along the A306 and allowed to turn right on to the A205 is buses and cycles, the extended wait for the green man in the middle of the A205 to head south seems unnecessary. Heading north there is a similarly unnecessary wait for the green man, as motorised traffic heading east along the A205 is also at a red light while that heading north on the A306 is on green.

The second major problem is the filter lane for motorists turning right off the A205 into the A306 to head north. This only operates at peak times, leaving motorists with a choice between being stuck in the middle waiting for a second round of lights or skipping through an amber or red light (frequently even though they were first in the queue). There is simply too much traffic heading east to not have the filter light operating for a greater part of the day. Even when the filter light is in operation it is for such an insufficiently short period that unless you are among the first three cars you are almost certainly going to wait for at least two rounds of lights - at peak times I have waited for the fifth round of lights. This in turn causes a tail back and high levels of air pollution.

The third major problem is the lack of cycle ways. There is a large number of cyclists on both these major roads but for something like a 500m radius around this junction there is no cycle way despite it bring both possible and dangerous without. The temporary narrowing of Barnes Station bridge only exacerbates the situation and since being put there some years ago seems to have been forgotten. This area is a real hole in the cycle way network and a blackspot considering the attractive options in every direction coming into/out of it.

The junction is an accident just waiting to happen on many levels. I would be grateful if you could me a detailed response to each of the points I raise with where at all possible a timetable for when they can each be expected to be resolved.

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