Safer school crossing in Putney part of borough’s £5m public realm renewal scheme

The new push button and traffic light-controlled crossings are to be installed close to the entrance to the school and also further up the Lower Richmond Road near its junction with Roskell Road – helping local people safely reach this neighbourhoods many shops and restaurants

These two new pedestrian crossings will join an existing signal-controlled crossing at the Lower Richmond Road’s junction with Stanbridge Road, ensuring people in the area can safely cross this busy road at different locations and providing more flexible journey choices.

The designs have been submitted to Transport for London who will need to implement the scheme as it involves traffic signals. Councils in London are not permitted to install, maintain or repair any of the capital’s traffic lights. Only TfL engineers are authorised to do this work.

As well as these two new crossings, another is being installed in Garratt Lane near the junction with Wardley Street to provide safer journeys to school for children attending Floreat Academy. The council is also pressing TfL to install a traffic signal-controlled crossing on its road network south of Battersea Bridge.

The installations are part of Wandsworth Council’s ongoing £5m public realm improvement programme that is delivering a series of refurbishments and improvements to Wandsworth’s streets, green spaces and infrastructure.

Between now and the end of the current financial year at the beginning of April, a total of £5m is being invested in renewing pavements and road surfaces, upgrading footpaths in parks and commons, improving street lighting, cleaning up bridges, investing in high streets and shopping parades, planting more street greenery and removing unnecessary street clutter.

This public realm improvement fund is additional money over and above existing budgets.

This newly created fund is investing in the following areas:

• More pavement and road resurfacing - £2.05m
• Improvements to local shopping parades - £580,000
• River promenade upgrades - £440,000
• Rail bridge underpass lighting projects - £540,000
• Road Safety – Additional pedestrian crossings and compliance measures - £890,000
• Green spaces footpaths and railings - £500,000

Projects already delivered or underway include the refurbishment of the railway bridges at Wandsworth Town and Balham Stations, improvements to riverside walks, upgrades to paths in green spaces, new greener council vehicles, more plants and shrubs at key locations and more cycle parking spaces.

Transport spokesman Cllr John Locker said: “This far-reaching programme of investment is designed to help boost Wandsworth’s recovery from the pandemic.

“We all saw how working practices, socialising and travel habits changed dramatically during the pandemic. People spent more time in local parks, open spaces and in their neighbourhoods. As a council we want to ensure this public realm is as good as it can be with well-maintained roads and pavements, better lighting and improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

“We want make sure that Wandsworth is not only the Brighter Borough but the smarter, safer and more attractive borough too.”