Saturday 30 June 2012

Going for a pole hat-trick

Following the success in getting the old rusty pole removed from Tooting Bec Gardens, an unholy trinity of obsolete poles was brought to our attention at the junction of Mitcham Lane and Ambleside Avenue. This seems to be quite a widespread issue where road signs have been removed or replaced, and no one has finished the job.

The particular poles in question are on three corners of the junction, causing both unnecessary hazards and obstruction, taking away space from pedestrians not to mention wheelchair users and people pushing buggies. It becomes a particular issue at school time, as the junction is right by St Leonard's School, and so dozens of children pass by regularly and a lot of pavement space is required. The children also use this route to get to St Leonard's church.

The junction is on a red route, so whilst the polls may have been the responsibility of Lambeth Council in the past, they are now come under Transport for London (TFL). So we are going for a pole hat-trick, and seeing if we can get TFL to remove them to provide more pavement space.

[Update: 6 September 2012 We were chatting to some people at the timber yard/ carpenters on Mitcham Lane by the junction with Ambleside Ave. Turns out they have been trying to get the pole outside their entrance moved for ages with no luck. It causes an obstruction to their vans as well as pedestrians.

[Update: 15th November 2012 We have been told today by TfL that the poles on Mitcham lane will be removed by the end of the month. We'll keep a look out!]

[Update: 4th December 2012 One of the three poles has been removed (outside the timber yard/ carpenters). However, TfL seemed to forget about the other two. We chased them again, and they apologised, and said the other two would be removed by the end of January.]

[Update: 15th February 2013 The last two poles have been removed. More here.]





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