Help us combat COVID-19 by suggesting healthier streets

Southwark Streetspace update - delivery of transport measures from April to October 2020

We have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic according to the government’s Gear Change document, TfL’s Streetspace Plan, and people’s comments on our Commonplace website. At the start of the pandemic, the government provided six months funding to TfL and hence councils from April to October 2020. Due to this shorter timeframe, the government instructed that all measures be installed experimentally and that we consult upon them later. These experimental measures are set out in the table below.

These measures improve walking and cycling along key routes to and from important local destinations, whilst allowing more space for social distancing. Due to their quick, experimental nature these measures have used basic materials, such as planters, bollards, plastic barriers, traffic signs and road markings. After six to 18 months councils can consult people on these measures to decide whether to make them permanent or not.

Of particular concern is that social distancing has greatly reduced capacity on public transport, which is encouraging much more driving, congestion and pollution. We are thus trying to protect residents from this excessive traffic by providing quieter streets to enable more walking and cycling for the majority of residents who do not own a vehicle and to encourage vehicle owners to drive less.

Southwark’s Commonplace website and requests

Our Commonplace website allows people to suggest measures for any public street in the borough. Thus Commonplace has allowed us to hear more suggestions from more people and in more places about what measures we can provide to make it safer and easier to walk and cycle, and to reduce driving.

Since we launched our Commonplace website in the spring, it has had 9,156 total visitors, providing 2,255 comments/suggestions and 12,859 ‘likes’ (17 November 2020).

The most popular requests for 'How could we make it (streets) better' were:

• 927 - slow down traffic
• 724 - close street to drivers
• 658 - more space for cycling
• 538 - widen pavements
• 310 - safer junction
• 304 - reduce speed limit
• 235  - add crossings
• 169 - remove pavement clutter

Southwark’s Streetspace Programme from April to October 2020

We used our Commonplace website to guide our Streetspace programme to deliver many of the measures suggested by people in the following ways:

• 42% of the total 2,238 comments/contributions
• 47% of the 538 contributions suggested the need to ‘Widen pavements’
• 38% of the 724 suggestions to ‘Close streets to drivers’
• 19% of the 927 suggestions to ‘Slow down traffic’

The table below contains the measures, and a short description, that we delivered from our Streetspace programme between April and October 2020. They are separated into the four batches in which they were funded, approved and installed:

Funding November 2020 until the end of March 2021

The government announced in mid November that it's providing four months funding to TfL and hence councils till the end of March 2021. We will use this funding to listen to people’s requests on Commonplace to deliver further measures.

Page last updated: 01 November 2022