Rye Lane - temporary closure

Buses and taxis return to Rye Lane

Southwark Council and TfL are reintroducing buses and taxis to Rye Lane, for a trial period of 18 months, from 18 October.

The trial will improve access to Peckham Rye train station, linking the transport hub with local buses. This will help people to continue their journey more seamlessly, particularly in winter months, and especially those with mobility challenges, small children or heavy bags.

Rye Lane was closed to all traffic in July 2020, to help ensure pedestrians had adequate space for social distancing during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As rates have now reduced and the government has removed most COVID-19 restrictions, the council is responding to local requests to improve access to Rye Lane, particularly from local businesses.

The council has completed improvements to the road surface and introduced new road markings, ahead of the trial.

We're continuing to engage with the local community to offer support with this change, and encouraging applications for motor traffic free days for the high street during the trial.

We're also responding to feedback from local people and encouraging more people back to Rye Lane, by investing in a clean up for the high street. We're removing graffiti from approximately 200 commercial shutters and power washing paved areas, litterbins and other street furniture, from Heaton Road to Peckham High Street, by the end of the year. The council will also be applying anti-graffiti coatings to lamp columns and street furniture, and replacing and adding extra bins, to help keep the area fresh and clean.

We hope buses will help to bring shoppers from further afield, enabling more people to benefit from the thriving local high street, especially in the run up to Christmas. 

We aim to manage pollution and road safety by encouraging cycling (with plans to improve and extend the Southwark Spine cycleway), walking and public transport along Rye Lane, as it does across the borough. To help air quality, TfL will be using new, cleaner buses where possible as it moves to a zero emission fleet. The speed limit will also be maintained at a maximum of 20 miles per hour, as it is on all council roads.

The council will monitor the changes and make sure that provision is made to keep the area COVID-19 safe. Local people, businesses and stakeholders will be invited to share their views six months into the trial and again at the end of the 18 month experimental traffic order.

Cllr Catherine Rose, Cabinet Member for transport, parks and sport, said:

 “Rye Lane is a wonderful high street and people visit and travel through it for a wide range of reasons. We want to make sure that we make it work for those who are based there, people who come to visit the excellent town centre and many local amenities, and the seven million who pass through the station, every year.

“We hope that reintroducing buses will better achieve our aim of having everyone travelling on foot, by bike or by public transport, so that we can better address the climate emergency.

“We hope that the buses and our plans to clean and revitalise the area will enable people from further afield to benefit from this unique and thriving local high street.”

As with all trial measures, this scheme will be subject to necessary alterations as it beds in. Notices have been posted on Rye Lane.

Page last updated: 20 April 2022