The dangerous Greenwich road blighted by rat runners waiting for an enormous crash

Greenwich Council has said that it will investigate further improvements to Cedarhurst Drive, based west of Eltham in the borough, following claims that the street is an ‘enormous accident waiting to happen’.

The change comes after a petition called on the council to address dangerous traffic on the road given its location between Eltham Road and the South Circular Road. It also called for resident-only parking from 9.30-11am every day to deter anti-social parking from commuters using nearby train stations and visitors of Sutcliffe Park.

Miriam Crozier, who started the petition, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We’ve been saying for a long time that because we get this channel of cars parked on either side of that stretch of the road and you’ve got people charging through here, it’s waiting for an enormous accident to happen.”

Labour Councillor Rachel Taggart-Ryan, who represents the Middle Park and Horn Park ward, said at a meeting in July that all 47 households on the street had signed the petition. The ward councillor claimed that the road was ‘blighted’ by excessive speed and parking, with drivers passing through the street at speeds of over 40 miles per hour.

The authority’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Labour Councillor Averil Lekau, said in a written response to the petition that road humps and signs to enforce the 20mph speed limit were added to Cedarhurst Drive in September. She added that the council was in the process of rolling out its Sustainable Streets Programme, which would include improved road safety measures such as crossing points and revised designs of junctions.

Cllr Lekau said that the Horn Park area would not be included in the first phase of the scheme but would be considered for inclusion during next year’s works. She said residents in the area would be consulted for feedback to develop measures appropriate for the area.

Andrew Crozier, speaking on behalf of the lead petitioner, said at a Greenwich Council meeting on December 4 that residents were thankful for the speed bumps and signs being installed on the road. He added that locals would like to see an extra bump on the street to deter rat runners. He said parking congestion was still prevalent and asked for double yellow lines to be added and for parking to be prohibited in front of the driveways of homes.

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The cabinet member said in response: “I am not a traffic engineer. You have come with a shopping list of things that you would want to see put in place. I am not in a position to respond to those as we sit here tonight.”

She added: “We would need to re-evaluate what the situation is there in light of the comments you are making.”