We are building temporary schemes to help people who can to walk and cycle more, to help maintain space on public transport for those who need it and help people to avoid people using their cars as much as possible. We are introducing these measures on a temporary basis, as part of our emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic.
There are already large numbers of people who cycle regularly along the A23 between Oval and Streatham. Our data shows that, even with the current lockdown, over 500 people regularly cycle between Oval and Streatham in the peak period. We think there is the potential for more people to cycle along the A23, but only if we introduce new measures to encourage and support people to do so. Doing so will help to take pressure off buses and trains so that key workers, and people who cannot walk or cycle, can travel more easily. It will also help buses to run more reliably. We also need to take action to prevent people walking and cycling from being hurt and injured: there were 80 collisions along the A23 between August 2017 and March 2019 which led to people being hurt. 50% of these involved people walking and cycling.
The map below gives an overview of the changes we will be making.
A23 Oval - Streatham overview map (PDF 160KB)
We are planning to begin construction of these temporary changes in mid March 2021. We will write to local people closer to the time to confirm when construction will begin.
Consulting you on the changes
We are introducing these temporary changes with an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO). Traffic Orders make it legally possible for us to make certain changes to the road network, and ETROs allow us to introduce changes temporarily, and on an experimental basis, so that we can better understand the effects the scheme will have.
Ordinarily we would consult local people and other stakeholders before commencing work on changes to London’s streets. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic means we need to take emergency action to help London’s communities to cope with the virus, and the measures that are necessary to control it.
Your views are important however and we will consult you on these changes. Our consultation will begin once we have completed the changes: we will write to you at this point to tell you the consultation has begun and how you can respond to it.
We will use the consultation to help us decide whether:
You do not need to wait until the consultation to share your views. If you have any immediate comments please complete our feedback form.
The changes in detail
We have grouped the temporary changes we plan to make in terms of who would be most affected by them:
Improvements for cyclists and bus passengers
Changes to local access and parking, to support the improvements for cyclists and bus passengers
- The northbound left turn from Brixton Hill into Blenheim Gardens. The alternative route is via St Saviours Road and Halliwell Road
- The southbound left turn from Brixton Hill into Fairmount Road. The alternative route is via Beechdale Road
- The southbound left turn from Brixton Road into St John's Crescent. The alternative route is via Villa Crescent
The pack of maps below illustrates all of these changes in more detail.
A23 Oval - Streatham maps A to F (PDF 215KB)
A23 Oval - Streatham maps G to L (PDF 199KB)
A23 Oval - Streatham maps M to R (PDF 224KB)