A petition has been signed by some of the people living in Beckenham to introduce traffic calming measures in the “very narrow” Blandford Road.
The petition requests an assessment of the speeds of vehicles, a consultation with local residents and appropriate traffic-calming measures to ensure safety is being prioritised.
The petition currently has more than 600 digital signatures and 170 hard copy signatures by frequent users and residents of Blandford Road.
Clara Widdison has lived in Blandford Road for a year and a half and says that she, and others, are “fed up” of not feeling safe on the street.
Clara, a social innovator, says Blandford Road is “very narrow” with two-way traffic, despite it being one lane only.
The current speed limit is 30mph, but Clara requests it to be changed to 20mph – as she claimed cars are going at “40 and 50mph” up and down the road.
She told the News Shopper: “The road is one kilometre long, has around 400 properties on it and has a current speed zone of 30mph.
“The road should be a 20mph zone, but the main issue is that the cars aren't even doing 30mph - they're doing between 40mph and 50mph.
“The road has high usage because it's the one road in this area that doesn't have any speed control measures, so it's used frequently as a rat run between two main areas of the town.”
Clara says she is among “many people” who want change – and that the strength of support has been massive.
Despite this, another person who lives on the street – but wishes to remain anonymous - has said the petition is “misrepresenting” local opinion.
They are claiming some signatures are from people who don’t use the street – and “object” the option for anyone to sign the petition.
The resident added: “What I really object to was the flurry of sharing it with everyone you can or sharing it with people across Beckenham.
“I saw things online saying ‘my friends in Shortland have signed’ but Shortland is miles away.
“I don't like it being presented as a dangerous road and there's all this opinion to support it when in fact it’s not accurate.
“If the Council decided it needed to be a 20mph road, that's not the end of the world, but I don't think it would stop the speeding.
“The issue isn’t the fact we disagree, it’s the misrepresentation of local opinion.”
Clara, in support of the petition, said that neighbouring roads, such as Ravenscroft Road and MacKenzie Road, have had speed control measures put in place.
She explained: “There's been some positive changes to the surrounding roads.
“We’ve had some roads to the north that have been made 20mph and have speed control measures.
“We have a road to the south that has speed control measures and is partially 20mph during school times.
“But Blandford Road has not received the same treatment.”
Clara says there has been “multiple” incidents on the road – as she claims the latest one was a crash between a pedestrian and a vehicle.
She said: “It's quite unpleasant as a road to live on and there's several aspects to that.
“One being there's no safe crossings on the road, so you have to cross between parked cars – which can be dangerous with families and young children.
“Another is the noise from the speeding vehicles.
“It’s not uncommon to be woken up by people shouting and swearing at each other due to having no room to pull in.
“Which again, is deeply unpleasant, specifically early in the morning.
“It doesn't feel safe, quite frankly.”
Clara claims “lots of people” regularly cross the road at the junction, as there is a primary school on the next road and a tram stop nearby.
Clara added: “A lot of people come in and out of the tram stop - which is where there is a speed hump at the junction.
“But it's a very large wide speed hump, so it does next to nothing from a speed perspective.
“There are no pedestrian crossings, not even a Zebra crossing.
“So, you've got young children crossing to the school or you've got families crossing to the tram stop and absolutely nothing in place to support them.”
The resident who is against the way the petition has been shared says she is only aware of one accident that occurred in November last year.
They added: “I'm not aware of any accidents on this road until November last year, when a lady was knocked down.
“That seemed to reinvigorate the issue and the online petition was formed.
“I saw things online saying she was knocked down by a speeding car – but as far as I’m aware, there is no evidence of this.
“I’ve raised children here and have never had any problems crossing the road.”
But, Clara says she and other people living in the area are “fed up” of not feeling safe in Blandford Road.
She added: “A lot of people, particularly mums of young children, talk about how uncomfortable they feel taking their kids out of the vehicles or having their kids on the road.
“As it's a one lane street, you see people coming up onto the pavement quite a lot in order to turn around.
“So if you've got a kid on a scooter and you're seeing cars coming up onto the pavements, it can create levels of anxiety.
“We simply just want a pleasant, safe environment for all people to live and to thrive.
“So, what we're asking for is a consultation with Bromley Council around what speed measures would be appropriate.
“It’s just absolutely disappointing to see its strategies of the importance of safety and the importance of enjoyable places to live but seeing such little action on the matter.”
Bromley Council has been approached for comment.
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