Action to improve road safety for children at two Balham schools

We're taking action to improve road safety for local people and children who attend two schools in Balham following a detailed round of public consultation.

The measures are centred around Chestnut Grove and are designed to make it safer for children who walk and cycle to Chestnut Grove Academy and Hornsby House School.

The move comes after an in-depth public consultation late last year which attracted more than 740 responses. Results showed a majority of local people agreed that action was needed here to make children’s journeys safer.

Wandsworth Council's engineers are now preparing to make changes to road layouts and traffic arrangements in the area.

The works will be carried out in two phases.

The first phase

These works will start during the February half term break:

• Installation of a new zebra crossing on the existing raised table outside Chestnut Grove Academy.
  
  
• Removal of the existing mini roundabout at the junction of Chestnut Grove with Boundaries Road and its replacement with a new raised zebra crossing.

To further increase safety levels at these two locations, these additional measures are being taken to reduce vehicle traffic levels on the approaches to these new zebra crossings:

• The introduction of a short section of one-way traffic (east to west) on Boundaries Road between the junctions with Rowfant Road and Balham Park Road. A 'No entry except cyclists' route will be added on Boundaries Road at the junction with Rowfant Road, permitting cyclists to travel contraflow to motor traffic.
  
  
• The introduction of a time-restricted banned right turn from Chestnut Grove into Boundaries Road between the hours of 7am to 9am and 3pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday to cover school opening and closing times.

The additional measures have been approved and endorsed by the Met Police’s road safety team which agreed they were necessary to limit the amount of through traffic in this part of Balham if the project was to prove a success.  

The Council will undertake extensive traffic monitoring post implementation to assess the impact of the changes.

The second phase

Over the Easter break, works will remove the existing mini roundabout at the Chestnut Grove junction with Endlesham Road.

The footway will instead be widened at this location to improve visibility and reduce crossing distances.

The overall scheme will also see the installation of a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) in the form of a rain garden. This will reduce surface water and the impact of flooding by allowing local flora and fauna to absorb water.

Addressing community concerns

Jenny Yates, Wandsworth’s Cabinet Member for Transport said: "This scheme is designed to address community concerns in this part of Balham, especially among parents, around the hazards their children face on their journeys to and from school. We thank everyone one who participated in the consultation, and we’re pleased that the majority of those responding support the two new zebra crossings. 

"We believe the new crossings will make those journeys much safer, as will the additional steps being taken to reduce the number of vehicles on the approaches to both schools at the times pupils are arriving and departing each day. We’ll be carrying out extensive monitoring to assess the impact of the scheme in the local area over the coming months."

More information

Find out more about the Chestnut Grove road safety survey

Read Wandsworth's Walking and Cycling Strategy