‘It’s time to tackle the gridlock’: Council’s new plan to get Putney roads moving again

The council is taking action after recognising the significant frustration experienced by many residents and businesses due to increased congestion on local through-roads and residential streets.

The proposals follow detailed technical reviews of traffic conditions in and around Putney High Street, Putney Bridge Road and Lower Richmond Road.

Responding to feedback and local concerns, we are now looking at a series of interventions designed to address the causes of congestion while maintaining road safety.

Fully reinstating the previous road layout does not conform with Transport for London requirements and would not fully resolve Putney's traffic problems. Additionally, it would not be viable based on current design standards and would carry substantial cost to taxpayers. 

However, after extensive traffic analysis, meetings with Transport for London, and walk-arounds with residents and community groups, the council has identified a list of measures that would have the greatest impact on congestion and the daily experiences of local people:

• Investigating relocation of the pedestrian crossing on Putney Bridge and submitting a revised traffic signal layout to maximise green time for vehicles
• reverting to the previous bus lane operational hours on Putney Bridge Road and removing cycle wands
• putting in new CCTV coverage to enforce ‘Access only’ existing traffic restrictions on Putney Embankment
• looking at how we can prevent rat-running and queue-jumping on roads around Lower Richmond Road.

Councillor Daniel Hamilton, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “From my very first day in this job, I promised to listen to residents and businesses. They’re rightly incredibly frustrated at the traffic congestion here in Putney and repeatedly tell us that some streets have been turned into a car park at certain times of day. It’s time to tackle the gridlock.

“Traffic congestion here has been exacerbated by a combination of changes to traffic signal timings and a new pedestrian crossing on Putney Bridge, the ongoing closure of Hammersmith Bridge and Albert Bridge, traffic restrictions in neighbouring boroughs and of course increasing traffic demand across the area.

“Since we took office in May, I’ve been in many complex discussions about what can be done to change this situation for Putney residents. Our priority is to get Wandsworth moving again and reduce rat-running through residential streets. As such, we have carefully drawn up a list of practical changes that we can get started on as soon as possible.”

Alongside these new proposals, the council will move forward with a series of other improvements including:

• Removing the traffic island outside Snappy Snaps to give traffic more room on Putney High Street
• reinstating two exit lanes from Putney Bridge Road onto Putney High Street
• putting in new lane markings near Putney Station to improve lane efficiency
• widening the road outside TK Maxx.

The Council will continue to engage with residents, businesses and community groups to develop and agree the proposals. Any potential changes to the highway network must also be agreed with TfL as they maintain and manage some of the infrastructure.