We want your views on the first phase of our proposals to transform streets in south-east London between Greenwich and Woolwich

Update 27 October 2022

We held a consultation on our proposals, which was concerned with proposed improvements along the A206 between Anchor and Hope Lane and Woolwich Ferry Roundabout, from 6 January to 16 February 2020 and invited a wide range of people and other stakeholders to give us their views. The coronavirus pandemic has delayed the publication of this report until now.

We have decided not to proceed with the transformational Angerstein roundabout scheme included in the consultation at this time. Should we decide to take forward a more transformational scheme in future, we will consider the issues raised as part of this public consultation in the design process. A final design proposal would then be subject to a new public consultation.

Summary of results

There were 757 responses to the consultation in total.

There were 27 stakeholder responses to the consultation in total.

We asked respondents to judge what effect our proposals might have on walking, cycling, using public transport and private transport. We provided a range of effects for respondents to choose between ranging from ‘Many more people would choose to travel in this way’ to ‘Fewer people would choose to travel in this way’.

Of the 757 original responses we received:

• 70% felt that more people would walk
• 77% felt that more people would cycle
• 57% felt that more people would use public transport
• 42% felt that fewer people would use a motor vehicle for personal journeys
• 21% felt that fewer people would use a motor vehicle for business journeys

Our consultation report, which includes our response to the main issues raised during consultation can be found in the ‘Documents’ section of this web page.

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Overview

We want your views on our proposals to transform streets in south-east London between Greenwich and Woolwich. Neighbourhoods along the A206 would be connected with a new cycleway and streets made safer and more pleasant for people walking.

The proposals are an important part of the Mayor of London's Transport Strategy. The proposals are guided by the Mayor’s Healthy Streets Approach, which aims to combat inactivity and its associated health problems in London by enabling people to walk, cycle and use public transport more, and private cars less. These proposals are also designed to help tackle London’s toxic air crisis by reducing the number of polluting vehicles on London’s streets.

Our proposals for walking and cycling improvements between Greenwich and Woolwich would make streets in the area safer and more pleasant, enabling people to walk and cycle more, and drive less. This would tackle inactivity, reduce congestion and improve air quality. The new Cycleway we propose would connect to Cycleway 4 and Greenwich Town Centre, creating a continuous route from Woolwich to Tower Bridge.

There are three key issues we need to address:

• Road danger is unacceptably high. In 2017 and 2018 there were 215 collisions in which people were injured along the A206 Woolwich Road between Greenwich Town Centre and the Woolwich Ferry roundabout. There were three fatal collisions in which people walking or cycling tragically lost their lives, and a further 23 people were seriously injured. In the whole of the Royal Borough Greenwich in 2017, 10% of all casualties in road traffic accidents were cyclists. In the same time frame along the A206 Woolwich Road, 18% of all casualties were cyclists, despite them making up less than five per cent of all the people who use the road. For cyclists, the A206 Woolwich Road is significantly more dangerous that other roads in Greenwich. This is unacceptable. These proposals have been designed to reduce the number of people whose lives are so badly affected by road danger
• The volume of traffic on the A206 Woolwich Road is unacceptably high. Traffic levels on the A206 effectively means that communities either side are split by the road. The Angerstein roundabout in particular is very difficult and challenging for people walking and cycling, including children, as shown in the short video below
• We must improve the quality of London’s air. We believe that the best way to do this is by investing in measures to make walking, cycling and using public transport the safest and most appealing transport choice. We believe that there is tremendous potential to improve the attractiveness of public transport, cycling and walking along the A206 Woolwich Road. Active travel has significant health and well-being benefits: if we all walked or cycled for just 20 minutes extra a day, 1 in 6 early deaths could be prevented

We have begun to consider what improvements might be possible at the Angerstein roundabout. Our work is at an early stage, however we believe that significant improvements for walking, cycling and for public transport passengers would be possible, as well as reductions to road danger here. We wanted to explain our initial thinking so that we can consider your feedback while we develop more detailed proposals for improvements to the roundabout. We would hold a consultation on these proposals later and additionally on proposed improvements to the section of the A206 from Greenwich Town Centre to Anchor and Hope Lane, and from the Woolwich Ferry roundabout to Woolwich town centre. We will develop our proposals for this section once the Royal Borough of Greenwich has finalised its own proposals for improvements to Greenwich Town Centre.

Our proposals at a glance

We have developed a set of proposals to improve walking, cycling and public transport along the section of A206 from Anchor and Hope Lane to the Woolwich Ferry roundabout. Our proposals for the remaining sections will come in a later consultation. In summary our proposals include:

• A new two-way, fully segregated Cycleway which would run along the south-side of the entire length of this section of the A206 Woolwich Road
• Improved pedestrian crossings (which would give people walking a more direct route across the road), including at Royal Greenwich Trust School and Windrush Primary School
• There would be six new pedestrian crossings, including near the Warspite roundabout, and we would additionally improve three existing crossings to make it easier for people to cross
• Extending the existing bus lanes to provide a two kilometre stretch along this section of the A206 Woolwich Road. Just under half of all the trips made on Woolwich Road are by bus. The new bus lane would therefore benefit very large numbers of local people
• Widening the footway at a number of locations, to give people walking more space
• We are also developing significant improvements at the Angerstein roundabout, including reducing road danger and enabling and encouraging more people to walk, cycle and use public transport. There would also be opportunity for improvements to the look and feel of the area here

We expect that our proposals would make it easier for people to walk and cycle in the area, and additionally people who use the bus should find that their journeys become quicker, especially in the busier peak periods.

A Before and After animation showing what the Warspite roundabout looks like today and an artists impression of what it could look like can be found in the Documents section to the right.

Our proposals in detail

In June 2017 we published our Strategic Cycling Analysis, which identified where in London there was the greatest potential to get more people to cycle. Our proposed route from Greenwich - Woolwich was identified as having a very significant potential for cycling growth.

We have split the A206 Woolwich Road between Anchor and Hope Lane and the Woolwich Ferry roundabout into nine sections, to make it easier to understand our proposals. Detailed descriptions of each section can be found in the Documents section.

We have also begun to consider what improvements might be possible at the Angerstein roundabout, although we have not yet developed a full set of formal proposals. A description of these can also be found in the Documents section.

Building and funding improvements

Subject to the outcome of this consultation, construction of our proposals could start in 2021. It would take around 12 months to build the scheme and the money to build the improvements is included in our Business Plan.

We would work closely with the Royal Borough of Greenwich to carefully plan construction to minimise disruption to everyone who lives, works and travels in the area. We would coordinate closely with other construction works in the area, and consider alternative ways of working including advanced works, weekends and evenings. We would keep residents, businesses and community groups informed so they can plan ahead, reducing any impact on their journeys, lives and businesses.

The effects of our proposals

We have tested the effects that our proposals for the section from Anchor and Hope Lane to the Woolwich Ferry roundabout would have on traffic in the area. We have also assessed the equality impacts of our proposals and undertaken a ‘Healthy Streets’ check.

We have not yet tested the effects of the potential improvements to the Angerstein roundabout we described, but we will do so over the coming months as we develop more detailed proposals for the roundabout.

Impacts on journey times and traffic levels

Having tested the impacts of our proposals on the local surrounding area, we would expect them to benefit people walking and cycling, and people who use the bus. We expect that the majority of people who walk, cycle or use the bus along the A206 Woolwich Road would be local people. Conversely, we think that a significant proportion of those driving are likely to be from outside of the local area. We believe the principal effects would be:

• People walking should find that it becomes easier and quicker for them to cross the road
• Cyclists should find that their journeys are much improved and feel safer due to the new cycleway along the entire length of this section of the A206 Woolwich Road. We would expect that it would take between 8 - 13 minutes to cycle from Anchor and Hope Lane to Woolwich Ferry roundabout with the new cycleway in place, and we believe that more people would cycle as a result of our proposals
• Bus passengers would benefit from reduced journey times, particularly in the busier peak periods, when the new bus lanes we propose would have the greatest effect

Our testing shows that there would be no significant increases in traffic congestion, although there may be some small increases in journey times for general traffic during the busier peak periods. There are unlikely to be any changes to journey times for traffic outside of these times. We will monitor the effects of our proposals of our proposals and can take action to address any unanticipated adverse impacts.

If you are interested in reading about our Healthy Streets assessment of the proposals, or our Equality Impact Assessment, please see the links below.

Healthy Streets Check
Equality Impact Assessment