Woolwich Ferry to Plumstead walking and cycling changes

We propose to make the following key changes between Woolwich and Plumstead. We have described the changes we propose in sections. We have also published a series of maps to help illustrate the changes we propose to make.

Powis Street and Macbean Street

Junction of Beresford Street (A206) / Macbean Street

Woolwich High Street and Beresford Street between the Woolwich Ferry roundabout and Macbean Street

Beresford Street between the junction with Macbean Street to the junction with Woolwich New Road

Junction of Beresford Street / Woolwich New Road

Plumstead Road between the junction with Woolwich New Road and Maxey Road

Junction of Plumstead Road / Burrage Road

Powis Street and Macbean Street

• Footway widened on the southern side of Powis Street to provide more space for pedestrians
• Continuing the footway over the accesses to Travelodge and Powis Street car parks, to give priority to pedestrians
• Allowing cyclists to use Powis Street between Bernard Close and Macbean Street, supported by road markings
• Allowing contraflow cycling on Macbean Street between Powis Street and Creton Street, supported by road markings
• Change to waiting restrictions on Macbean Street from single yellow to double yellow
• New cycle lanes introduced on Macbean Street, which tends to be used by fewer vehicles

We’re also exploring whether it might be possible to introduce new ‘rain gardens’ on the northern side of Powis Street (these are marked on the map as ‘low level planting’). Rain gardens provide environmental and drainage benefits by capturing rainfall and filtering runoff from the highway and footway. They act like a giant sponge by storing and cleaning rainwater before it reaches the sewer system. This also reduces the risk of flooding.

We would coordinate any works to build these changes with the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s public realm improvements along Powis Street, as part of their Future High Streets Fund scheme.

Junction of Beresford Street (A206) / Macbean Street

Link section east of A206/ Macbean Street (Click on image for larger version)

• Footway build out on the north-east and southern corners of the Beresford Street (A206) / Macbean Street junction to reduce pedestrian crossing distances and provide wider footways for a shared pedestrian and cycle space
• A new ‘parallel’ cycle crossing would replace the existing shared use crossing over Macbean Street
• The northbound cycle lane on Macbean Street would be raised to footway level at the junction. The cycle lane would be indicated by a low level kerb between the footway and cycle lane, to raise awareness of the facility to pedestrians. The footway would be reduced slightly to 1.8 metres adjacent to the traffic signal pole over a distance of approximately 3 metres, but remains 2 metres and wider elsewhere
• The existing shared cycle and pedestrian crossings are retained over Beresford Street and New Warren Lane, to assist cyclists to and from developments to the north

Woolwich High Street and Beresford Street between the Woolwich Ferry roundabout and Macbean Street

• Remove two existing bus stand spaces from Beresford Street and relocate them to Woolwich High Street. The existing bus stand on Woolwich High Street would be extended to accommodate the relocated stand spaces
• Remove bus stop C on Woolwich High Street and replace it with a bus stand. Routes 51, 99 and 386 would start their service from bus stop F on Hare Street
• New eastbound bus stop for route 301 on Beresford Street. The eastbound route 301 would start its service from this stop
• New westbound bus lane on Beresford Street and Woolwich High Street between Macbean Street and Woolwich Ferry Roundabout

Beresford Street between the junction with Macbean Street to the junction with Woolwich New Road

• New two-way segregated cycle track along the southern side of Beresford Street
• The cycle track is raised to footway level to the west of the bus stop U. The cycle track will be indicated by a low level kerb, between the footway and cycle track, to raise awareness of the facility to pedestrians
• Changes to the central ‘median’ in the highway, to create space for the new cycle track
• Relocate the existing bus stands to the outside of the cycle track
• Convert bus stop U Beresford Square – Woolwich Arsenal Station to a ‘bus stop bypass
• Continue footway surfacing across accesses to improve pedestrian priority
• Reduce the width of the footway in order to provide space for the two-way cycle track. Footway reduces to 1.9 metres in two locations over a distance of 6.5 metres and 17.5 metres at bus stop U but remains 2 metres and wider elsewhere
  
  

We would coordinate any works to build these changes with the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s public realm improvements along Beresford Square, as part of their Future High Streets Fund scheme.

Junction of Beresford Street / Woolwich New Road

Junction at A206/ Woolwich New Road (Click on image for larger version)

• New signalised pedestrian crossing over the eastern arm of the A206/ Woolwich New Road junction
• Relocate the western section of the pedestrian ‘super crossing’ c.15 metres east towards the centre of the junction. This would help to improve junction efficiency, and reduce the network impact of introducing the new crossing over the eastern arm
• New dedicated cycle signals so cyclists can proceed through the junction whilst other motor traffic is held on a red signal
• Remove four trees to support the introduction of the new pedestrian crossing. We’ve indicated on the maps we’ve published which trees would be removed. We will look to replace trees elsewhere along the route (subject to further surveys and investigations)

Plumstead Road between the junction with Woolwich New Road and Maxey Road

• New two-way segregated cycle track on the southern side of the A206 raised to footway level. The cycle track will be indicated by a low-level kerb between the footway and cycle track, to raise awareness of the facility to pedestrians
• Convert bus stop Z Woolwich and D Woolwich Station to a bus stop bypass
• Relocate the existing loading bay to the outside of the cycle track. A 2.5 metres footway would be provided between the loading bay and the cycle track, and dropped kerbs provided to help people to cross the track
• Removal of four trees, and planting of two new trees providing suitable planting locations can be identified. We have identified which trees we propose to remove on the maps we have published. We will look to plant further trees elsewhere along the route (subject to further surveys)
• Loading bay removed between Parry Place and Burrage Road to create space for a new signalised cycle crossing
• Convert bus stop ZA Plumstead Road/ Burrage Road to a bus stop bypass
• The Royal Borough of Greenwich is investigating opportunities for a taxi bay near to the Elizabeth Line station. We will continue to work closely with Officers to support this ongoing work

Junction of Plumstead Road / Burrage Road

Junction at A206/ Burrage Road (Click on image for larger version)

• Dedicated cycle signals to allow eastbound cyclists to leave the two-way cycle track and join the existing eastbound cycle lane whilst other traffic is held on a red signal
• New parallel cycle crossing on Burrage Road to allow westbound cyclists to cross the side road and join the two-way cycle track
• Existing pedestrian crossing island made wider
• New northbound cycle lane on Burrage Road on the immediate approach to the junction to help cyclists join the two-way cycle track
• New westbound segregated cycle lane between Maxey Road and Burrage Road, connecting into the existing westbound segregated cycle lane to the east of Maxey Road

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We’ve assessed the impact of our proposals on journey times in the area for buses and general traffic using traffic modelling tools.

Our proposals for the A206 are designed to operate as efficiently as possible, while improving facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

There are some impacts on journey times because we are making the A206 safer for pedestrians and cyclists by including improved pedestrian crossings and greater segregation of cycle lanes.

Morning peak

Our assessment suggests there will be a slight increase in journey times during the morning peak of about one minute eastbound and westbound along the A206 and northbound on Burrage Road.

While some affected bus routes (161 westbound, 177 eastbound, 180 eastbound, 472 eastbound & westbound) are expected to experience an increased journey time of up to one minute, the route 99, eastbound 161 and westbound 177 are expected to remain the same; and, our modelling suggests that bus route 180 will have a reduced journey time of up to one minute westbound along the A206.

Evening peak

Our modelling further forecasts there will be a slight reduction in general traffic journey times during the evening peak of about one minute eastbound; however, it is expected westbound journey times may increase by one to two minutes, and an increase of three to five minutes northbound along Burrage Road.

Many bus routes along the A206 westbound are expected to have journey time reductions of up to two minutes while many A206 eastbound bus routes see no change. The bus route 99 is expected to have a journey time increase of up to one minute.

However, bus routes 54 and 161 are expected to experience journey time increases of one to two minutes along Burrage Road northbound, and bus routes 51, 53 and 291 are expected to experience journey times increases of three to five minutes along Burrage Road northbound.

Junction of A206 / Burrage Road junction

To enable cyclists to safely enter and leave the two-way cycle track on Plumstead Road, our proposals make changes to the signal timings to allow cyclists to proceed through the junction whilst other traffic is held at a red light.

During the evening peak, Burrage Road northbound has significantly more traffic than in the morning peak and the constrained nature of the road means there is no space to provide additional capacity for buses or other traffic.

The impacts along the A206 have been substantially reduced by additional bus lanes and moving bus stand positions westbound, with some bus routes expected to benefit as a result particularly in the PM peak.

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