A £4M road safety scheme in the London borough of Lambeth has cut accidents by 60% in its first year, new figures show.
The scheme, to transform Wandsworth Road between Stockwell and Clapham into a mixed priority route, has reduced the total number of accidents from an average of 40 a year to just 15, since it was completed in spring 2007.
There have been no serious incidents on the 2km stretch of road since the work was finished, compared with an average of more than five a year before the improvements were implemented.
Cycling accidents also stand at zero in the scheme’s first year, and accidents involving motorcyclists have dropped more than 80%, from around 12 a year to just two. Wandsworth Road had a reputation as a road safety blackspot prior to the work, which was part of the Department for Transport’s mixed priority-route demonstration project.
The scheme has transformed the road for pedestrians, cyclists and other road-users. Traffic speeds have fallen, new pedestrian crossings introduced, footpaths repaved, streetlighting improved, cycle and bus lanes created, roads resurfaced and more than 100 trees planted.
Cllr Nigel Haselden, deputy cabinet member for sustainability at Lambeth council, said: ‘This is probably the most complex road safety scheme we have undertaken, but for people who use this road every day it has been worth every penny
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