Liberal Democrat Councillors have successfully implemented much-needed road safety improvements in Beckenham after two years of campaigning. The previously-abandoned scheme for Park Rd / Southend Rd / Foxgrove Rd was brought back to life thanks to a revised design, featuring a mini roundabout and two pedestrian crossings.
The junction at Park Rd, Foxgrove Rd and Southend Rd - a notorious road safety hotspot - looked set to be left unchanged when an ill-conceived layout scheme was quietly abandoned on the eve of local elections in Spring 2022. The original scheme promoted by the previous Ward Councillors would have closed Park Road at its junction with Southend Rd, forcing extra traffic into nearby Copers Cope Road and Brackley Road. The strength of opposition from local residents to these plans was enough to see the plans dropped.
Following the 2022 elections, one of the first tasks for newly elected Lib Dem Ward Councillors Will Connolly and Chloe-Jane Ross was to revive road safety improvements for this junction. Chloe-Jane and Will met with Cllr Nicholas Bennett, the Portfolio Holder for Road Safety to request a new design that kept Park Rd open.Thankfully, Cllr Bennett agreed, and funding was requested from Transport for London. The new scheme was requested in July 2022 and finally delivered in Aug 2024, with the longer-than-hoped-for time frame caused by a long delay after the utility company failed to move their kit under the road in a timely manner.
Councillor Chloe-Jane Ross said “This new junction is a vast improvement and we have been receiving positive feedback from drivers and pedestrians locally and much further afield. I am really pleased we have a scheme that took into account residents’ feedback - closing off Park Rd as proposed originally would have been a disaster for neighbouring roads, and I was very concerned about pushing more traffic past Worsley Bridge Primary School. It’s a shame the original scheme didn’t take this feedback into consideration as the junction could have been improved much sooner - residents have had to wait much longer for a safer junction. Will and I spoke to a lot of residents over many months and it was great to ensure their views were taken into consideration in the designing of the new scheme.”
There is still some resurfacing to be done to raise the mini-roundabout due in October. There will also be a Stage 3 Road Safety Audit in the next few weeks, and then a Stage 4 Road Safety Audit (monitoring) will take place in February and another audit at around 36 months.
Councillor Will Connollly said “I am especially pleased that this scheme was open during the summer weeks, when there are many more people wishing to cross to Beckenham Place Park. Residents were very concerned about the dangers of this busy junction, and told me and Chloe-Jane about the difficulties they experienced crossing the road. Now, with a mini roundabout to slow traffic, and two zebra crossings, residents and park-goers can cross the road much more safely. The scheme also sees improved cycle safety through a wider road junction with more visibility, and a cycle crossing point on one of the zebra crossings.”
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