Sutton Scene - Safer, Active, Greener Streets

The Council is trialling a series of changes around the borough as part of its Safer, Active, Greener Streets programme.

This month you will see us implementing:

• School Streets to reduce traffic and allow social distancing at 14 schools around the borough as pupils start to return.

• Five new low traffic areas to improve air quality and reduce non-local traffic, as set out in the Council’s Environment Strategy.

• Further improvements to cycleways, including Central Road in Worcester Park and Throwley Way in Sutton Town Centre

As an outer London borough, we have seen increasing concerns from residents over the years about the volume of traffic and speeds in the roads where they live. Many local people have really enjoyed the lower levels of traffic and improved air quality during the recent lockdown. They have contrasted them with the previous levels of congestion and pollution and asked the Council to help.  

Transport for London modelling predicts that, without action, traffic volumes may get much worse than before the COVID-19 crisis. Increased use of satellite navigation has also led to more vehicles cutting through residential areas. If more people choose to drive as lockdown restrictions are eased, this will increase, making streets more dangerous and unhealthy for the people who live on them. This is why we must take action now. 

Last year the Council declared a climate emergency and committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Active forms of travelling, like walking and cycling, not only improve physical and mental health but will contribute to meeting these goals.

All of these changes will be for a six-month trial period and we welcome all feedback from residents during this time. We want to know how the schemes are working for you and whether they should be kept as they now, modified or removed.  We can adjust schemes at any time during the trial, however, it may take a few weeks for the schemes to bed in and for traffic patterns to settle before residents can get a true picture of how they are performing. You can leave feedback straight away but you can also come back and comment later too as your experiences change.

To read more about our Safer, Active Greener Streets programme, visit sutton.gov.uk/saferstreets. 

Residents can also have their say online using our consultation platform Sutton Citizenspace. Consultations go live once the schemes are launched.