Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Lewisham's 10 worst roads


Ever wondered which are the worst road surfaces in Lewisham?

Me too, especially since I've been cycling around on them more and more. Those potholes and generally poor quality, patched-up road surfaces don't make for a particularly pleasant experience sometimes.

Recently, after a particularly unpleasant cycle down Bellingham Road I decided to ask where in the council's priorities for resurfacing it was. Surely it must be pretty high up, after all the surface is dreadful. I was vaguely aware of the existence of a list of roads in the borough with their priority order so I decided to ask my local councillor, Alan Smith, where Bellingham Road was on that list. He replied almost immediately to say he'd check and got back to me with the answer the next day:



Oh dear...

Still, my interest was piqued. I wanted this list for myself. And thanks to the Freedom of Information Act I now have it, together with comments from the inspectors. It's not a completely straightforward list, as priorities do change, but it makes interesting reading. The council say they think they can do 60 roads in this financial year, but which ones make it will depend on the results of inspections, what's already been done and so on, and repairs are identified on an ongoing basis.

But, accepting all that, here are the top 10 worst roads in Lewisham and the ward they are in...

1. Grove Street (Evelyn)

2. Whitefoot Lane (Whitefoot)

3. Burnt Ash Hill (Westhorne Ave to Somertrees Ave) (Grove Park)

4. Birkhall Road (Catford South)

5. Downham Way (Old Bromley Road to Bromley Road) (Downham)

6. St Norbert Road (Telegraph Hill)

7. Blythe Hill (Crofton Park/Rushey Green)

8. Lewis Grove (inspectors' note says this might not need to be done...) (Lewisham Central)

9. Ryculff Square (Blackheath)

10. Brockley View (Crofton Park)

So, what do you think? Is your road worse than these?

7 comments:

@thomtownsend said...

I would give a special mention to Wildfell Road in Catford. It was due to be resurfaced in the last financial year but apparently, because there is loads of tar in the surface, the cost of disposal of meant the project was canned. Apparently recent changes in legislation around disposal of tar is making road resurfacing way more expensive.

Clare Griffiths said...

Number 23 on the list....

Unknown said...

I'd say Deptford Church Street. I think that needs resurfacing at loads of potholes.

Anonymous said...

I go down Parkcroft Rd (between St Mildreds Rd and Newstead Rd, Lee) and there is a clear rut down the entire length. Hazel

Clare said...

Parkcroft Road is number 76 on the list with a note saying it needs to be higher up as it is badly damaged.

Anonymous said...

I'm really suprised that Trundleys Road isn't on the list... the section running from Grinstead Road running to Bush Road SE8 has to be the worst road surface I think I have encountered!

Anonymous said...

Drakefell Rd is a disgrace. i've lost count how many times the pot hole outside my house has been "repaired" by a man putting a spade load of hot tarmac into the hole and bashing it with the back of the spade whilst dodging the traffic. But I think the pavements are even worse. Walking down Drakefell you run the risk of being smacked in the face with over grown vegetation, tripping over broken paving slabs, having your path blocked by wheelie bins or cars which are parked so far on to the pavement to prevent being hit by passing traffic that they end up being damaged by passing people, pushchairs and wheelchairs instead. Lewisham council is a bit shit.