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:
@clogsilk @LewishamCouncil Hi. Not good news on Bellingham rd, it's 189 on the list so 3-4 years.
— Alan Smith (@CllrAl) July 18, 2014
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?
