Traffic and Transport

In order to retain as much as possible of the original character of St John's Wood, the Society is constantly concerned with the impact of traffic. It is continually seeking to improve the safety of pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists – but realises that inevitably, at various key points within the area, there is a conflict between the interest of local residents and the interests of road users.

From time to time Westminster City Council consults with the Society and the public in general about planned parking and traffic developments.  There have been many occasions when the Society has helped shape these plans to the benefit of our community.  We believe that our input with help of our members and other local residents and interest groups is critical to ensuring that any new schemes only go to improve the amenity of our neighbourhood.    

There have been many suggestions by members over the past few years – in particular in regard to the introduction and phasing, of traffic lights. These suggestions are taken up with Westminster City Council. Parking is a perennial problem, and there are concerns over the balance of parking meters and the availability of residential spaces. The question of street signage is another matter of concern.

The Traffic Committee needs extra input from local residents to help deal with the influx of new issues and developments with existing one.  If you would like help or provide some input, suggestions or comments then please contact us.

Suggestions and comments are always welcome!

Claire Rayden, Traffic Officer (email), or Joe Sucharewicz, Traffic Officer (email)

Current Issues

During the last six months there have been a number of issues concerning traffic in St Johns Wood. 

Lord’s Match Day Optimum Traffic Scheme

We have been in contact with the department at the Council responsible for parking service delivery in order to organise a review of the pinch points in Circus Road and Hall Road and other critical areas. We hope, by preventing yellow line parking at these few short stretches of road on major match days, that traffic flow will be improved (the Olympics scheme had the benefit of no parking in Circus Road when there were only going to be 5000 spectators at the Archery so it does not seem unreasonable to expect the same parking restrictions along the identified pinch points for major cricket matches which could attracted over 28,000 spectators).  In the long run we would still like to see a scheme introduced around the Lord’s area similar to that around Arsenal where there are permanent rather than flap-down signs and the publicising of an information line for drivers to call regarding match-day timings. 

Increased use of Floodlights at Lord’s

The MCC has submitted an application to continue to use the temporary floodlights once the five year permission period has ended and to increase the number of days of use of the floodlights.   Evening and other  well-attended cricket matches at Lord's have been shown to cause congestion, not just delaying drivers on the roads but pedestrians on the pavements and commuters on the underground.   From a traffic point of view we believe that the Council, if it wants to award more day-time usage of the lights, should reduce the number of evening permissions.  Alternatively the Council could vary the conditions so that the existing evening permissions could be used for either day or evening matches, thus allowing the MCC to use its unused evening permissions for daytime use, especially as it appears that the MCC is only using a small fraction of its allocation of existing evening permissions.  

Parking Sensors in St John’s Wood High St.   

Sensors were installed last summer in St Johns Wood High Street and a handful of other roads in Westminster. These will allow drivers to see if an on-street parking space is available on an individual road.  An app was made available last October for phones and tablets from the Apple and Google stores.  You can search for ‘ParkRight’ to download the  app.  If the next stage of the trial continues to be a success, the Council will evaluate it and decide if the scheme can be rolled out city-wide.  For more information see

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/transportandstreets/parking/bay-sensor-technology/

As reported in the press, many residents are nervous that the scheme will just provide the Council with greater parking ticket revenue. However the Society believes that this proposal is a ‘win win’ situation in that drivers can see via the app when a space is free and wardens can see when parkers have overstayed, so freeing up more spaces for new parkers.  If anyone has any views then please email the Council on baysensors@westminster.gov.uk

Double Yellow lines

There have been a number of traffic-management proposal consultations regarding introducing double yellow line ‘at any time’ waiting restrictions at various locations including Carlton Hill (4.9m near Bleinheim Passage), Marlborough Hill (4.6m) and Elm Tree Road.  The restrictions are intended to protect sightlines at road junctions and entrances, thereby improving the safety of drivers and pedestrians.  Where there is a clear need for the improved sightline we have had no objection.  However we are always concerned that needlessly converting locations to double yellow lines will reduce the parking amenity of residents and their visitors.  

Road and Street Works. 

A number of residents have said that they found the article about road and street works published in the last Newsletter useful.  Once again, if you believe that a road is left worse off as a result of street works or you believe that a road is being blocked unnecessarily, then you should contact the Council's Environmental Action line on 020 7641 2000 or email environmentalactionline@westminster.gov.uk or PermitsNorth@westminster.gov.uk.  Alternatively you can log your concern on www.fixmystreet.com and the site will transfer your issue to the relevant authority (ie TFL or the Council).  As an example, at the end of last year Cavendish Avenue was blocked for urgent repairs.  We contacted the Council and the road-block was soon lifted once the Council had been informed that no contractor was present.