UPDATE: Reinstatement of the Ritherdon Road Left Hand Turn - Success
Five years ago, Transport for London implemented major changes to Balham High Road (A24). These included a number of ‘no left hand turns’ for drivers, most noticeably in our neighbourhood at the junction of Ritherdon Road and Balham High Road.
Residents’ feedback has been very clear from the beginning: the ability to turn left from Balham High Road onto Ritherdon Road should be brought back. Throughout this time we, Wandsworth Conservatives, have been campaigning to re-instate the Ritherdon Road Left Hand Turn. Finally, after five years we have been successful.
TfL will shortly be writing to residents confirming the left hand turn will be re-instated in late July/early August.
We are delighted that after all this time, the wishes of local residents are going to be delivered.
Stopping drivers turning left onto Ritherdon Road has caused various problems for local residents. It has diverted traffic onto other local roads that are less equipped to handle it, often causing drivers to take longer routes to reach their destinations. This has increased safety risks and very likely added to local air pollution. We hope that the change we have campaigned on for five years will help to ease these issues.
However, it should never have taken this long and has been beset by many delays, overseen by Labour representatives at the Town Hall and the Mayor of London. They have only taken notice due to the pressure placed on them.
Over the years we have submitted a petition with almost 1500 signatures from local residents, continued to ask multiple questions of the local Labour councillors at the Town Hall and challenged the Labour Mayor of London on the changes he introduced in 2020.
Local Conservatives submitted a petition on behalf of residents in August 2023
A massive thank you to all of those local residents who have supported our efforts.
