Greenwich Peninsula: Linking the old with the new

DSCF0051

Thousands of new residents are set to move into many new developments across the south of the Greenwich Peninsula in coming years. Some new builds are now almost complete with occupation beginning within months. Yet what will greet them is a masterclass in anti-pedestrian design.

My last post covered the many new developments at the southern edge of the Peninsula, and whilst there I also looked at the links between the new developments and the older, more established parts of town.

I walked between the new developments at Greenwich Millenium Village to Southeastern’s Westcombe Park railway station – which is seeing high increases in passenger numbers, averaging about 6% per annum.

Ikea will be built here soon.

Aside from developments now completing at GMV, additional blocks are due to start construction located closer to shops, stations and bus routes.

Over the road from GMV a 1,640 pupil capacity school is planned with minimal car parking and a planned catchment area stretching to Woolwich and Thamesmead.

The image below shows some detail of GMV – the sections in blue are almost complete. Sections in orange are now being sold and construction should begin imminently. The areas on the left are to the south with the Thames shown on the right:

GMV site plan
Many more homes to come

For new residents better links south will be important. Many will hopefully head south to reach the many shops, restaurants and pubs in East Greenwich and give them greater custom.

There’s also the new leisure centre and library nearby which is due to open very shortly at ‘Greenwich Square’. And then there’s Westcombe Park station to the south with fast links to central London in one direction and major towns such as Woolwich in the other direction before heading onto Kent.

It’s closer to the new flats than North Greenwich tube so a walk to the station will be a likely route for a sizeable number of people. Below is a map showing how much closer the train station is.

New flats closer to Southeastern stations
New flats are located close to Southeastern station

Many new residents are expected to use  the tube. That may be the case initially, but in time more will try the train.

If residents work in the City then the train is quicker, with Cannon Street about 15 minutes away from Westcombe Park station. Frequencies are good too with a train every 10 minutes at most times and it’s cheaper for a season ticket to central London.

But getting to the station and amenities in East Greenwich is far from a pleasant walk. It starts well. Paths and dedicated cycle lanes directly beside new developments are very good. These date from the original network installed for the millennium celebrations.

The first problems occur at the roundabout where Bugsby’s Way meets Peartree Way. The roundabout is huge. Approaches are lined with much guardrail.

Crossing therefore means a pretty long detour for pedestrians from direct routes.

Very poor for pedestrians
Very poor for pedestrians

Heading south and the junction by Sainsbury’s (and in future Ikea) presents yet more guard railing forcing pedestrians on detours if they want to  cross.

Pedestrians are an afterthought, forced to-and-fro from the adjacent road by guardrails, raised planters and landscaping designed to push them away. And the constant back and forth makes working out the route ahead difficult. Legibility is no consideration.

Ikea site

If you didn’t know better when walking at the spot below it looks as though you’re reaching a dead end and unable to head forward to reach shops and the station.

Pavement seems to end. Can I continue? Yes, but I'm forced the long way round.
Pavement seems to end. Does it continue ahead? Yes, but you have to walk to the end to find out

So people look to cross over the road on the right. But this means going towards the busier Sainsbury’s car park entrance roads rather than Horn Lane. Residents will eventually work it out if they’re not completely put off walking this way but irregular visitors may wonder where to go. Legible it ain’t.

You actually can go straight ahead but forced away from the roadside. The path could have continued straight ahead directly adjacent to the road instead of being grassed over.

Greenwich paving 2
Greenery on left should be paving

This would be quicker and clearer for those on foot. The other path would still exist if people prefer not to walk beside the road.

That other path is seen below. It’s slow and meandering with blind corners:

Why spend a couple of grand ordering and installing thse railings? Anyone?
Why spend a couple of grand ordering and installing these railings?
Other side of diversion. More pointless guard rail
Other side of diversion which forces pedestrians away from direct route. More guard rail

After this little detour is the Blackwall approach flyover. One of the grimmest spots in south east London. It seems to perennially be on the list for imminent improvements and then put back. Here it is in all it’s glory:

DSCF0038

Pedestrians are forced on more detours here which hampered progress. TfL may be in charge of this section of road directly below the flyover, but if that’s the case then Greenwich council may still be to blame for this mess.

TfL have removed much guardrails on their road network and encourage its removal in street management guidance to councils. It is often only retained if the local authority insists.

Its retention here could be due to this. Compare this to Bow flyover. Though TfL’s work has caused numerous problems for cyclists there, the general appearance and pedestrian experience is far better. No guardrails, decent paving and a bit of greenery (which isn’t an obstruction) has been introduced.

bow flyover 2

Over in Greenwich and this off-putting path below is on one side of the roundabout. Again clutter obscures the path ahead. This is not enticing or inviting.

Open up the space, make it legible and clear what lies ahead. Signage should also be much better.

DSCF0036

The annoying thing about this whole walk (which is only about 10 minutes) is that it should be a well-used link yet is made unnecessarily difficult and obstructive on foot and I wouldn’t like to try it on a bike.

Yet despite this grim walk and the constant diversions, with pedestrians seen as an inconvenient problem, it’s still quicker than heading to north Greenwich station.

I’m not saying most newcomers will use the train or head to east Greenwich’s shops at first. They’ll probably know all about the tube and go to eat elsewhere. But they will begin to hear about local good little independent places to eat nearby, want to visit the leisure centre and use the rail service, amongst other things.

Currently the walk is made as unpleasant as possible so some won’t bother, or they’ll possibly get in a car. And that’s a big failure of street design – if many newcomers don’t feel the walk is pleasant or safe they won’t frequent local businesses.

With a modest sum of cash and ditching dated thinking from Greenwich’s Highways Dept this could be so much better.

Blackwall Lane

This is just one of the two routes to East Greenwich from the Peninsula away from the riverside path. The other is via Blackwall Lane, which is barely any better and another area where roads dominate and pedestrians are forced all over the place by unfriendly measures:

Come on now. Really?
Even the grass needs guardrail here for some reason

A new Ibis hotel has just begun construction nearby and visitors will almost certainly be walking under the Blackwall approach, and they’ll be far from alone in doing so, particularly as developments like Enderby Wharf finishes.

It’s a real shame to see so many large developments nearing completion across a wide area and knowing millions have flowed in from Section 106 payments that should have funded improvements, and yet seeing nothing done.

I’ve started a flickr account related to the blog. There’s so many design flaws and aesthetic horrors I’d like to include but I just can’t cover all of them in a post. Similarly, there’s too many shots of new developments to include in most posts so I thought it would be useful to put them on Flickr so a wider range can be seen.

------------------

Adverts are far from enough to cover site costs and my rent.

You can support me via Paypal here

Another option is via Patreon by clicking here

You can also buy me a beer/coffee at Ko-fi here

There's also a Facebook page for the site here

Many thanks

J Smith

I've lived in south east London most of my life growing up in Greenwich borough and working in the area for many years. The site has contributors on occasion and we cover many different topics. Living and working in the area offers an insight into what is happening locally.

13 thoughts on “Greenwich Peninsula: Linking the old with the new

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.