Work Begins on Southfields Improvement Scheme
First phase of project is expected to take around six months
The first phase of planned improvements to the Southfields shopping area is progressing well, with around half of Replingham Road repaved.
Completed work includes improvements to the shop forecourts and to the junction with Clonmore Street. Once works to improve the junction with Elsenham Street are finished repaving will begin on the other side of Replingham Road opposite Clonmore Street.
The changes aim to create a ‘village style’ local centre and will upgrade the shopping area, improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists and make it easier to access via public transport.
The first phase of work is expected to take around six months. As well as installing high-quality paving along Replingham Road and altering junctions to slow down traffic, the council will be planting more trees, installing new cycle stands, upgrading the street lamps and putting in recessed parking bays.
Work in future phases of the project will include widening footways, improving the area outside Southfields Station, more raised tables at junctions to slow down traffic, more trees, tactile paving at crossings, new benches and a drinking fountain and changes to traffic lights to prioritise cyclists. The roads will be resurfaced once all the pavement works and completed.
The council has written to local residents to make them aware of the works, and details are also available on the council website at www.wandsworth.gov.uk/southfields.
The cost of the scheme, likely to be around £1.6m will be met by a combination of the Wandsworth Local Fund – money raised by the council by imposing a levy on local developers – the wider Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy and by Transport for London.
The council’s cabinet member for strategic planning and transport Cllr Paul Ellis said: “We want Southfields residents to benefit from an enhanced shopping area and better facilities for people who want to visit on bike or on foot. These works will also ensure that during the Wimbledon championships it can handle the thousands of people from all over the world who visit it, and that they will be more likely to spend their money in the town’s restaurants, bars and shops.
“We will try to keep any inconvenience caused by the work to a minimum, and it will be put on pause during the championships and at other busy times.”
March 10, 2020