Greenwich Park users are being asked if through traffic should be banned from travelling through the open space in the evening rush hour.
Royal Parks, which runs the park along with seven other open spaces, is asking users for their views as part of a new “movement strategy” for its parks.
Through traffic was banned from Greenwich Park at most times of day in the 1990s, but cars are allowed through after 4pm on weekdays, with queues of idling vehicles building up in Greenwich town centre in anticipation of the gates opening.
In June 2007, a man was killed while cycling on The Avenue, the hill running through the park, when a driver hit him head-on. The road is due to be included on an extension to Transport for London’s Quietway 1 cycle route, from Greenwich station towards Bexleyheath.
“Our park roads are not intended to be commuter through-routes for motor vehicles,” a Royal Parks consultation document says. “Park roads are primarily for the use of park visitors coming to the parks, not for commuters travelling through the parks. Over time, we will discourage the through-movement of motor vehicles within our parks.”
A full traffic ban has traditionally been resisted by residents on and near Crooms Hill, who fear the rat-runners will switch to their streets. In January, Greenwich Council revealed plans to remove the one-way system in Greenwich town centre, cutting road space around the market.
The consultation document and a survey can be found at www.royalparks.org.uk/movement.
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