Mortlake's Traffic 'Nightmare' Set to Get Worse
Council and locals blame Hammersmith Bridge closure for local gridlock
Sarah Castleman says Upper Richmond Road is a problem. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon
July 11, 2023
Mortlake has been dubbed the “worst part” of the city for traffic which locals fear will get worse under plans to build over 1,000 new homes in the area. Plans for the 22-acre former Stag Brewery site include 1,050 new homes in tower blocks up to nine storeys tall, a 1,200-pupil secondary school, shops and offices.
Richmond councillors are set to debate a petition demanding solutions to traffic in Mortlake, East Sheen, Barnes and Kew on Tuesday (11 July). The petition has been signed by 1,291 locals and urges Richmond Council to address congestion in light of proposed developments – including the Stag Brewery scheme.
Sarah Castleman, 45, lived in Mortlake for around three years but has since moved to Guildford in Surrey, where she said she is happier. Ms Castleman, who still works on Sheen Lane, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), “We live miles away now so we don’t have to deal with the traffic, which is good.”
Ms Castleman said cars get “built up” at the Sheen Lane level crossing, at Mortlake train station, and she sometimes waits at the barriers for 15 minutes. She added Upper Richmond Road, which connects Putney to the Richmond borough, can get “really bad” with traffic.
Regarding her commute, she said, “It’s completely fine until you get onto the Upper Richmond Road and then that bit can take you 15 minutes, and we’ve come from the other side of Guildford basically… it’s this bit that’s always the worst, getting in and out.”
If the Stag Brewery scheme goes ahead, Ms Castleman thinks congestion will get worse. She also raised concerns about the closure of the Sheen Gate-Sheen Cross vehicle link in Richmond Park. “I think that’s had an impact on the Upper Richmond Road because you can’t use the park as a cut-through,” she said.
However, a Royal Parks spokesperson claimed there was “no evidence that these measures have had a significant detrimental impact on roads outside the park”.
A local car dealer, who asked to remain anonymous, also told the LDRS he sometimes sits at the level crossing barriers for 15 minutes. Regarding traffic in Mortlake, he said: “It’s a nightmare, it’s probably the worst part of London, or one of them, for traffic.”
He said congestion had worsened since the closure of Hammersmith Bridge to motor vehicles, adding: “If you go to the bottom of the road now and look to the right – it’s generally a jam all the way round and all the way up to the traffic lights.”
There is congestion every day, he said “from the top of the A3 Roehampton all the way to Upper Richmond Road, Putney, through to Sheen, to Richmond, across to Kew and also to Chiswick”.
The car dealer, who used to live in Mortlake and now lives in Kew, pointed to local congestion as the reason why residents have objected to the Stag Brewery scheme. “They’re all moaning about the extra traffic generated by all the additional cars that people will have that live there,” he said.
He added “everybody complains” about ULEZ locally and claimed “it’s effectively another tax for people, but there are so, so many people that have got non-compliant cars that won’t be able to use them unless they want to pay £12.50 a day”. However, the Mayor’s office argues it’s necessary to tackle London’s toxic air.
Areas in Mortlake, Barnes, East Sheen, North Richmond and Kew are already included in the zone, which is set to be expanded to the whole of London from 29 August.
Lolly Smith said the pub she manages, The Pig and Whistle on Sheen Lane, has been affected “badly” by ULEZ as punters have “stopped coming”. She said: “Not all of them have got the compatible cars so that’s affected our trade, definitely.”
The 59-year-old added winter is more difficult for the pub as gates allowing vehicles into Richmond Park close earlier, “so the Upper Richmond Road is gridlocked completely”.
Steve Beckett has been running a charity shop next to Mortlake station since 2004 and lives in Croydon. The 78-year-old said Sheen Lane “gets blocked up every time the train comes through”.
Mr Beckett argued objecting to the Stag Brewery scheme is “NIMBYism” but said he understood fears from people living next door as it would “cause problems”.
He said: “It’s a huge, huge derelict site at the moment. You can’t leave that sort of estate empty. Maybe what they want to do is a bit overdevelopment, but ultimately they’re gonna put something there.”
He added: “I think their current plan would lead to a lot more traffic at certain times of the day, but hey ho.” Richmond Council is set to decide on the scheme on July 19.
Despite the Royal Parks’ claim there was no evidence of it, a Richmond Council spokesperson said: “We know that Royal Parks’ decision to close the East Sheen gate to drivers has put increased pressure on other routes, however this decision is outside of the council’s control.
“Whilst most residents have compliant cars or do not have a vehicle, we understand ULEZ has impacted some drivers. Richmond Council has campaigned hard on behalf of our residents, initially to delay the expansion and now to address some of the limitations in the Mayor’s London-wide scrappage scheme.”
Sheen Lane level crossing at Mortlake train station. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon
The council said its ‘Good Move’ scheme – offering discounted bikes and cargo bikes, free car club memberships and free Oyster card credit to use on tube, buses and local train services – “offers real support to residents who are open to considering a step-change in their vehicle choices”.
The spokesperson added that “although congestion in Mortlake is far from the worst in London, we recognise that traffic has increased since the closure of Hammersmith Bridge” which is the responsibility of Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Richmond is working with its neighbouring council to get the bridge reopened as soon as possible subject to the necessary planning approvals.
The council said the Stag Brewery site was key to its “longstanding ambition to bring forward a new heart for Mortlake”, adding, “Ensuring that residents can safely and accessibly get where they need to be is of utmost importance so the council will continue to work closely with TfL to ensure transport is suitably provided, with or without new development. The wider infrastructure and transport impacts of new development are considered at plan making stage and assessed in detail when major development is proposed, such as in Mortlake.”
Discussing the Stag Brewery scheme, a Dartmouth Advisors spokesperson, acting for the applicant, said it includes up to 10 acres of “beautifully landscaped” public space. The spokesperson said the scheme would contribute more than £3million to bus services, along with road junction improvements tested by consultants, TfL and council officers and “proven by experts to mitigate the extra traffic generated by the scheme”.
They said: “These improvements not only increase traffic flow to ease congestion but also provide improvements for pedestrians and cyclists moving through the district as well as the site itself. There is provision for the introduction of car park zoning in the area which does not exist at present and will allow residents outside the scheme to continue to have on street parking which currently they do enjoy.
“Every aspect of the extra traffic flows, both during the construction phase and the eventual occupation of the scheme, has been analysed and will be planned in detail with construction management plans, post-development occupational travel plans and air quality monitoring, all paid for by the scheme occupiers or the developers.”
They added that the design team led by Squire and Partners architects has “produced a scheme of very high architectural quality” and suggested “having a new 1200-pupil secondary is a generational opportunity which should be applauded and grasped with vigour as such opportunities are very rare”. They said the scheme is a “game changer of a very positive nature and brings a large riverside redundant brewery site back into full public use”.
The spokesperson argued the scheme would not be “overdevelopment” and said the council previously approved 850 new homes for the site but the Mayor’s office “wanted greater density”.
They said developers “get heavily criticised for failing to realise the full capacity of housing sites when there is such a dire shortage of housing in the city”. The scheme aims to “strike a sensible balance”, they added, and follows “adopted planning policy for the site”.
Regarding Hammersmith Bridge, a Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesperson said it has commissioned Foster + Partners with COWI to present their planning proposal to install a temporary bridge to facilitate the full strengthening and restoration of Hammersmith Bridge. It will allow the river crossing to reopen to cars, buses and motorcyclists earlier than previously planned and while the restoration of the bridge takes place.
Carl Eddleston, TfL’s director of network management and resilience, added: “We’re determined to reduce congestion across London including in Mortlake, tackle the climate emergency and clean up the capital’s toxic air and will continue to work with the Mayor and local councils to do so.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said, “the decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone London-wide was not an easy one, but necessary to tackle toxic air pollution” and said he continues to call for a national scrappage scheme from central government.
Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter