Bermondsey Street now closed to through motor traffic
A short section of Bermondsey Street has been made into a pedestrian and cyclist-only route, with motor traffic no longer able to use the full length of the street.
The measure was announced in the summer as part of Southwark Council's contribution to the capital-wide Streetspace London programme to encourage walking and cycling during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Motor traffic can no longer use Bermondsey Street north of Morocco Street and south of White's Grounds.
The short section of street – close to The Garrison and The Woolpack – remains open to cyclists and pedestrians.
The council intends to install lockable bollards to prevent motor vehicles passing through, except for dustcarts and large lorries heading for the White Cube Bermondsey gallery.
A council report says that whilst the emergency services would prefer enforcement via automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) cameras, the fire brigade say they are content with the arrangements so long as keys for the bollards are supplied to local fire stations.
The scheme has been introduced using an experimental traffic order, and ANPR cameras will be considered if the measures are made permanent.
Southwark Council will be collecting feedback via https://bermondseystreet-streetspace.commonplace.is but the website had not been launched at the time of writing.
