Streatham Hill roadworks: Lib Dems demand action as TfL ‘treats bus passengers as an afterthought’

The five Liberal Democrat councillors representing Streatham have written to the Mayor of London demanding urgent action over Transport for London’s management of the £25 million Streatham Hill improvement scheme.

The councillors say TfL has “treated bus passengers as an afterthought”, closing four bus stops on Streatham Hill with little or no warning, leaving elderly residents, disabled people, parents with buggies and others facing long walks on one of London’s busiest bus corridors.

Their letter, co-signed by Lib Dem London Assembly Leader Hina Bokhari, calls on TfL urgently to improve management of the scheme, reopen bus stops, provide clear information to passengers and accelerate construction by making greater use of weekend working.

The Lib Dem group argues that the current disruption continues an unhappy history for the project. The original plans were consulted on in 2020 before the Streatham Hill Low Traffic Neighbourhood had been introduced.

In 2025, the scheme was revived and construction began without any fresh public consultation, despite significant changes in local circumstances.

Councillor Kita Ogden, Liberal Democrat councillor for Streatham Hill West and Thornton, said:

“Nobody expects major roadworks to be painless, but residents do expect them to be competently managed. Instead, bus passengers have been treated as an afterthought.

People are left to discover closed stops without warning and to walk long distances, all while communication from TfL has been wholly inadequate.

“These works have been controversial and poorly managed from the start.

The least TfL can do is make sure the works are properly planned, that passengers are properly informed and that construction is progressing as quickly as possible.”

Liberal Democrat councillors have asked the Mayor and TfL to:

review the phasing of the works to avoid simultaneous bus stop closures;

reopen closed bus stops as soon as possible;

publish a clear timetable for future closures;

improve information for passengers;

explain the accessibility assessments undertaken during construction;

increase weekend, daytime working where appropriate to minimise disruption;

provide a dedicated telephone line for residents to report problems during the period of the works; and

brief all Streatham ward councillors regularly

The letter also asks the Mayor to provide an update on the longer-term strategy for cycling on the A23, warning that the current scheme creates only around a mile of cycle lanes with no published plan for how cyclists will continue safely towards Brixton and central London.

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