Lambeth's designs for Acre Lane add two zebra crossings, seven raised side-road crossings and parking changes to speed up buses. Comments close 18 October.
Lambeth Council has published its designs to speed up buses on Acre Lane, the road between Clapham and Brixton. It wants comments by Sunday 18 October.
Buses on the road are some of the slowest in the borough. The council says peak journeys average as low as 5.2mph. The Mayor of London’s target for main bus corridors is 10 to 13mph.
The designs are on the council’s Have Your Say page for Acre Lane, with an online survey. The council announced the consultation on 29 September.
What the designs include
The council’s design rationale, published with the survey on its supporting documents page, lists these changes:
- two new zebra crossings on raised tables, one near Trinity Gardens and one near Concanon Road
- raised continuous crossings across seven side roads: Hetherington Road, Ashmere Grove, Plato Road, Ballater Road, Corrance Road, Baytree Road and Concanon Road
- an informal crossing with a central island near Simkins Close
- parking changes along the whole road: some parking removed to make room for bus priority, more dedicated loading bays for businesses, and disabled bays
- an enlarged signal junction at Solon Road and Branksome Road, with signal crossings on all four arms
- a planted build-out on Branksome Road to soak up rainwater
The council’s FAQ also lists bus priority measures along the corridor. The survey asks about pavement widening and cutbacks too.
Two things the documents do not say. They do not give the number of parking spaces that would go. Nor do they say how much new bus lane there would be. Both are shown only on the design drawings.
The Solon Road junction has no construction money yet. The council says it will put it to Transport for London for funding, and that feedback “will help strengthen the case”.
Why Acre Lane
The council’s Initial Engagement Report from August sets out the case. Acre Lane is about 1km long and has one lane each way for most of its length. The only bus lanes are two short ones, about 100m each. One runs westbound into the Clapham Park Road junction. The other runs eastbound into Brixton Hill.
The report’s figures:
- four day routes, three night routes and one school route use the road
- that is 23 buses an hour in each direction at peak times
- about 4,500 passengers a day travel eastbound and 4,400 westbound
- much of the road is rated “poor” or “very poor” by TfL for bus speed or reliability
- 64.4% of nearby households do not own a car or van
TfL’s own stop data shows the day routes at Solon Road as the 35, 37, 355 and P5, with the 690 school route.
What people said the first time
The first round ran from 19 January to 15 February. The council delivered flyers to 4,968 addresses and got 74 responses online. No paper surveys came back. Its market researchers completed 27 business surveys. Four people joined the two guided walks.
The main complaints, as the report summarises them:
- double parking, especially near Strathleven Road and outside takeaways
- parked cars blocking the existing bus lanes, with one comment noting they are not in force on Sundays
- calls for camera enforcement and for bus lanes that run the full length
- businesses saying loading clashes with buses and cyclists
- a view from many that the nearby Healthy Neighbourhoods (low traffic schemes) push traffic onto Acre Lane
The council says that feedback led to the extra loading space, the two zebra crossings and the larger junction.
What happens next
This is not the final decision. After 18 October the council will publish a design report showing what changed. It will then bid for construction money from TfL later in 2026.
Any scheme would need a permanent traffic order. That brings a formal three-week consultation where anyone can object. The council says building work “would likely happen in 2027 and beyond”.
The same consultation is running for bus priority plans on Norwood Road, Croxted Road and Streatham Common North, also closing on 18 October.
What it means for you
If you take the 35, 37, 355 or P5, drive or park on Acre Lane, or run a business there, this is the stage to have a say on the detail. Look at the drawings for your stretch before you answer, because the survey asks about each type of change.
The survey closes on Sunday 18 October. Current roadworks are on our roadworks and travel page, and parking rules are on our parking in Clapham page.
Have your say