TfL Ref: FOI-2725-2021 And FOI-0072-2122 Thank you for your requests received by TfL on 30th March and 13th April 2021 asking for information about the Balham Park Road and A24 junction. Your requests have been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. Under case ref FOI-2725-2021 you asked the following: “A belated thanks for this. The above email refers to closure of various signalised junctions "to reduce, mitigate or remove the risk from left turning vehicles at locations where left turning collisions may be more prevalent". However, Balham Park Road / A24 is not a signalised junction as stated here so what is the risk at this junction that justifies its closure? (when other similar junctions in the area such as Marius Road / A24 are not closed)”. And under case ref FOI-0072-2122 you asked the following: “So if the closure of the Balham Park Road / A24 junction to A24 traffic during 2020 wasn’t recommended by a RSA, can you please provide the relevant document that did make the recommendation for this highway alteration.” There is no document that recommended the closure. Rather, this decision was based on engineering judgement taking into account the available traffic counts, collision data, existing road network and highway infrastructure. The reasoning behind the ban of the left turn from the A24 to Balham Park Road is as follows: Looking at the collision statistics in the period of 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 we found: • There were six collisions at the junction with Balham Park Road, two of which involved people cycling. One of them resulted in serious injury • There were five collisions in the proximity of the junction with Marius Road, four of which involved people cycling. Two of the collisions however were recorded 40m away from the junction While the number of collisions involving people cycling was higher in the proximity of the junction of Marius Road than Balham Park Road, we decided to maintain the turn into Marius Road for the following reasons: • Balham Park Road is closer to Chestnut Grove and therefore lends itself better as a rat run. We want to, as far as possible, reduce rat-running through residential streets • Marius Road seems to link the network of residential roads better than Balham Park Road. Using Marius Road as access reduces the distance for residents who drive to access their homes • Parking had been removed on Balham High Road close to the junction with Marius Rd. Retaining access to the parking bays on Marius Road is important to serve the local shops and businesses nearby • The severity of the collision at Balham Park Road junction was higher and the same number of collisions (two) happened at the junction with Marius Road means providing an evidence If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed. Yours sincerely, David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London