Car Free London

Tooting Broadway Junction is a highly congested junction which desperately needs change and Tooting town centre severely lacks public space and greenery.

It sits at the intersection of the A24 (Tooting High Street) and the A217 (Mitcham Rd) in south London. Found to be one of the most dangerous junctions for pedestrians there have been multiple serious collisions at the site in recent years, including 4 fatalities. Air pollution is a significant problem and the area is currently outside of the ULEZ which ends at the South Circular. A temporary cycleway was introduced during the pandemic - but it remains a dangerous junction for cyclists and pedestrians alike.

In 2017, Transport for London listed Tooting Broadway Junction in its Safer Junctions programme. Subsequently it commissioned and consulted on a Pedestrian Action Plan to invest millions of pounds in improvements - but none of these have been implemented. A 20 mile per hour limit was due to be introduced in 2020 - but in 2023, the 20mph limit is still not in place on Tooting High Street.

Tooting is also a very built-up area, with narrow footways along the High Street, which is often crowded with shoppers. There is currently no town square or space for people to gather. It’s very challenging to navigate for wheelchair users, people with mobility aids or parents/carers with buggies, due to the lack of space.

How we produced our vision for Tooting 

In Autumn 2022, we interviewed eight experts to find out their thoughts on how to make London an equitable city, free from car dependency - examining the themes of London’s infrastructure, governance, and identity.

Our experts (a range of practitioners, campaigners, politicians and academics) shared their views on the question: How can we ensure that London looks, feels and operates equitably in a post car-dependent-future?

We then worked with a diverse cross-section of people who live, work and shop in Tooting, to find out what they think about the area and to help us to create an aspirational new vision for the junction. 

Over the course of three Saturday mornings we explored:

  • The problems caused by cars in London (pollution, climate crisis, congestion, road danger) and the disproportional impact on marginalised communities

  • The principles of equity and justice in relationship to urban design and transport planning

  • Definitions of a car free city - it’s not a city with no cars at all but rather one which is free of the dangers, pollution, and emissions caused by mass private car ownership 

  • The story of each participant’s relationship to Tooting 

  • The five golden rules for a happy city and the capabilities approach to planning

  • Inspiration from car free cities around the world and examples of equitable public spaces

One of our experts, Isabelle Clement (Director of disabled cyclists’ charity Wheels for Wellbeing) gave us a presentation on inclusive design principles, equitable streets and the social model of disability. Isabelle provided an insight into a wheelchair user’s experience of Tooting Junction by taking us on a tour - which was an eye-opener for all our participants.

“I hadn’t considered what a nightmare the design of the junction is for disabled people - Isabelle couldn’t even reach to press the button at the pedestrian crossing, nor get up the steep kerbs without help from someone else.”

Using our participants’ ideas, sketches, written notes, and inspiration they found online, our architectural visualiser created draft designs for the group to review and feedback on, considering how the new design could meet the needs of all people in terms of transport, accessibility, and placemaking. They also considered the footway uses and incorporating nature for climate adaptation and a better environment. They measured the draft design against the 7 principles of Transport for All’s Equal Pavement Pledge.

Inspiration for our vision

Our final design features a new pedestrianised square outside Tooting Broadway station. 

In July 2017, Transition Town Tooting created a temporary village green at the bus turning circle just off Mitcham Road, which highlighted the local need and desire for more greenery and public space in the area.

Local residents and shopkeepers spoke enthusiastically about how the event brought people together. 

A workshop participant wanted to see trams back in Tooting, inspired by her previous home of Orléans in France's Loire Valley, which introduced trams in 2000.

Our vision for Tooting Broadway Junction

Here’s what we came up with, and how you can help make it a reality.

Pull the slider from side to side to see Tooting Broadway Junction before and after our vision.

It’s 2030, mid afternoon on a sunny July day. You’ve just collected your kids from school and they want to stop off at Broadway Green on the way home to enjoy the sunshine for a while.

You cycle along Tooting High Street’s designated cycleway behind your two children, who pull in and dismount when you reach Tooting Broadway Junction. Broadway Green, the pedestrianised square, is full of life. You park your bikes at the cycle racks in the square, whilst your kids run over to browse the books on the Free Library shelf. 

Your younger child chooses a picture book and you sit down on one of the many benches to read it together, whilst your older one joins the queue to buy ice creams.

The new Square outside Tooting Broadway station is a popular meeting place. Friends meet for a chat; customers buy flowers from the florists’ stall; several people come to sit on the circular benches, rest in the shade of the many plane trees and watch the world go by.

Two food delivery riders are taking a well earned break, refilling their water bottles from the water fountain before sitting down on another bench for a chat.

The scent of rosemary, lavender and marjoram from the herbs planted in the square is delightful. You help yourself to a few basil leaves to flavour this evening’s dinner. The air is clean and pure. 

A couple of magpies come to rest in an apple tree, while butterflies dance amongst the flora. An information board explain the rich biodiversity in the area and advertises the varied programme of community events taking place this summer on the new Broadway Green.

A busker near the tube station stands under the shade of a tree, aptly playing ‘Summertime’ on her saxophone, perfect for a day like this.  

Sophie, a wheelchair user, parks her car in one of the accessible parking spaces on Garratt Terrace and wheels her way over to the lift up to the tube station’s roof garden - looking forward to meeting her daughter who has arrived by tram, using the newly extended line from Sutton. The lift also provides access directly to the platforms in the underground station, enabling more people who use mobility aids to use the Northern line in both directions.

Round the corner on the A24, Rafiq, a nurse who has just finished his shift at St George’s hospital, cycles along the A24 towards his home in Morden, enjoying the sensation of easy movement and the cooling breeze after being on his feet on the ward all day.

Regular trams and buses head to and from the city centre, taking people to their destinations. 

Many people come to Tooting to shop at the specialist Asian grocery shops, butchers, fashion and jewellery stores. Broadway Green provides a little oasis for them to pause for some respite from the busy shops.The tram provides a convenient route between Sutton and Mitcham going through Tooting and then north towards Clapham Junction. In addition, the summertime Tuk Tuk taxi service and the electric cargobike pay-per-minute hire option provide more choices for them to transport their goods back home.

You smile to yourself as you remember that just a few years ago, this place was a noisy, polluting, congested road junction and a sensory nightmare. Now it’s calmer, safer, healthier, happier - a wonderful place for people and nature, not cars.

What you can do to support a car free future