Improvement Works Update courtesy of F M Conway, contractor for the works.
Work for weeks commencing the 30th July 2017.
- Kerb laying, drainage work and paving continuing north from Church Avenue.
- The construction of the new planters on Beckenham Green will continue.
- Transport for London traffic signals work at the Bromley Road/Church Road/High Street Junction to be completed by the end of the week.
- Pavement laying will continue adjoining the planters on Beckenham Green and will be completed by the 11th August.
For reference some works such as traffic signals and power connections are conducted by outside agencies such as Transport for London and UKPN. The project does not have control of these works and therefore trenches such as at the Albemarle and High Street junction cannot be filled.
Previous completed works
- Paving and kerbing completed to Marks and Spencer.
The completed scheme
Feedback from the community has revealed that there are some incorrect preconceptions about the scheme.
- The asphalt at Thornton’s Corner is a temporary measure until the granite paving is laid.
- The High Street will not be pedestrianised. Improvements will however greatly improve the pedestrian environment with wider pavements, improved lighting and more and better road crossings.
- After the improvements are complete the High Street will revert to two way traffic as prior to the improvements. The larger widenings such as the North-West corner of Thorntons Corner have been designed to enable the largest road vehicles to comfortably navigate the corner in both directions. Changes to the vehicle stop lines and traffic signalling will enable vehicles to use the reduced road space with minimal impacts on traffic flows.
- No existing bus stops will be removed from the High Street. All bus stops will however be improved and will become fully disabled accessible. In order to create sufficient waiting space for passengers some bus stops will be located on what is the highway at present.
- The scheme will not introduce shared surfaces where the footway and road surface will be on the same level. Throughout the scheme a kerb will be retained and the pedestrian areas will be a traditional pavement above vehicular areas except at crossing places.
Further information can be found at www.bromley.gov.uk/beckenhamimprovements
Copers Cope Area Residents' Association (CCARA) & West Beckenham Residents' Association (WBRA) 
I have made 5 trips recently through Beckenham High Street and each time, traffic is held up because of road narrowing opposite the former public toilet site which means everyone waits for vehicles turning into Kelsey Park Road, congestion and pollution increase. The new paving is a shocking mixture of styles mostly too light to keep clean and newly created ‘falls’ in the gradient make the pathways worse for pedestrians notably outside the Public Hall and opposite the old Police Station. Parking is reduced, no scheme to attract new retail and I gather much of the Beckenham Junction area slab work will have to come up to be replaced by something better. CCARA must lobby the Council for a proper scheme that ensures clean, hard wearing footways and more individual shops. So far, the project has been a waste of public money
and is damaging both the environment and local economy as sales fall.