Vibrating speed bumps have caused CRACKS in our home: Furious residents open their homes to show the damage to
- Waltham Forest Council installed bumps on Old Church Road, London, last year
- Locals have revealed the devastating damage they have caused to their homes
Published: 20:14, 11 December 2023 | Updated: 20:14, 11 December 2023
Residents living next to newly installed speed bumps on their road have shown how the traffic calming measures have left cracks in their walls.
Locals have been subject to misery after Waltham Forest Council installed the bumps on Old Church Road in Chingford, east London[2], last year.
Huge buses and HGVs crash over the speed bumps and cause homes to vibrate, windows to creak and items in their homes to rattle throughout the day.
Residents say many drivers hardly reduce their speed when approaching the bumps, and believe they should be removed and replaced with speed cameras, which they claim would be a far more effective and less damaging deterrent.
Shocking pictures have revealed the devastating damage caused by the constant traffic, with huge cracks appearing on the walls of some houses and one resident fearful their home might ‘fall in’.
Residents living next to newly installed speed bumps (pictured) on their road have shown how the traffic calming measures have left cracks in their walls
Locals have been subject to misery after Waltham Forest Council installed the bumps (pictured) on Old Church Road in Chingford, east London, last year
Shocking pictures have revealed the devastating damage caused by the constant traffic, with huge cracks appearing on the walls of some houses
Some residents said they even avoid the roads and willingly increase their journey time not to have to drive over the bumps punctuating the road at shockingly frequent intervals.
Larry Relfe has lived in a home near to the bump at the top of Old Church Road, situated opposite the Greene Man pub, for around 40 years.
The 75-year-old retired security worker says speed cameras are the only solution to stop vehicles speeding.
He said: ‘It was TfL who brought the speed bumps in, so it’s them we’ve got to tackle. What would be better is speed cameras.
‘The bumps slow traffic down but they are damaging the houses near them.
‘I would imagine buses and ambulances with casualties in the back will get damaged as well.
‘It could kill casualties in the back of ambulances when they go over the bumps.’
Mr Relfe said over his four-decade residence on Old Church Road he has seen some bad accidents, including motorbikes ‘flying’ up the hill and into the walls of nearby houses.
He added that at a recent meeting at the Greene Man pub with local MP Sir Ian Duncan Smith, TfL had told them the bumps has been the cheapest speed reduction method available.
Seven speed bumps were installed on the less than a mile-long road in 2022 as part of the council’s plans to reduce the speed limit to 20mph.
Huge buses and HGVs crash over the speed bumps and cause homes to vibrate, with huge cracks forming in their homes as a result
Here two huge cracks can seen in close proximity to another on one resident’s home on Old Church Road in Chingford
Seven speed bumps were installed on the less than a mile-long road in 2022 as part of the council’s plans to reduce the speed limit to 20mph. Pictured are some of the speed bumps along Old Church Road, Chingford
Cracks have even formed at the base of some of the speed bumps as vehicles often don’t slow down when approaching them
Residents say many drivers hardly reduce their speed when approaching the bumps and believe they should be removed
A car is seen driving over speed bumps in Endelbury Avenue, Chingford, today. Residents in the area have complained about the effects of the traffic calming system since they were introduced last year
He said: ‘The bumps are very difficult to avoid as well,’ he said. ‘It’s totally unreasonable. It shakes the houses all the time.
‘TfL said it was the cheapest way of slowing people down.
But it’s causing havoc around here.’
Neighbour Phillip Nikolas, 65, a father-of-four who has lived in the area for around 25 years, agreed that speed cameras alone could slow drivers down.
‘It does make a lot of noise. I don’t think it stops people from speeding, either – they couldn’t care less.
‘The only thing that will stop them speeding is a camera, because it will hurt their pockets.
‘But TfL are not listening. This is important: if they want to slow down the drivers, you have to fine them.
‘I have seen a couple of bad accidents…
You can’t imagine how fast they go.
‘The bumps have not stopped people speeding so they have done nothing to help.’
Lee Gilbert, 65, is among the Old Church Road residents campaigning against the disruptive speed bumps.
She revealed how a crack in her ceiling has become ‘worse and worse’ over the past year since the speed bumps were installed and now lives in fear of it ‘falling in’, the Telegraph reported.
Neighbours are universal in their belief that the speed bumps are not doing their job and allege that many drivers hardly reduce their speed when approaching the bumps.
Pictured is a car driving over one of the bumps on Old Church Road
Vehicles drive over speed bumps on Station Rd, Chingford
Lee Gilbert, 65, (pictured) is among the Old Church Road residents campaigning against the disruptive speed bumps
Lee revealed how a crack in her ceiling (pictured) has become ‘worse and worse’ over the past year since the speed bumps were installed and now lives in fear of it ‘falling in’
An elderly woman living opposite the bumps, who didn’t wish to be named, said vehicles hitting the bumps make her home shake.
She said: ‘It causes a lot of disturbance. It makes the house shake. I think it’s OK if it’s a small road where you don’t have lorries and buses, but on a road like this it is really not appropriate.
‘It’s quite a lot of noise and we would rather have a speed camera or something.
That would be better.’
Jenny Coombs, the landlady of the Greene Man pub, says vehicles going over the bumps at night illuminate her bedroom.
The 53-year-old mother-of-one, who has run the pub for more than four years, said: ‘I think we have just become acclimatised to it now.
‘If I’m upstairs it’s quite loud, and my whole room lights up when vehicles go over the bump at night.
‘Something needs to be there, but is there something better?
Speed cameras might be a better idea.’
References
- ^ Dan Woodland (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ London (www.dailymail.co.uk)