Could Tooting Broadway "Go Dutch"?

This afternoon I saw this at Tooting Broadway.

It's happened today, and last month something similar happened to one of the traffic lights on the north side heading up Tooting High Road.

It would appear, and this is speculation, that someone was driving a motor vehicle too fast and they took out the post. The CSO I spoke with didn't know what had happened, and his colleagues were investigating. It seems that the person who caused the incident didn't hang around or report it. That's not to say they won't later, but chances are that they won't.

This crossroads is a nightmare from a people friendly perspective.

The excellent "Love London, Go Dutch" campaign by LCC asks the following “I want the mayoral candidates to pledge to make London more liveable for everyone by making our streets as safe and inviting for cycling as they are in Holland”. Please do show your support and sign up here.

It got me thinking, could Tooting Broadway be better? Could it be easier to cross the road? Would it be possible not to be penned in like cattle when crossing the road? 

Tooting Broadway with CSH highlighted - Google Maps Satellite view

I'm no designer but I think that taking ideas from other blogs (exact reference to come) something like this would be much better.

A more people friendly vision of Tooting Broadway?

To explain the colours in orange there would be new islands. In mauve the cycle routes around. In green the new direct pedestrian crossings. This would reduce the amount of wasted space in the centre of the cross roads. As a consequence people who are driving would be less likely to fly through at speed and collide with people or traffic light posts. 

Worth remembering that approaching from the south, there are only two lanes of traffic, this is opened up to three at the cross-roads which results in a racing grid situation from motor traffic. From the east its the same, there is a bus lane and a single lane for cars. Approaching from the West, it's a single lane. 

This Youtube clip which talks it through very easily.


Let me know your thoughts.