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Drokk
@skidlidsid
Gave the very unfinished Q5 a go from Oval to Tooting Bec Common this evening. Thought it might be educational to note down some thoughts.
Oval to Clapham Common is nice and quiet, but is the definition of 'low intervention'. They've picked some decent back roads, but I found myself letting a car through in the opposite direction more than once. I felt like for the most part I was just being shown a quiet route that existed anyway, but never felt like bike was king, like I do on Q1.
Emerging onto Clapham Common, you start to realise how unfinished the route is. Only made it to Q5 on the other side because I happen to know where it is. Nice ride across the Common, but either it's poorly-signed enough for me to completely lose the thread or it's not Q5-ified yet.
Most disappointing bit for me is that, having attempted a completely quiet route home, once i get to Tooting Bec Common I am then forced to choose the lesser of two busy options. Either I turn left onto the busy-ish road half way down the common, then follow said busy-ish road (which is also in shit condition) up and over the railway bridge, round a busy corner and up Becmead Ave into Streatham, or go all the way through the common and use the even busier road that goes past the athletics track to go up past St. Leonard's Church into Streatham.
Is development of Q5 completely parked? I would really love a properly quiet way back to Streatham, but the options above are close but no cigar, and Streatham High Road itself is a complete non-starter. Every possible way home involves at least one busy section.
Streatham needs sorting out generally - nowhere should have a 6 lane high road. Until then, as far as I'm concerned, it's not a place for people to live it's a fucking motorway service station with houses attached.