The council has notified us somewhat belatedly of a neighbourhood scheme in an area defined as Hammersmith Cemetary. Comments for both are requested by tomorrow Friday 15th November, by phone on 020 8753 3084 or email to Mathew Veale at the council.

20mph limit for some roads in the area

Here is the consultation letter from the council.

There are two separate proposals. one is for a 20mph limit in the area defined by signage only (rather than a zone which would legally need traffic calming). This is not the first scheme the council have proposed to use a limit rather than a zone for, that was near Ravenscourt Park.

My immediate view (all we can give in time frame) is that the 20mph limit is welcome, and actually matches the approach seen in some of the 20mph borough limits of signage rather than traffic calming. Given the issues cycles can have in navigating road humps, pillows and other deformations in the road for traffic calming a limit may be preferable. Experience locally will need to show us how this works, and issues of through traffic may be more important to resolve than speed alone. The other issue is that clearly the 20mph limit is only for a fraction of the roads in this neighbourhood area. No rationale is given for containing the changes to these roads, though it may be only residents in those streets requested 20mph. The roads chosen border the hospital and a school, but the S marks in the map above show schools are not just in the area concerned.

Margavine Gardens Congestion and Streetscape

Here is the consultation letter from the council.

The second proposal is to rework an existing arrangement of kerb build outs, car, motorcycle and cycle parking to provide more usable carriageway for vehicles and reduce congestion. It’s worth taking a look at the area as it is now. Note the car parked on the single yellow line in this google streetview capture.

View Larger Map

There is no increase to cycle stands here, some car parking would be removed near to Baron’s Court but many more spaces have recently been added in the overall neighbourhood. The council believes they have added 30 spaces for cars. Our concern is that there are not sufficient cycle stands in this area, by Baron’s Court tube station. The proposal presents no improvement to conditions on the roads for cyclists.

There are two consultations cyclists and local residents should be aware of, seeking to address congestion in the borough caused by through traffic in local neighbourhoods especially at peak times. As details are only in the surveys linked in the consultation we have extracted them and given you maps to help describe the changes proposed. Though we haven’t made a formal response yet our initial concern is that these changes are not strong enough to resolve the issues traffic and especially through traffic presents in these areas. Both of these consultations close on Monday 2nd December.

[osm_map lat=”51.5″ long=”-0.225″ zoom=”16″ width=”600″ height=”450″ marker=”51.49924,-0.22547″ marker_name=”bicycling.png”]

Sulgrave Road Neighbourhood consultation

Here is the consultation letter from the council, and here is the form for leaving comments with the council.

This covers Lena Gardens, Batoum Gardens and Sulgrave Road (map above). Currently the Sulgrave Road Neighbourhood does not have a 20mph limit or zone in operation. The 20mph limit starts as Trussley Road narrows to pass under the Hammersmith and City line. Though a contra-flow lane is proposed on Batoum Gardens, that would mostly help enable cycling very locally as it does not link onto wider links in the same way as Sulgrave Road and Lena Gardens do.

Option 1: One-way Batoum Gardens

Option 1 will convert Batomn Gardens to one-way in the eastbound direction (i.e. from Sulgrave Road to Shepherd’s Bush Road). It will have a contra-flow cycle route to allow cycling in both directions.

Option 2: Two-way system with passing spaces

Option 2 will retain the existing two way flow. Passing spaces will be provided along the roads to allow opposing traffic to pass. Each passing space will be long enough for a single vehicle and will be created by removing kerb build outs and installing double yellow lines. These passing spaces will be located at:

Sulgrave Road – north of the Trussley Road junction
Sulgrave Road – south of Batoum Gardens junction
Lena Gardens – at Loris Road junction
Batoum Gardens – at Osman Road junction
Possible Effects of Proposed Alternatives

Option 1, the one-way system, is likely to have a more significant reduction of congestion than Option 2 but it will result in a longer travel distance for many residents. The one-way system is also likely to result in increased traffic speeds along Batoum Gardens and higher traffic volumes.

These proposals seem remarkably timid but it should also be born in mind that with the Trussley Road the only two-way road between two gyratories (Hammersmith Broadway and Shepherds Bush Green) it has extra through traffic both motorised and not avoiding either the danger or complication those junctions impose on the local road network.

[osm_map lat=”51.502″ long=”-0.237″ zoom=”16″ width=”600″ height=”450″ marker=”51.50209,-0.23772″ marker_name=”bicycling.png”]

Cathnor Neighbourhood consultation

Here is the consultation letter from the council, and here is the form for leaving comments with the council.

Option 1: One-way system
Option 1 involves:

Converting Greenside Road between nos. 9 and 45 to one-way in the northbound direction
Converting Leysfield Road to one-way in the southbound direction
Removing redundant chicanes
Option 2: Relocation and upgrade of chicanes
Option 2 involves:

Moving the chicane outside 17 Greenside Road south to outside 5 Greenside Road and changing the priority (i.e. priority will be given to southbound vehicles). This will require the removal of parking outside 1-5 Greenside Road.
Changing all chicanes into road narrowings.
Effect of a one-way system
Option 1, the one-way system, is likely to have a more significant reduction of congestion except during periods when vehicles are manoeuvring into and out of parking bays. The one-way system will have the detrimental effect of causing a longer travel distance for many residents and it is likely to also increase traffic speeds and traffic flow in Leysfield Road and the east/west part of Greenside Road.

Again vehicle speeds are noted as a downside of a one-way system, though Greenside road is within an existing 20mph zone.

We have added an item to the agenda of our next meeting to discuss these proposals, after which we will post a public response.