Council Announce Range of Traffic Measures in Brentford Area

Aiming to make local streets more pedestrian and cyclist friendly

Trial closure of Green Dragon Lane being considered . Picture: Google Streetview

Hounslow Council have announced a number of measures to manage traffic in the borough including several in the Brentford area.

They are aiming to allow people to travel around the area safely and maintain social distancing. At the same time they are resuming a number of construction projects which had been suspended.

Work is to be recommenced at Boston Manor Road and the Twickenham to Brentford Cycleway works in Isleworth. The scheme to implement segregated cycle facilities on Bath Road, (Vicarage Farm Road to A4) is to commence in June/July and project to improve pedestrian facilities on and in vicinity of Windmill Road, Brentford is to start at the same time.

The council are also going to consider trial closures at Occupation Lane and Green Dragon Lane in Brentford, where there have been concerns raised previously about volumes of through traffic.

The permanent closure of Lionel Road South to through traffic is going to be progressed once the stadium works are completed.

They also intend to step up work on introducing ‘school streets’ - timed resident only access restrictions to reduce traffic and parking outside school gates. This starts with the implementation of schemes at Sparrow Farm Infants, Marlborough Primary, Smallberry Green Primary and The Green School as soon as practicable. They will also extend the existing scheme at Nishkam to cover Leigham Drive. The next tranche of sites will start consultation before the summer.

The council is also going to implement on TfL’s behalf, the permanent closure to vehicle access to Wellesley Road at its junction with the South Circular. Stile Hall Gardens will also become ‘in only’ from the South Circular. This has already been approved as part of the TfL Cycleway 9 (CW9) scheme. They say this will also improve conditions for cyclists more generally on this route between Brentford and Chiswick town centres by delivering lower traffic volumes. We have asked TfL what their intentions are with regard to the completion of the rest of the CW9 project and they said more details would be released in due course.

Bus lane hours across the borough will be amended to extend to 24/7 where possible, and at a minimum to cover the busiest times Monday-Sunday, on a trial basis. Provision for loading to local premises will be retained.

In addition they are looking to reintroduce adult cycle training, with a focus on keyworkers, as soon as possible. They are also exploring a cycle loan scheme for keyworkers.

In other parts of the borough parking spaces have been coned off to provide more pavement space in retail areas.

A public consultation is being held on transport issues in the borough and will be open until the end June 2020. The schemes which are most technically feasible and can demonstrate strong local support could be delivered later in the year.

Cllr Hanif Khan, Cabinet Member for Transport and Corporate Property, said, “The Council has a duty to ensure that people can get around the borough safely while following the Government’s strict social distancing guidelines to help reduce the spread of coronavirus.

“Temporarily suspending parking to provide more space for pedestrians at town centre sites, bringing forward sustainable transport schemes we have already approved, trialling projects at other areas where concerns about safety and through traffic have been raised previously, are all necessary to help keep people healthy and safe. There could well be varying forms of social distancing for many months to come, so it’s important we take action to best manage it. In some cases these trial changes may also bring wider benefits, such as improved air quality, and some we may want to keep in place for the longer term.”

May 13, 2020