Cycleway Consultation Report Shows Low Response from TW8

Less than a third taking part were from Brentford

Visualisation of a new road layout by Brentford Bridge from the earlier consultation

November 14, 2024

Transport for London has published its report into the consultation it held earlier this year into the extension of Cycleway 9 through Brentford.

It was asking for views on range of changes proposed between Brentford and Syon Park along Brentford High Street between Alexandra Road and Beech Avenue.

These included new protected cycle lanes in both directions along Brentford High Street, changes to pedestrian crossings and the introduction of bus islands at four stops.

There were 589 responses including 11 from stakeholder organisations. Where a postcode was given only 27% were from the Brentford TW8 area which was exceeded by the number from postcodes not adjacent to the route which made up a third of responses. The next highest response rate came from Isleworth (TW7) at 11% followed by Chiswick (W4) at 7%.

The survey format did not directly ask whether a respondent supported or opposed the proposals but those who reply did tended to agree that the scheme would encourage more walking and cycling.

Within the text of the responses TfL’s analysis identified 96 expressing general support for the proposals against 57 opposed. However, there were a wide range of grounds for objection identified with the highest number against bus stop bypasses and on the grounds of value for money.

TfL identified one group of 24 consultation responses which were supportive of the reintroduction of the Routemaster bus which it counted as a single response because of the similarity of the wording used.

On the issue of increased traffic delays particularly to buses, TfL said, “We have carried out detailed traffic modelling to understand how our proposals for this stretch of road might affect journey times for general traffic, buses, cyclists, and pedestrians. In this case we were only required to remove 27 metres of bus lane, the modelling data for buses has demonstrated an improvement in journey time reliability.

“Modelling has shown that during the morning peak there is a journey time increase of under one minute in both the eastbound and westbound directions. In the evening peak, modelling indicates an increase of less than a minute in the eastbound direction and a decrease of up to one minute in the westbound.

“Bus journey times in the morning peak are predicted to decrease by 2-3 minutes eastbound and by up to one minute in the westbound direction. In the evening peak, a decrease of up to one minute is expected in the eastbound direction and between 1-2 minutes westbound.”

It believes these improvements can be made by improvements to the way junctions operate along the route.

However, RATP Dev London raised concerns that the High Street at Half Acre and at the Canal Bridge are very narrow for a cycle lane suggesting it believes this may cause additional delays to its services.

In response to concerns about safety, TfL said that the latest available 3-year period of collision data (March 2021 to February 2024), showed 26 collisions between Alexandra Road and Beech Avenue around a third of which were classified as serious and a third of those involved cyclists which it regarded as statistically significant compared to average figures for outer London.

On concerns about value for money, TfL said that its figures showed that there had been a significant growth in cycling seen in sections of Cycleway 9 already operating.

The stakeholder responses showed support from cycling campaign groups and London TravelWatch expressed broad support for the improvements for cyclists and pedestrians while expressing concern about bus stop bypasses, the removal of bus lanes and the likely impact on bus journey times.

London Ambulance Service was concerned about emergency vehicle progression times and the impact of any works. The National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK) objected on the grounds that the design, particularly bus stop bypasses, would mean blind people will be unable to travel independently. Speak Out Hounslow was concerned that a reduction in parking spaces would impact disabled people and raised safety issues over the sharing of pavement space. The United Cabbies Group was concerned that bus stop bypasses discriminate against those with visual impairments and lack of clarity of taxi pick-up and drop-off kerbside access.

TfL is now planning to complete further design work including surveys and assessments this winter with a view to completion a concept design by the spring. This would then be put to Hounslow Council which would decide whether or not to proceed with details design and determine a construction schedule. The cost of the cycleway would be met by TfL.