Measures Proposed to Tackle Bath Road Jams

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More parking and loading restrictions near Turnham Green station

Chiswick Councillors have approved a proposal to consult residents on a range of parking and traffic measures designed to improve conditions around Bedford Park Corner and along Bath Road and the northern end of Turnham Green Terrace.

At the Chiswick Area Committee Meeting last Wednesday 23rd May they voted in favour of consulting residents on the measures. The results of the consultation will be reported to the Ward Councillors, who will decide whether to implement the proposals or refer them back to the Area Committee.

Due to the absence of evening and weekend waiting restrictions along most of Bath Road, vehicles parked at these times near the refuges occasionally cause obstruction to the buses
and other large vehicles. Buses are sometimes forced to pass the refuges on the wrong side, which causes significant disruption to traffic flows and is also potentially hazardous
to pedestrians using the refuges.

There have been a number of complaints about parking on Saturdays outside the Arts Educational School (Arts Ed) when a lot of weekend dance classes take place for children.  Parked cars are causing visibility problems for cars turning into and out of side roads and if they are too near the refuges buses have difficulty getting past.

The lack of loading restrictions also means that vehicles are permitted to load and unload on Bath Road for up to 40 minutes and it is claimed that this leads to significant congestion.

Bath Road currently lies within the Bedford Park controlled parking zone (CPZ zone BP), which operates Monday-Friday 9.00am-6.00pm. Any single yellow lines within the zone (unless accompanied by specific signs to the contrary) operate during these times only.

The current waiting restrictions on and adjoining Bath Road are:
• Bath Road: No waiting Monday-Friday 8.30am-6.30pm northeast of Priory Gardens.
No waiting Monday-Saturday 8.00am-6.30pm between Priory Gardens and Bedford Park Corner.
• Side roads off Bath Road: No waiting Monday-Friday 9.00am-6.00pm (i.e. the CPZ hours).

Bath Road outside the Arts Educational School

The short length of unrestricted kerbline north of Bedford Park Corner is often used by vehicles including vans and lorries. These parked vehicles can obstruct the passage of traffic, including southbound buses on all four routes, and have been the subject of several complaints

The possibility of improving the pick-up/drop-off bay at Turnham Green station was considered but due to space limitations, there is no prospect any enhancements for the foreseeable future.

The following proposals have been made to deal with the issues raised above:

a) No waiting and no loading at any time on each side of the Bath Road carriageway adjacent to the pedestrian refuges:
• Northwest side, starting at Priory Gardens and extending northeast for 40.0m.
• Southeast side, 36.0m, starting 25.5m northeast of Flanders Road, centred on the refuge.
• Northwest side, opposite Roman Road, 42.0m, approximately centred on the refuge.
• Southeast side, starting at Roman Road and extending northeast for 36.0m.

These proposed sections of double yellow lines and double kerb blips are the minimum length necessary to prevent buses and other long vehicles being obstructed by parked cars and vans etc.

b) No waiting Monday-Friday 7.00am-7.00pm on both sides of Bath Road except where no waiting and no loading at any time is proposed, or where there are bus stops, zigzags or other restrictions. This means that the single yellow line restrictions would start 90 minutes earlier than at present and end 30 minutes later.

c) No loading Monday-Friday 7.00am-10.00am and 4.00pm-7.00pm in the same areas as the Monday-Friday 7.00am-7.00pm waiting restrictions described in b. above.

d) No waiting Monday-Saturday 7.00am-7.00pm and no loading Monday-Friday 7.00am- 10.00am and 4.00pm-7.00pm on the 24.0 metre section of kerbline on the northwest side of Bath Road, between the Bedford Park Corner zigzags and the bus stop clearway, adjacent to St Michael and All Angels Church.

e) A 16.0m long goods-vehicles-only loading bay on the southeast side of Bath Road outside the Tabard, between the end of the current bus stop clearway and the start of the zigzags. This would provide a clear space for goods vehicles to load and unload, without competition for this space from private motorists. The loading bay would operate at all times.

f) DDA compliant bus stop clearways as follows:
• Stop 11337 on the northeast side of Bath Road near to St Michael and All Angels Church: extended 9.0m to the southwest and 4.0m to the northeast, to provide a 29.0m clearway.
• Stop 11338 on the southwest side of Bath Road near the Tabard: extended 8.0m to the northeast, to provide a 27.0m clearway.

In addition the following measures are proposed for the northern end of Turnham Green Terrace, the following measures are proposed:
• Western side: No waiting and no loading at any time between the northern end of the taxi stand and the borough boundary.
• Eastern side: No waiting and no loading at any time between the northern end of the pick-up/set-down bay and a point 25.0 metres north of the centre of the mini roundabout;
then no waiting at any time and no loading Monday-Saturday to the borough boundary.

It is also proposed to move the taxi stand 4.0m to the south, as taxis currently obstruct the carriageway close to the pedestrian refuge near the station. This will also improve visibility between northbound drivers and pedestrians using this refuge. This will reduce the zigzags on the departure side of the zebra crossing from four to three pairs.

Finally, it is proposed to make a small adjustment to the kerb build-out on the western side of Turnham Green Terrace, immediately adjacent to the mini-roundabout, to facilitate easier right turns by large vehicles including route 94 and 272 buses.

May 25, 2012