But Hounslow Council Looks set to Greenlight TfL Plan
Report to cabinet endorses Cycleway 9 and rejects move to A4
Artist's impression of Cycleway 9 on Chswick High Road
A report written by Hounslow Council officers has provided a strong endorsement of Transport for London's plan to build a cycle path from Kensington Olympia to Brentford through Chiswick. In a detail review of the scheme they give detailed counter-arguments to most of the objections put forward by opponents of the project that was originally dubbed CS9 and is now named Cycleway 9.
The document is due to be presented to a Hounslow council cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 3 September and makes the recommendation that the project be taken forward to the final stage of detailed design subject to a number of conditions. In addition the report states that should any further statutory consultations be required on the scheme due to unresolved objections, this should be reported back to the cabinet for consideration.
Assuming the cabinet endorses the report and there are no substantive objections requiring further delays, the project would be on course to break ground in spring/summer next year.
In the London Borough of Hounslow the proposed scheme, which is now known as Cycleway 9, is a new two-way cycle track, largely segregated from motor traffic, running along the southern side of Chiswick High Road. This track would run from the borough boundary with London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBH&F) to Heathfield Terrace. At this point the facility would then run on-road along Heathfield Terrace and Wellesley Road.
The Council report deals on a point by point basis with objections raised by opponents in the local area, including the Chiswick ward councillors.
The authors dismiss claims that the project will increase traffic in the area saying that on each section of the route within London Borough of Hounslow, small variations of 0 – 2 minutes – some increases some decreases - are anticipated in both directions in the morning peak periods. There are more significant changes in two sections in the evening peak period, with reductions of 2 – 4 minutes in both directions between Chiswick Roundabout – Goldhawk Road and 5 – 6 minutes between Kew Bridge to Chiswick Roundabout anticipated.
Taken as a whole route between Ealing Road and Olympia, westbound journeys are expected to reduce by 5 – 10 minutes in the morning peak, with an increase of 0 -5 minutes in eastbound journeys. In the evening peak, journey times in both directions are expected to reduce by 10 – 15 minutes (westbound) and 5 – 10 minutes (eastbound). These figures are a result of mitigation measures that have been taken by TfL as a result of changes made to the original design for which a higher level of delay was expected.
The report states: "On balance, officers are satisfied that TfL has taken reasonable steps to balance the journey time impacts on the variety of road users along this route, in line with the objectives of the new Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS) and the council’s Local Implementation Plan for Transport 2018 – 2041."
On concerns about air quality, the report states: "Environmental surveys and modelling have been undertaken by TfL to understand what the impact of the scheme will be on air quality and noise. This report concluded that, the overall impact of the scheme on air quality is negligible. There are some beneficial and some adverse effects in terms of air quality, and the combined impact of the scheme are collectively considered to be balanced and overall not significant."
The report also rejects the option of running the cyclepath alongside the A4. It states:
" Officers also consider that the A4 has a number of negative characteristics that makes it unsuitable for a facility of this nature and therefore do not support the view that Cycleway 9 should use this road."
The claim is made that the A4 is a hostile environment for cyclists and that an extra phase would be need to allow cyclists to cross at the junction with Sutton Court Road. Given the priority that needs to be given to traffic on the A4 that would mean even shorter phases at the lights and more tailbacks back up to Chiswick High Road.
The officers say that TfL has undertaken 'sophisticated 'analysis of cycle demand across London that it says helps to further illustrate the attractiveness of the High Road over the A4.
The whole route of C9 (from Olympia to Brentford) is currently amongst the top 10% of routes into central London for current demand, despite having few dedicated facilities for cyclists. Chiswick High Road itself is in the top 5% for flows in London, and at times has recorded the highest flows for such a road in outer London.
Concerns about the impact on pedestrians are also played down with officers saying that there is much less footfall on the southern side of Chiswick High Road than on the northern side. These figures are from surveys carried out in June 2015 and show a significant difference in the use of each footway by pedestrians. The peak northern footway figure of 1533 is three times the peak southern footway volume, indicating that the demand for pedestrian space is focused on the northern side of the road. The northern footway also has more bus stops, a total of five, compared to three on the southern footway, so impact on bus passengers is minimised by locating the track on the southern footway. This is one reason why a bi-directional track has been chosen rather than having two cycle lanes on each side of the road.
Safety issues with the two way track are also addressed with objectors saying that the design is dangerous for both cyclists and pedestrians. The report admits that London Cycle Design Standards (LCDS) acknowledges these risks. It recommends that tracks should be bent away from the junction by 5 metres when crossing a two-way side road in general which is not incorporated into the Cycleway 9 design. However, the LCDS says that this may not be necessary where traffic speeds and volumes are very low, subject to specific investigation of the junction in question and the use of measures to enhance visibility of cyclists. This project will include a number of these measure including raising the carriageway of the junction to footway level, more signage and contrasting surface materials. Junction width will be reduced wherever possible and traffic generally will be slowed by the planned introduction of a 20mph speed limit on Chiswick High Road. In addition traffic surveys on the number of vehicles emerging from side roads onto Chiswick High Road suggest that the volume is below that which would require alternative designs to be considered.
As part of the detailed design process, the designs will be subject to a full road safety audit by an independent auditor and any specific issues relating to, for example, blocks to visibility will be further considered at this point.
Officers also address research cited by Redesign CS9 and other objectors which suggested that bi-directional cycle paths could increase the number of collisions.
The report states: " Officers would perhaps question whether evidence about risk factors derived from facilities largely located overseas are directly attributable to the west London context and the specific C9 proposals in Chiswick, with all the detailed mitigation they include.
"We have also noted alternative interpretations of the risk factors derived from academic journals that suggests the view that such a facility could lead to more collisions than the current arrangement (that includes little or no dedicated facilities for cyclists) may be incorrect."
You can read the agenda for Hounslow Council's meeting on 3 September, including the full report here.
August 29, 2019