Agenda item

Councillor George Cooper and Ray Graham attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors.

Concerns and suggestions from petitioners included the following:

·         The petition requested the Council to investigate measures to make the junction of the road at The Crossway and Uxbridge Road safer for both drivers and pedestrians.

·         This stretch of road was particularly congested and all residents had encountered difficulties at some point.

·         The petitioner highlighted that one of the most serious issues related to vehicles turning out of the Crossway to access the westbound carriage way of Hillingdon Hill due to the high speeds.

·         At this point in the road, the visibility was especially bad and no u-turns should be permitted on this stretch of road.

·         Vehicles travelled at speeds far in excess of the national speed limit.

·         The number of lanes converging at the crossing point was also very dangerous.

·         There was a need to install speed cameras for vehicles travelling up Hillingdon Hill.

·         There had been a recent traffic accident which had involved the emergency services and someone needing to be cut out of one of the vehicles involved.

Councillor Cooper referred to the photograph in the agenda papers and explained that the most dangerous part of the road appeared to be where the westbound carriageway became one lane and the central reservation crossing point became one lane only.

He explained he was aware a traffic accident had occurred on 12 December 2014 and had caused a massive amount of disruption and all the emergency services had attended. It was his understanding that following their investigation, the Police did not classify the accident as non personal injury.

Councillor Burrows referred to the Police report which stated the accident had been classified as a damage only accident and was perplexed that the two accounts differed.

Councillor Ray Graham addressed the meeting and stated that he supported the petitioners' concerns, and actions should be taken to improve safety.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioner and responded to the points raised:

In relation to the accident reporting procedure, Councillor Burrows stated that Police accident data was used whenever the Council considered the merits of redesigning a traffic scheme. Every Council had a duty to consider the KSI's (Killed or seriously injured) statistics over a 3 year period but that according to paragraph 6 of the Officer report, there were no KSI's recorded in the last three years. As the accounts differed he requested Officers to contact the Police and verify the details of the traffic accident.

With regards to stopping motorists manoeuvring and conducting u-turns as well as the possibility of moving the crossing point further down the hill, Councillor Burrows stated that neither of these were viable options.

Turning to the Officer report, Cllr Burrows discussed the recommendations and commented as follows.

Petitioners were informed that the traffic volume and speed survey would provide a very valuable indication of what was happening at the Crossway and would be used to inform further actions. With regards to the Vehicle Activated Signs Programme, it was noted that one was already in operation in the area and this looked at whether or not to install a further sign in a different location.

In relation to the request to add the Crossway to the Council's Road Safety Programme for further investigation, Councillor Burrows confirmed that an investigation would be conducted, and that in this case, an independent company might be commissioned to conduct the work.

With regards to the final recommendation and discussions with the Police and Emergency Services, Councillor Burrows assured the petitioner that the Council has regular traffic liaison meetings with the Emergency Services and these discussions usually consider various traffic hotspots throughout the Borough and what mitigating action might be taken.

Concluding his remarks, Councillors Burrows explained that the investigative work that had been set in motion by moving the recommendations would take some time, and at this stage, it would be wrong to second guess the outcomes of an investigation. However, he urged Ward Councillors and residents to feed into the process to ensure as many views as possible were included in the study. Councillor Burrows asked petitioners for their views about where the road tubes for the traffic survey could be located to assist Officers with their investigations.

The following recommendations were moved:

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

That the Cabinet Member:

1. Meets with petitioners and considers their concerns regarding road safe at the junction of Hillingdon Hill and The Crossway.

2. Subject to the above, asks officers to undertake classified traffic volume and speed survey(s) at location(s) to be agreed with the petitioners and the relevant Ward Members.

3. Subject to the above, considers adding Hillingdon Hill to future phases of the Council's Vehicle Activated Signs programme.

4. Subject to the above asks officers to add the petitioners’ request to the Council’s Road Safety Programme for further investigation.

5. Asks officers to seek the views of the Police and emergency services to establish if they have any concerns of their own.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

Reasons for recommendation

The petition hearing will provide a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the petitioners of their concerns and suggestions

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED / RISK MANAGEMENT

None at this stage.