Agenda item

No Ward Councillors attended the meeting.

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Over the last few years residents had experienced difficulties in exiting Longford Gardens onto Uxbridge Road at peak times due to congestion and high vehicle speeds.
• It was noted that there had been a number of near misses and minor accidents (such as scratches to vehicles) which had not generated Police accident reports.
• The number of Police recorded accidents which had occurred on Uxbridge Road at its junction with Longford Gardens in the three years to August 2010 was questioned by the petitioner. The petitioner suggested that the 2 accidents identified in the officer report seemed very low and if CCTV footage was checked then the number of accidents might increase.
• Uxbridge Road was one of Hillingdon’s main distributor roads that linked Southall to Hayes and Uxbridge. Uxbridge Road changed from 3 lanes to 2 lanes abruptly at Brookside Lane which made the road dangerous at this point.
• The speed limit of 40mph on Uxbridge Road made if difficult for buses to execute 90 degree turns in the face of oncoming traffic.
• Many local residents had been fined because traffic flows had forced them to use the bus lane to avoid fast moving traffic.
• Many bus stops had been extended in length on the Uxbridge Road which had affected traffic flows and created problems.
• The difference in speed limits between Longford Gardens at 30mph and Uxbridge Road at 40mph had caught many drivers unaware (especially those who were not from the local area).

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

Councillor Burrows explained the Council had no jurisdiction over the speed limit on Uxbridge Road as this was controlled by Transport for London (TfL). If the Council wished to reduce the speed on this road then representations would need to made to TfL which could be a protracted process.  With reference to the two accidents mentioned in the officer report, Cllr Burrows explained that this was so as only two had been formally reported to the Police. In relation to the length of bus stops on the Uxbridge Road, officers explained that these had been lengthened to enable buses to deploy ramps so that disabled users could use Public Transport and to ensure they were compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act.

To address the concerns raise at the meeting, Cllr Burrows asked officersinvestigate the feasibility to introduce “Keep Clear” road markings or ayellow box junction marking at the junction of Uxbridge Road and Longford Gardens under the Road Safety Programme. He explained that the Council’s feasibility study would involve officers taking photographs and recording traffic follows at different times of the day to build an accurate picture of road usage at the junction concerned. Officers would then report back to him and present a number of possible options before a final decision was taken.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1. Considered the petitioner’s concerns and explored in detail potential options to address the issues that would be acceptable to local residents.
2. Asks officers to investigate the feasibility to introduce “Keep Clear” road markings or a yellow box junction marking at the junction of Uxbridge Road and Longford Gardens under the Road Safety Programme.