Issue - meetings
Sudbury and Harrow Road Bus Stop Petition
Meeting: 16/07/2013 - Highways Committee (Item 6)
6 Sudbury and Harrow Road Bus Stop Petition PDF 4 MB
This report responds to a petition signed by a group of 235 residents in Sudbury asking for the restoration of a bus stop/stand at 786 Harrow Road, opposite Sudbury and Harrow Road station, which was removed as part of a major improvement scheme. The full text of the petition is set out in the accompanying report.
Decision:
(i) Noted the petition received from Sudbury residents.
(ii) Declined the request for reinstatement of the original bus stop at 786 Harrow Road.
(iii) Instructed officers to review the operation and stopping patterns of bus services in Sudbury six months after scheme implementation to determine whether there have been any notable impacts on punctuality or passenger usage.
(iv) Agreed to to press TfL to expedite erection of large modern shelter at the new bus station.
(v) Instructed Officers to liaise with the appropriate department to tackle the environmental issues (pigeon droppings from the bridge), to ensure that passengers waiting for buses have a pleasanter wait.
Minutes:
Members considered a report on the petition from the local residents that requested the Council to restore the Sudbury and Harrow bus stop to its original location prior to its relocation. In setting the background to the bus stop relocation, Paul Chandler, Head of Transportation stated that the Sudbury town centre scheme was devised in 2010, at the time when articulated single-deck buses (‘bendy-buses’) were due to be withdrawn from service. The opportunity was therefore taken to review bus stand locations in Sudbury town centre as part of the new scheme design. A key design consideration was the lack of customer short stay parking and loading facilities in the town centre, an approach which was strongly supported by the traders. The scheme was also consulted on with London Buses and the Police during the design phase.
Paul Chandler explained that the new Sudbury and Harrow Road station stop was located 100m south of the original stop, less than 2 minutes’ walk. The stop move was originally proposed to rationalise stopping patterns and free up space for parking and loading facilities within the main town centre area. It had been allocated as the first southbound stop for the Route 18 service and was also used by the 92, 182 and 245 through services, the same services that stopped at the original stop location. He continued that the improvement scheme in Sudbury, which had been recently implemented, was designed to improve the ambience and viability of the town centre as well as cater for the conflicting requirements of through traffic, traders, their customers, cyclists and public transport users. To re-instate the previous bus stop as the petitioners were requesting would involve changes to a scheme that had only just been delivered and removal of on-street parking and loading facilities.
In conclusion, Paul Chandler submitted that a reinstatement to the original stop was not considered to be appropriate at this time but recommended a proposal to allow a period of six months for the current bus routing and stopping patterns to operate and “bed in” before a further review be undertaken. Officers would then review the situation in conjunction with London Buses and determine whether the current arrangement was acceptable for bus passengers and other town centre users.
Councillor Daly stated that the relocation of the bus stop had resulted in unintentional consequences for a considerable number of groups including parents, old age persons and National Health Services (NHS) users to and from Northwick Park Hospital. She added that the current location of the bus stop under the railway bridge without a bus shelter made it unpleasant for waiting passengers. Councillor Daly called for an urgent review to ensure the relocation of the bus stop to its former place.
Councillor Lorber stated that the relocation of the bus stop was carried out without adequate information as the review consultation did not point out that the bus stop would be relocated. He also stated that the new location was a major inconvenience to bus ... view the full minutes text for item 6