Agenda item
Update report on the Kingsbury Road Local Safety Scheme
This report provides members with a requested update on the outcomes of the Kingsbury Road Local Safety Scheme which was implemented in March 2009. The report identifies that, over the 7 months since implementation, the scheme has lead to a significant reduction in vehicle speeds along the road without any identifiable negative impact on the operation of the road.
Minutes:
Peter Boddy (Team Leader, Traffic Management) introduced the report. He explained that on Kingsbury Road NW9, in the area between Valley Drive and Roe Green, there had been 18 personal injury accidents (PIAs) in the three years preceding the implementation of the Local Safety Scheme. The Scheme had not reduced the volume of traffic or improved the problems of congestion, but early indications suggested that average vehicle speed had slowed and there had been no PIAs since the scheme was implemented.
Councillor Jim Moher, in the capacity of ward councillor for the local area, explained that no consideration had been made of the effect of the Local Safety Scheme on traffic in the wider area, and he questioned whether vehicle speed had actually reduced and whether a longer period of observation were needed. He went on to say that the majority of PIAs had been minor incidents. He added that he felt that it would be useful to conduct a consultation on the traffic situation in the whole of Kingsbury, rather than simply this stretch of Kingsbury Road.
Peter Boddy replied that the consultation before the scheme was implemented had been carried out in compliance with the policy adopted by the Council in 2003. He added that observation of traffic speeds had been conducted over a seven-day period.
Councillor Detre then explained that an issue unique to Kingsbury Road was the fact that two buses from Romania parked in the road on Sunday mornings blocking local traffic, and this combined with regular events held in the park or at the Buddhist meeting hall, were preventing free traffic flow on the road. He expressed his view that the traffic controls introduced as part of the Local Safety Scheme were making the situation worse. Councillor Van Colle asked whether it would be possible to bid for money for the area from Transport for London (TfL) in 2011/12 under the “shared space” scheme, and he agreed with the view expressed by Councillor Jim Moher that the whole area warranted re-examination.
Peter Boddy responded by advising that the Transportation Unit had conducted talks with the local residents’ association on the subject of the Romanian buses: a possible way to prevent the buses parking in the road would be the implementation of weighting restrictions, but residents were against this. He advised that Trading Standards and the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit were also investigating the buses. He added that the police could ask the buses not to obstruct the footpaths and roads.
On the subject of the events held locally, Peter Boddy advised that officers acknowledged that many events happened in a small area, and he suggested that officers could present a report on the matter to the Committee. Turning to the “shared space” scheme, he explained that TfL was already contributing £3 million to the Harlesden Town Centre regeneration scheme, and so it would be unlikely that TfL would fund two large schemes in the same borough at the same time.
Councillor Wharton explained that the Local Safety Scheme had produced the expected results, as vehicle speeds and accidents had been reduced. He went on to state that other problems in the local area also needed investigating: the traffic lights on Roe Green; the “rat running” on the Valley Farm Estate; and the vehicle and pedestrian flows around the Kingsbury Shopping Centre.
RESOLVED:
that the contents of the report be noted; and
that a report be submitted by officers to the Committee on the feasibility of bidding for funding from Transport for London under the “shared space” scheme.
Supporting documents: