| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Reply | |
| Posted by: | Jeremy Parkinson | |
| Date/Time: | 03/01/23 12:16:00 |
| Michael, the problem is not the congestion it is the resulting pollution. If it is reaching the level that is causing a serious health problem for people living nearby then you can't really say 'tough shit' for them. I think you are being a bit complacent about the impact of adding thousands of cars to a route. Even though it may not be large in percentage terms as a proportion of existing traffic, they could make a significant difference to the number of times a road is operating over capacity and therefore becoming severely congested. Crossrail hopefully will make a difference but commuter traffic may not be that significant through Chiswick and there are pressures operating in the other direction such as local population growth and an explosion in deliveries. I understand about induced demand but these issues are very complex and you can't simply continually repeat a mantra and call it a solution. Sometimes it is necessary to accept that ways to increase road capacity need to be considered. At this stage I don't think it is possible to identify solutions because we don't really know the nature of the problem. If there is no significant health impact at these hotspots then the congestion is something that we, literally, can live with. If not, a rethink may be needed. |