| Topic: | Reply | |
| Posted by: | Francis Rowe | |
| Date/Time: | 28/11/24 09:30:00 |
Tom, your claim that 'congestion seems to be easing overall' is based on the selection of the one piece of data that could support that view. If you look at the figures more broadly it is very clear there has been a significant increase in delays in Chiswick from 2019 to 2023. It is taking on average nearly an extra three minutes to travel between King Street and Chiswick Roundabout. Much of the extra journey time is in the centre of Chiswick. Remembering that this is an average and for much of the day the roads will be clear, the increased delays experienced at busier times will be much higher . On Chiswick Lane, you are right that delays have fallen here even though this is surprising given the reported increase in bus journey times on this road. However, there has been a larger offsetting increase in delays on Burlington Lane, which explains the increased queueing back to Edensor Road. One explanation could be that traffic is flowing more freely northbound on Chiswick Lane because it is being throttled at Hogarth Roundabout.
Even if you don't accept that theory, these numbers show that rather than congestion easing it is getting worse in Chiswick. You and Michael have spent a lot of time and energy trying to discredit the Department for Transport figures I gave earlier showing the number of motor vehicles had fallen on Chiswick High Road, even though, as I understand it you don't dispute that this has actually happened. We can probably assume that the recent very welcome fall the number of serious collisions on Chiswick High Road is to some extent due to there being fewer vehicles on the road and those that are there moving more slowly. As no traffic modelling has been done to estimate the impact of the diversion of vehicles into Chiswick due to the Rivercourt Road closure, nobody can really say for sure what the impact will be. However, it is a sound assumption that congestion and delays will increase on Chiswick Lane, Chiswick High Road and King Street. As average speeds will therefore fall, you could make the argument that the risk of serious collisions also drops but this will be offset by the increased number of vehicles. Nobody can make confident predictions about what the impact of these changes here but I would say that a belief that junction design means that an increased number of vehicles does not represent and increased risk for people walking, cycling and driving in Chiswick is dangerously complacent. |