| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Chiswick predictions for 2026 | |
| Posted by: | Michael Robinson | |
| Date/Time: | 07/01/26 16:19:00 |
| In the previous layout, the bus lane ended about 100m before the junction. A bus can't leapfrog a queue if there is already a queue of cars at the junction waiting for the lights to change. I haven't checked the signal timing but I'm guessing the lights at the bus gate go red before the lights at the junction. This would allow the junction to clear, so a bus at the bus gate will always be front of the queue - which it wouldn't be with the previous free-for-all. I checked streetview and previously the left turn lane just said 'left turn'. It was only after the bus gate that the signage was changed to say 'except buses'. Bus gate or not, there will still be lights at the junction of CHR and Acton Lane/Sutton Lane N and in total, 4 sets of lights between there and Oxford Rd N. There are 0 lights between Sutton Lane N and Oxford Rd N along Wellesley Rd. So even without a bus gate, there is a clear incentive to rat-run along Wellesley Rd to avoid the lights on CHR as a route to and from Chiswick roundabout. Hounslow did propose traffic restrictions further east along Wellesley Rd as one of the options in the original consultation back in 2016 however the restrictions at the junctions of the S Circular were preferred by residents by a considerable margin. It was always recognised this could still mean rat-running along the eastern section of Wellesley Rd but it is impossible to predict with certainty what will actually happen hence a decision of "let's see". As things have happened, there is more traffic along Wellesley Rd than there needs to be, but less than there used to be. The point of a Wellesley Rd LTN would be to enforce the point that Wellesley Rd isn't a bypass for 4 traffic lights on CHR. So for a vehicle coming off at Chiswick roundabout and heading east, they stay on CHR, they don't duck down Oxford Rd N and use Wellesley Rd to avoid the lights at Gunnersbury and Acton Lane. Same for vehicles heading west using Wellesley Rd/Oxford Rd N to avoid the lights at Gunnersbury and elsewhere along CHR. The point is that vehicles should stay on the A315 (or use the A4). Not use Wellesley Rd to bypass 700m of the A315 which is what happens at the moment. |