WEST
LONDON TRANSIT SCHEME
Trams
- What Planned Closures May Look Like
Possible alternative route for traffic
when Acton High Street is closed |
Local
residents have a slightly clearer picture of the impact of the West
London tram as more details have emerged of the planners' thinking.
In
a recent interview in the Ealing Gazette, Tim Jones, the man in
charge of the project, revealed that Acton High Street will be closed
for 433ft from Steyne Road to Market Place.
This
suggests that the main west-east route will be Gunnersbury Lane
- Avenue Road with the traffic turning into Acton Lane and then
up Winchester St. past the Town Hall to rejoin the Uxbridge Road.
Traveling
east-west, Winchester St. could be turned into a two-way street
or traffic could loop around the swimming baths as it currently
does.
However,
Avenue Road is currently not wide enough to cope with the potential
volume of diverted traffic and concerns have been raised that gridlock
here will lead traffic further south towards Bollo Lane and Chiswick
High Road.
An existing tram system operating in Croydon. copyright Mark
Jansen
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Potential
alternatives for traffic north of the High Street seem limited in
the opinion of local residents. It is felt that vehicles will loop
round the A40 rather than attempting to navigate the narrow streets
in this area plus the level crossing at Churchfield Rd will deter
many rat-runners.
It
should be stressed that the alternative routes outlined in the map
above are speculative and that no indication has been given from
Transport for London as to where they plan to divert the main bulk
of traffic that formerly passed along the Uxbridge Road.
Tim
Jones was reportedly dismissive of local opposition to the plans
saying of recent protest against the scheme, "There are 1.5
million people living in West London and I don't give much consideration
to just 1,500 people."
Ken
Livingstone has pointed out that 75% of respondents to a consultation
were in favour of the scheme but Save Ealing's Streets say that
the possibility of the diversion of traffic was not mentioned in
the consultation document. However, an ombudsman has recently upheld
the Mayor's position ruling the consultation to be valid. Currently
27,000 cars a day travel along the Uxbridge Road and the tram scheme
is envisages reducing traffic to 80% of that level. At it meeting
with over 1000 local residents last year, Ealing Council leader,
John Cudmore, promised more detailed consultation with local residents
before the scheme proceeds.
February
20, 2003
Save
Ealing's Street's manifesto
The
Story So Far - Documentation on the Planned Scheme
Mayor
Says Yes to West London tram scheme
Trams
in Acton June 2002 ActonW3.com
"The
Uxbridge Road will get trams, Chiswick will get traffic."
October 2001 ChiswickW4.com
Map
of planned route (Adobe Acrobat required)
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