Plan Drawn Up for Closure of Fishers Lane Underpass
Ealing Council intending to ban access to all but buses and cycles
Fishers Lane underpass.
A plan has been drawn up by Ealing Council for access restrictions at the underpass on Fishers Lane in Chiswick.
A local councillor has been told that a traffic order will be published next week with closure scheduled for 27 July or soon after. Funding from Transport for London has not yet been confirmed.
The plan would see all vehicles but buses and pedal bikes being forbidden from using this section of the road. The designs are described as being part of the East Acton to Chiswick Cycleway Post Covid-19 Response.
The design shows that signage will be placed on South Parade indicating no left or right turn depending on the direction of approach and road markings will be placed to raise motorist awareness of cycles.
On the southern side of the bridge the parking bays next to the playground are to be removed and replaced with double yellow lines.
It had been predicted for a while that Hounslow’s plans to restrict access on Turnham Green Terrace would require the closure of the Fishers Lane underpass as it would be unable to handle the volume of displaced traffic and would direct flow to the junction of Chiswick High Road and Fishers Lane which is already one of the most dangerous in the area.
Map of the proposed changes. Click here for larger version
Vehicles will now need to progress along South Parade to Acton Lane if they are travelling westbound and towards Bath Road if they are travelling east. Residents of Prebend Gardens have already voiced concerns that they will see an increased number of vehicles as a result of the changes.
The design drawings do not give any indication as to where cameras would be placed were they to be used for enforcement. The presence of signs indicating camera enforcement are not shown on the designs.
Local sources suggest that Hounslow and Ealing found it difficult to come to an arrangement about how revenues from an Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras would be divided up as the borough boundary is at the southern exit to the underpass.
Local ward councillor Andrew Steed says, “These plans have been sitting in a desk for some time and have been brushed off and revived because transport planners in the borough feel they need to push them through quickly as they are anticipating displacement when the closure of Turnham Green Terrace starts to generate more pressure on the underpass. However, due to poor signage on Turnham Green Terrace there doesn’t seem to be any extra traffic as yet.
“I think most people agree the current situation is poor and dangerous, and in the site visit we had with officers last year I commented that the stretch of South Parade between Fishers Lane and The Avenue was far from ideal. But at that time there was no suggestion that Turnham Green Terrace and Fishers Lane would both have restrictions simultaneously. I’ve had to be pro-active in finding out what is going on so it has been difficult to keep constituents up to date.”
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July 15, 2020