Quote:
Originally Posted by John Rowland
I was just looking at
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/proj...aces/2259.aspx
and I noticed that Natal Road, which usefully gets you right up to the
Brownlow Rd/A406 junction without experiencing any traffic jams when both of
those roads are utterly clogged, is going to have a forced left turn to
Bowes Road, making it useless. I also notice that they are banning the left
turn from the NCR to Melville Gardens, which is currently a very handy
escape route when the A406 here is clogged (which is most of the time). The
site makes noises about how the junctions will be improved, but it doesn't
suggest that capacity will be increased, just that pedestrian facilities
will be improved at the expense of road traffic. So the "improvement"
involves making one of the worst bottlenecks in London worse, and shutting
down all escape routes to force even more traffic into it. Is it too late to
get Boris to change some small details? |
"Bumping" an old thread . . .
I regularly use the A406 and consequently have to divert to avoid the Palmers Green/New Southgate traffic jams. At certain times of day going westbound through the area is feasible. Eastbound is never sensible before mid evening.
The current "improvement" scheme is completely inappropriate and may even make things worse. Certainly preventing exits into Melville Gardens and Evesham Road will compel more drivers to sit in the traffic jams and make them bigger. Allowing left turns from Wilmer Way onto Bowes Road will necessitate re-phasing the traffic lights . . . and most alert drivers know what happens when TfL mess about with traffic lights.
The only major benefit I foresee from this scheme is that the left turn from Bowes Road onto Telford Road will at last be two lanes wide. This will undoubtedly reduce the westbound tailback from this junction although it is rumoured that TfL plan to install completely unnecessary new traffic lights at the junction of Bowes Road and Warwick Road which will re-introduce the queuing!
As others have posted, the real requirement here is a major improvement scheme which takes the A406 under the junctions and allows the traffic to flow without interruptions. That will not happen until at long last London gets a mayor who takes transport seriously and is not just out to indulge his prejudices.
Another questionable aspect of the current silly scheme is the extraordinary amount of time it is taking. There is no major civil engineering involved. Why is is taking so long? When is it due to be completed?