John Rowland wrote:
Hi all,

I sent the following message to Kensington & Chelsea council a
while back.

+++++++++++++++

At the junction of Adair Road and Appleford Road (W10) is a
crossroads with no roundabout, no stop signs, no give way signs and
no dotted lines on the road. This evening I used the junction for
the first time, and came straight through the junction in the
eastbound direction at about 30 mph, since the lack of dotted lines
made me believe I had the priority. Finding myself in a dead end, I
examined the junction carefully and realised that any car going
through the junction in a north-south or south-north direction
would also believe they had the priority, and there might have been
fatalities.

++++++++++++++++

Receiving no reply, I phoned them up, only to be told that it was
the council's policy not to use any road markings on quiet roads
because they thought the streets looked better without them. I
drove this route yesterday for the second time and even though I
was thinking about the previous incident, the junction sprung
itself on me, and a sharp brake application was needed to avoid
driving through it at speed again.

Does anyone know if the council's policy is legal? The whole
neighbourhood seems exceptionally quiet,

.... but is still a "possible area for consideration" for inclusion in
the Mayor's extension of the congestion charge zone!

There appears to be no advice in the Highway Code on how to negotiate
such a junction. There is, for example, no equivalent of the French
priority-to-the-right rule. However, I don't know whether there is a
legal obligation on the council to mark out the junction. I note that
Streetmap shows a primary school west of the junction in Appleford Road.
Would be worth a visit in term time during the school run.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)