Hi all,

I live on a residential suburban London road used by many cars as a cut
through, despite the fact that there are no jams to speak of on the main
roads in my area. They use it because it is (by a short amount) the shortest
route between a number of major suburban town centres and pinchpoints in the
road network. The council has sent us all details of their plans to alter
the geometry of a local dangerous scissor junction between two heavily-used
cut-throughs to reduce the number of accidents, and wants our opinions. Both
cut throughs have width restrictions to prevent lorries using them, but this
does nothing to stem the continuous flow of cars.

I don't want the council to alter the geometry of the junction. I want them
to either turn the width restrictions into barriers, or remove the width
restrictions and put barriers where it will be easier to do three-point
turns. Or, best of all, to locate barriers through the neighbourhood such
that through routes will still exist to enable us residents to get out in
any direction, but they will be so zigzaggy that no-one will use the
neighbourghood as a cut through any more. Because the main road routes are
uncongested and only slightly longer than the cut throughs, forcing cars to
divert around a few blocks should remove all incentive to cut through my
neighbourhood.

I know that there are many neighbourhoods where cul-de-sacking has occurred.
They tend to be the poshest neighbourhoods or the scummiest neighbourhoods,
but not the in-between neighbourhoods. I live in an in-between
neighbourhood. How do councils decide which neighbourhoods to cul-de-sack?
How will it affect property values? Will my neighbourhood become posher? Or
scummier?

Has my idea about leaving through routes but making them zigzaggy been
performed anywhere?

What's my best next step - going to the council, or trying to organise
neighbours or start petitions? Printing up posters for people's windows and
distributing them?

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes