Why does the Hartington Road northbound restriction not include residents within the SOTG controlled parking zone?
Hartington Road is one of the busiest residential streets in the neighbourhood, with just under 8,000 vehicles on the average weekday, two thirds of which travel in a northbound direction. Of these northbound vehicles, 7 in every 10 is passing through the area as through traffic. The council considered a number of alternative options to remove this high volume of traffic, including banning turning movements, introducing a one way, closing roads to traffic, and a range of camera-enforced access restrictions. A northbound camera-enforced restriction was selected for the trial, as it balances the benefits of removing through traffic with retaining a degree of access by car.
The low traffic neighbourhood approach across south Chiswick splits the area into a number of residential ‘cells’. Access to each of these cells by vehicle is considered alongside each other to develop proposals that are complementary in removing through traffic across a wide area. The initial intention was for the area covered by the Hartington Road restriction to end where the newly proposed access only restriction to the Strand on the Green / Thames Road area begins. This would ensure all through traffic movements are removed east/west between the A316/Hartington Road and A205/Strand on the Green junctions. However, in order to aid clarity and understanding, it was decided to add the full RV controlled parking zone area, rather than split access restrictions between different roads within the zone.
The Hartington Road restriction will therefore lead to a detour for residents wishing to access the SOTG controlled parking zone area, by vehicle, from Chiswick Bridge. Access will be required from the A316 via Staveley Road or Burlington Lane, and via Grove Park Bridge. This route is approximately 0.8 miles or 4 minutes longer by car. Access to the area from Kew Bridge remains unrestricted to vehicles in the SOTG controlled parking zone. For journeys from the south of the river, for example Chalker’s Corner, routes to Strand on the Green via Kew Bridge and Chiswick Bridge are comparable in distance.
This is a trial, the effectiveness of which will be reviewed as set out on the Streetspace website, to determine whether the scheme will remain, change or be removed following the end of the trial period.
