Greenhill Park Area 20mph zone

Greenhill Road Consultation Pages 2 and 3 Scheme Layout

Greenhill Park Area 20mph zone
July 2013

"The main features of the scheme are:

• A 20mph zone supported by traffic calming measures in the form of speed cushions.
• A 7.5 tonne lorry ban.
• Improvements to the junction of Greenhill Park and Nicoll Road, including a raised junction treatment with kerb build-outs, a new traffic island and an adjustment to the existing cycle lane."

Brent Cyclists' Response

"We are the local group of the London Cycling Campaign (LCC), the voice of cycling in London, and with over 10,000 members, the largest urban cycling organisation in the world. We have consulted our members locally on this scheme and drawn on the accumulated expertise of the LCC.

• We agree with the introduction of the 20mph zone.
• We agree with the introduction of the 7.5 ton lorry ban.
• We do not agree to the installation of speed cushions.

"We have some further comments, which we hope will be taken seriously in this scheme design, bearing in mind that there is a London Cycle Network route running via Nicholl Road, Greenhill Park and Acton Lane.

1. The reason we object to speed cushions is that they create unpredictable sideways movements of vehicles competing for road-space and tend to increase conflicts and difficulties that cyclists encounter. The pattern of humps proposed here, with three humps across the width of roads that are narrow and parked-up on both sides, is particularly bad, as it will push cyclists into the door-opening zone of the cars. As we have said frequently in consultations of this type, we would like traffic-calming to be achieved with sinusoidal-profile humps across the full width of the road, unless there is a very good reason these cannot be used
2. There is a contra-flow cycle track in Nicholl Road between Craven Park Road and Greenhill Park between parking bays and the pavement. There are a number of existing problems with this which should be addressed:
   • It is too narrow, well below London Cycle Design Standards (LCDS) recommended minimum width of 1.5m. It is unsafe, putting cyclists too close to both parked cars and pedestrians, and engendering conflict. It needs widening. This would entail removing parking from one side of the road.
   • It has give-way markings where Nicholl Road meets Greenhill Park. These are incorrect, as traffic in Greenhill Park northbound is turning into another road to continue into the two-way section of Nicholl Road, and therefore should give way to the cycle route, not the other way around.
   • Most importantly, the contraflow track actually cannot legally be accessed from Craven Park Road! The entrance to it is completely blocked by railings. To use it, cyclists either have to cycle illegally into the no-entry, or illegally cycle across a pedestrian crossing slightly further east and on to the pavement, in order to get round the railings, a manoeuvre that is likely to cause problems to pedestrians. This is a mess which needs sorting out
3. The scheme seems to be making an attempt to improve the shape of the Greenhill Park – Nicholl Road junction, but the proposed design still looks unsatisfactory. Why has a kink in the cycle track/lane as shown? Why have a second give-way marking for cyclists on the south side of the proposed speed table? They will not be facing any oncoming traffic at that point, so what's it for? (It is not present at the moment). There is no reason for either of the give-ways shown on the cycle track/lane. The lane should be a minimum of 1.5m wide, in accordance with the LCDS."

David Arditti
Co-ordinator, Brent Cyclists