A406 / Brentfield Road / Drury Way Junction Improvement
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A406 / Brentfield Road / Drury Way Junction Improvement Consultation Report November 2015 A406 / Brentfield Road / Drury Way Junction Improvement Consultation Report Contents 1 Background ................................................................................................................ 1 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 2 3 The consultation ......................................................................................................... 5 4 Overview of consultation responses ............................................................................ 8 5 Responses from members of the public .................................................................... 12 6 Responses from businesses, organisations and other stakeholders ......................... 14 7 Conclusion and next steps ........................................................................................ 21 Appendix A – Consultation material and distribution ............................................................ 23 Appendix B - List of businesses, organisations and other stakeholders consulted ............... 38 Appendix C – Summary of all issues raised ......................................................................... 43 Appendix D – Responses to issues raised........................................................................... 48 1 Background We proposed to improve the junction of the A406 North Circular Road with Brentfield Road and Drury Way in the London Borough of Brent. We proposed providing a new southbound bus lane and bus activated signals (for local buses only) in Drury Way (referred to later in this report as the bus priority facility), building a new left turn slip road from the westbound A406 North Circular Road into Brentfield Road, and signalising the pedestrian crossing across Brentfield Road. Southbound buses crossing this junction cannot currently travel from Drury Way into Brentfield Road across the A406 North Circular Road, with buses currently needing to circulate via Great Central Way and the westbound A406 North Circular Road. Northbound buses can cross directly from Brentfield Road into Drury Way. Southbound buses therefore travel approximately 0.6 miles further than northbound buses, leading to longer journey times. The junction has a history of delays and poor journey time reliability. It is the only at- grade signalised junction on the A406 North Circular Road between Staples Corner and the Hanger Lane Gyratory. It currently has insufficient capacity during the peak periods with the A406 North Circular Road westbound queues extending back to Staples Corner in the morning peak. Currently, traffic making left turns at this junction from the westbound A406 North Circular Road into Brentfield Road can hold up westbound straight-ahead traffic on the A406 North Circular Road. Pedestrians crossing Brentfield Road at this junction have to wait for a gap in traffic and the crossing is not signalised. The only right turn permitted at this junction is from Brentfield Road into the eastbound A406 North Circular Road. All left turns and straight on movements are permitted, except there is no straight-ahead movement from Drury Way into Brentfield Road. 1 2 Introduction We invited the public, road users, local residents, local businesses, organisations and other stakeholders to comment on our proposals to improve the junction of the A406 North Circular Road with Brentfield Road and Drury Way in the London Borough of Brent. 2.1 Purpose of the scheme The improvements are aimed at reducing the distance southbound buses have to travel to cross the A406 North Circular Road and smoothing the flow of traffic, reducing journey times and reducing queue lengths on the westbound A406 North Circular Road for both general traffic and buses. They also aim to improve overall safety at the junction and make it safer for pedestrians to cross Brentfield Road. They may also lead to a slight reduction in journey time for eastbound traffic and buses on the A406 North Circular Road. The improvements form part of the TfL Road Modernisation Plan and are also part of our plans to improve bus reliability and bus journey times across London. The Road Modernisation Plan is the biggest investment for a generation consisting of hundreds of projects to transform junctions, bridges, tunnels and pedestrian areas. Working with London’s boroughs, it will make our roads safer and more reliable, and London will be a better place in which to live, work and travel. 2.2 Description of the proposals We proposed the following improvements to this junction: Building a new bus lane and bus activated signals (referred to later in this report as the bus priority facility) in Drury Way to allow southbound buses to travel from Drury Way into Brentfield Road. The bus priority facility would be for local buses only, and only for the straight ahead movement. Coaches and cycles would not be permitted to use this facility Building a new left turn slip road from the westbound A406 North Circular Road into Brentfield Road Signalising the pedestrian crossing across Brentfield Road To allow the above improvements we would also need to: Enlarge the traffic island at the entrance of Drury Way, change the road layout in Drury Way southbound and narrow part of Drury Way northbound. This is to allow us to construct the new bus lane through the island while providing space for pedestrian crossing facilities. The existing signalised pedestrian crossings in Drury Way would be moved south slightly, with a new signalised pedestrian crossing provided across the exit from the new bus lane. We would provide pedestrian guardrail on both parts of the enlarged island. The walking distance to 2 cross Drury Way would be increased and we would need to remove the existing trees on the island Realign the footway and build a new traffic island and signalised pedestrian crossing on the south east corner of the junction. This is to allow us to build the new left turn slip road. We would provide pedestrian guardrail on the new island. We would also build out slightly the footway on the west side of Brentfield Road. Although the overall walking distance to cross Brentfield Road would be slightly increased, we aim to make this crossing safer. We would retain the existing access to the rear of properties on the south east side of the junction but would need to realign the vehicle crossover from the A406 North Circular Road Move southbound bus stop D in Brentfield Road, near Kingfisher Way, a short distance to the south. This is to reduce the impact of traffic building up behind buses at this stop towards the junction with the A406 North Circular Road We also proposed to: Provide new / replacement traffic signal warning signs on the A406 North Circular Road approaches to the junction in both directions Provide new signs, carriageway markings and bollards as required There would be no change to permitted / banned turns, except the introduction of the new local bus only movement from Drury Way into Brentfield Road The junction would operate in a similar way to the current situation. The new straight on local bus only movement from Drury Way would operate at the same time as traffic from Brentfield Road 3 2.3 Plan of proposed improvements 4 3 The consultation The consultation ran for a seven week period from 16 February 2015 to 5 April 2015. The original closing date was 29 March 2015 but we extended this by one week to allow time to respond for some businesses and organisations whom we contacted later. A small number of responses received after the closing date were included. The consultation was designed to help inform and shape our final decision. We wanted to understand the community’s opinions about our proposals to improve this junction. The objectives of the consultation were: To provide easily-understandable information about our proposals and allow consultees to respond To understand the level of support or opposition for our proposals To understand any issues of which we were not previously aware that might affect our proposals To understand concerns and objections To allow consultees to make suggestions To help inform our decision making process To inform where possible the detailed design of these improvements The potential outcomes of the consultation are: We decide the consultation raises no issues that should prevent us from proceeding with the scheme as proposed We modify the scheme in response to issues raised in the consultation We abandon the scheme as a result of issues raised in the consultation 3.1 Who we consulted We consulted the following: Local residents and businesses Local nurseries, schools and higher and further education establishments Pedestrians Cyclists Bus users (who use certain routes passing through the junction) Oyster card holders Congestion Charge customers Commercial drivers Coach operators Cycling and road user organisations Local disability organisations Local residents associations and community groups Local religious organisations and places of worship London Borough of Brent cabinet member, ward councillors and officers Members of Parliament London Assembly Members London TravelWatch 5 Metropolitan Police Other external stakeholders including national and London-wide bodies A list of the businesses, organisations and other stakeholders we consulted is shown in Appendix B and a summary of responses received from