West London Tram

Report for:

ACTION

Item Number: 7

Contains Confidential or NO Exempt Information

Tram Alignment in Acton Town Centre Marc Dorfman, Borough Regeneration Manager Responsible Officer(s) Email: dorfmanm@ealing.gov.uk Telephone: 020 8825 7645 Julian Maw, West London Transit Adviser Author(s) Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 8825 5146

Portfolio Transport and Planning

For Consideration By Tram Advisory Panel

Date to be Considered 9 June 2005

Affected Wards Acton Central, South Acton

Area Committees Acton

Keywords/Index Tram

Purpose of Report:

To report the position on the tram alignment in Acton Town Centre following further work since the issue was considered by the Panel in February 2005, and to seek the Panel’s agreement to a proposed course of action.

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1. Recommended Actions

It is recommended that the Panel:

1.1 NOTES the developments since the tram alignment through Acton Town Centre was considered at the Panel meeting on 23 February 2005.

1.2 AGREES that officers advise Transport for London that the Borough cannot confirm support for an option involving closure of Acton High Street to general traffic.

1.3 AGREES that a presumption should be adopted in favour of a shared running solution.

1.4 NOTES that closure of Acton High Street might however be required for a period during the construction stage.

2. Reason for Decision and Options Considered

2.1 The West London Tram project is a strategically important transport project with predicted significant benefits and implications for the Borough. The range of competing needs and constrained road width in the town centres raises important issues about the balance between environmental, transport, business and heritage needs, and the wider implications of each option. The solution adopted has important implications for each town centre’s long term development as well as the transport system’s performance.

2.2 The alternatives to adopting the recommendation in this paper are:

i. To confirm the previous support for the option involving closure of Acton High Street. This not recommended for the reasons explained in para 4.5 below.

ii. To adopt a presumption in favour of a one-way (westbound) shared running option with an eastbound traffic diversion. This not recommended for the reasons explained in para 4.6 below.

3. Key Points

3.1 Financial Implications

There are no direct implications arising from this report.

3.2 Legal Implications

There are no direct implications arising from this report.

3.3 Staffing

There are no direct implications arising from this report. Page 3

3.4 Accommodation

There are no direct implications arising from this report.

4. Detailed Section

4.1 The Tram Advisory Panel considered a paper, “Town Centre Tram Alignments”, at its meeting on 23 February 2005. The paper reviewed the options for the tram alignment through Acton, Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell and Southall town centres. It recommended preferences to be adopted to inform ongoing scheme development within the working framework established with Transport for London (TfL).

4.2 The options reviewed for Acton town centre included:

i. The option assumed by TfL for the summer 2004 public consultation, which assumed that Acton High Street would be closed to general traffic in both directions between Market Place and Steyne Road.

ii. An option with tram and traffic sharing the existing road space.

iii. A range of options involving diversion of the tram away from the constrained section of Acton High Street or demolition of buildings to create additional space to allow separate tram and traffic lanes.

4.3 The paper concluded that the tram diversion options should not be pursued because of the effects on tram operations and that the demolition options should not be pursued because of the loss of valued Victorian townscape. This was supported by the Tram Advisory Panel. The paper considered the choice between the closure option and an option with shared running of trams and traffic in both directions. The recommendation for Acton was that:

The Borough would support the closure option provided that measures are included to ensure the feasibility of the westbound local traffic route.

4.4 The Panel agreed that the paper be submitted to Cabinet. However, while agreeing the recommendations for Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell and Southall, Cabinet decided that further work was needed to assess the options for Acton before a preference could be expressed.

4.5 TfL has undertaken further work on the feasibility of the alternative routes for traffic if the closure option were to be confirmed, focussing on the westbound route (assumed to be via Bollo Bridge Road and Bollo Lane). TfL has also been evaluating the difference on tram running times between the closure and shared running options. At this time neither workstream has yet achieved the accuracy on which officers would feel able to make a firm recommendation in favour of either the closure or the shared running options.

4.6 TfL has also been asked to assess the feasibility of shared running (westbound) coupled with an eastbound tram-only arrangement, eastbound traffic being diverted via Steyne Road and Market Place. It has not yet been Page 4

possible to demonstrate that this would be feasible given the implications for traffic on Steyne Road and for the Market Place / Churchfield Road junction.

4.7 Officers have therefore concluded that the Borough cannot confirm support for an option involving closure in either or both directions, in the light of the concerns about the implications of a closure option. Although a shared running option incurs risks to tram journey time and reliability, it is understood that these can be managed by traffic management measures on the approaches to the town centre which would give trams priority through the narrow section.

4.8 It is therefore proposed to submit the proposal that Council should pass a resolution under section 239 of the Local Government Act 1972 on the presumption that Acton High Street would remain open for general traffic throughout.

4.9 The Panel should note that the detailed engineering of the tram through Acton Town Centre is unaffected by the arrangements for general traffic. The closure issue only affects the tram’s operational performance (journey time and reliability) and traffic flows around the area.

4.10 The Panel should note, however, that it may be necessary to close Acton High Street for a period during construction work. The construction strategy is under development and officers are awaiting information from TfL on the potential effects at this and other locations. In the event of a temporary closure, alternative traffic routes would be established which could indicate the likely effect of a permanent closure.