Bilton Road Issues Nick O’Donnell, Assistant Director – Transport Planning 4 th February 2013

1. Bilton Road IssuesNick O’Donnell, Assistant Director – Transport Planning4th February 2013 REGENERATION & HOUSING

2. Resident concerns raised primarily over: • Noise and vibration from lorries and buses along Bilton Road, particularly at night • Condition of roads and impact on adjacent roads through activities of the neighbouring industrial estates • Poor route choices taken by drivers resulting in HGVs getting stuck and then causing damage to footways and private property when reversing as well as associated local congestion • Speeding along Bilton Road and lack of enforcement • Congestion and bottlenecks along Bilton Road, especially by shops. There are Stop & Shop bays located along this road however when these bays are full up drivers park on the opposite side where there are no restrictions. This therefore blocks the road and queuing occurs. Background

3. The Council has undertaken the following work to date: • Minor repairs and improvements to gullies and utility covers were undertaken in July / August 2011 • Resurfacing of Bilton Road between Manor Farm Road and Torrington Road covering approximately 35% of Bilton Road – works are 90% complete • Installing a raised Zebra Crossing and three cushions to reduce traffic speed and improve road safety – raised zebra crossing is complete, cushions to be installed following completion of resurfacing works. • Installing a raised speed table at the entrance of Bilton Road near the Manor Farm junction - raised table expected to be complete by 8th Feb • Undertaken a speed survey on Bilton Road (November 2012) • Initial meeting with Mr Chavda and Cllr Anjum to discuss issues facing residents which led to proposed additional measures such as tables/raised zebra and additional set of cushions • Reviewed accident data for last 3 years Work to Date

4. Continued: • Commissioned a week long video survey (currently monitoring) • Held discussions with Palletline (a major contributor to the issues here) and established they are coming to the end of their lease and looking at alternative sites • Met with London Councils (who are responsible for the control of lorry movements at night/weekends in London) to explore scope for better enforcement/regulation. The London Lorry Control Scheme (LLCS) has been in operation since 1985, and utilises a London wide traffic order to restrict the movement of vehicles over 18 tonnes (MGW) at night times (21:00-07:00) and weekends. • Commissioned a specialist company to develop a Freight Journey Planner (FJP) for west London.  This is a web-based tool that allows freight operators to generate the most efficient , compliant and safe routes around areas.  This will aid key decision making of freight operators in the area and help ensure that more informed HGV route options are chosen • Been trying to arrange a meeting with residents to discuss next steps and agree key decisions. Despite chasing since December, no meeting dates have been put forward by residents Work to Date (2)

5. Initial Observations • Identified speeding issues - showed average speed of 22.6mph and 85th percentile is 27.2mph (this is the speed at or below where 85% of all vehicles are observed to travel under free flowing conditions) • 2 KSI statistics for last three years - neither speed related • Marked differences in amount of traffic on different sections of Bilton Road • There would appear to be HGV movements further to those permitted on Bilton Road at night

6. Commission vibration surveys at key properties (needs £5k contribution from the Ward Forum for this) • Complete analysis on HGV activity and review results from video surveys • Continue development of Freight Gateway software • Meeting with residents/Councillors to agree next steps and key decisions • Meeting with London Councils to agree further input from their side • Review Palletline situation and seek changes to site operation • Commission further speed surveys Further work (subject to feedback from Councillors and residents)

7. Further Potential Solutions • Width restrictions e.g. at Aintree Road/Bilton Road junction • - There are a number of width restrictions in the area to stop rat-running particularly by large vehicles  through residential roads. Additional advance warning signs of the width restriction may be of better value/benefit.   • Introduce Freight Gateway software to area • - This would include getting updated software to SatNavs and working with local companies to have drivers issued with set routes • Additional inspections of Bilton Road condition • - Highways inspectors sent to the area to identify any further defects in footways and carriageway that meet the intervention levels for defects and if any, orders will be raised for repairs to be carried out • Additional and extended Stop and Shop bays and some further waiting restrictions • - Possibly extend the time to include Saturdays. This along with the extra signage for width restrictions (if approved and funded by the Ward Forum) could be implemented at a cost of approximately £2,500

8. Discounted Options • Removing waiting restrictions on both sides of the road – leads to increase in traffic speed - exacerbating existing problem. Initial concerns raised by Ward Councillors. • Installing speed cameras – set criteria for speed cameras is 4 KSIs in three-year period (2 of which have to be speed related). Costs £50k per camera (need minimum of two) with £5k-£10k ongoing annual costs. Also, TfL do not tend to consider 20mph roads for speed cameras • Resurfacing remainder of Bilton Road - very high cost (c.£380k) and other roads in Borough with worse condition rating • Use route via Horsenden Lane South from the A40 for all vehicles - London Councils unable to accept this route. Whilst railway bridge at Perivale Underground Station has safe to use height of 4.7 metres there are other vehicles over this height that need to access the site and have to take a different route.  They use Bridgewater Road and then Bilton Road as this is the most compliant route (note: using Bideford Road would be shorter but the bridge has a maximum height of 4.4 metres). • There is another issue in that Horsenden Lane North (just north of Bilton Road) has a width restriction of 2.1 metres. This is too narrow for HGVs if LC wanted to route vehicles in from the north. Therefore not only is the route along Bilton Road the most complaint route for vehicles over 4.7 metres, it is the only route.