Forum Topic

The Perverse closure of Occupation Lane

Hounslow Council is claiming a victory in closing Occupation Lane.Only within hours some facts have come to light that expose the using of Covid as a front for Traffic schemes as a complete deception to residents.Today has seen motor cyclists using Occupation Lane as a race track and making a mockery of the concrete blocks which now prevent any sort of pursuit.This already dodgy to be after dark location which is according to CovidTraffic is "deemed a suitable place to walk and cycle will no doubtt be a new haven for drug dealing and low level crime.But worse still. This is the main route for access to Clayponds Hospital. This is where patients go for rehabilitation from operations and long term injuries and ailments.  Being a rather isolated location are the Covid Traffic experts answering why this has been made almost inaccessible?No because they have not even considered it. Older people are  to relevant to their policy idealsCertainly not infirm elderly, they are going to die of Covid anyway so lets forget them.Clearly the attitude of several Labour Councillors in both Ealing and Hounslow and several senior officers.They have overlooked that Occupation Lane was resurfaced sans Speed humps to allow smooth transit for patients being driven by ambulance or private vehicles, it took years for this to take place and constant requests from Ramp Ambulance drivers and other care drivers. Largely because the roads south of Clayponds have been notorious for 40 years plus with dreadful road surfaces and narrow pinch points.The roads have been resurfaced but speed humps remain that are not possible for ambulances to completely avoid and two full speed humps are in bad condition and cannot be avoided.The Lane was the original access road to the Hospital until part of the site was sold off and the hospital rebuilt but the access was moved.So now we have patients and local patients mainly of Ealing placed at risk when transported particularly after treatment and a racetrack and criminal activity site that will no doubt use up more of the Police budget.Just how incompetent are these experts? And why not a word from councillors who will have to take the rap for such myopic knee-jerk implementation of schemes? Early making best use of resources for the NHS or those who support patient care.

Raymond Havelock ● 1757d10 Comments

Please don't be charmed by this 6 month experiment. In an experiment you collect data before you implement a change and then you takes similar measurements afterwards to measure change. This is not possible in this period of atypical traffic flows. So don't listen to the word experimental it is a lie.

Arthur Breens ● 1747d

Basically, it is a case of 'sod the motorist', 'sod logic' and "I'll do what I damn well like"Yes Nigel 'cause Cllr Lambert rides a bike! :(

Debbie Paradin ● 1752d

Have the management set up a contact number for issues encountered by transportation people from Ramp Ambulance drivers to volunteer and community drivers who are the ones who have to responsibility of the patients in transit?They certainly didn't on Tuesday morning but nor did they know about the problem either!!

Raymond Havelock ● 1752d

Yes but only in the last few days. Problems is the heads of the emergency services have to comply with GLA policy and are very much unable to effect objections anymore.One would have thought the Fire services long raised and ignored concerns over Grenfell and other towers and issues would be enough to bring this to an end, but no, the Fire Chief had to retire early ( even though the concerns raised were under her predecessors time not hers) and fell on deaf ears as it was not what they wanted to hear.Same thing is still going on.

Raymond Havelock ● 1752d

RaymondAre you aware that the Hospital Management are talking to LBOH? So no doubt the six month trial will be monitored by them and they will provide feedback to the council during the road closures.

Bernard Allen ● 1753d

Thats incorrect distortion of fact. There is one levelled speed table at the end of Occupation Lane before the entrance to the Hospital. The other which is both uneven and steeper is the other side of the entrance.  That restricts the route for patients who are transported for treatment.All of the Access from Clayponds Ave and Chestnut Ave have road obstructions which cannot be negotiated by ambulances as cars are parked along them and the road too narrow.Just who would walk this road to school?  No-one in their right mind. Firstly there is a far safer road free route and secondly there are no residences in Occupation Lane. In 40 years of driving people to the hospital at school time I've barely seen a soul on this road.  The intersection of the footpaths does not conflict with the road unless except for moped riders and cyclists who have been using the footpaths without due care for a long time. If you are there daily you know this and look out for it.The residential roads are beyond Occupation Lane and were not linked to Occupation Lane when the Hospital entrance was at the end. in fact well into the late 1960s there was not actually any road surface linking the two roads just compress ruble as it remains an unadopted road it was, purely to service access to the then Hospital.The person killed was not due to the road but their own actions, unless you know of another.  Far more could be done to make this safer but what has been done is rather lacking.  But closing it off impacts people in need and those who provide it.

Raymond Havelock ● 1754d

I live close to Occupation Lane and am currently not working, so I get to see and hear usage of the road. I've not seen or heard any motorbikes using the lane since lockdown.There are two other roads that can be used to access the hospital – from the A4 or from South Ealing Road. The number of speed humps on those routes being the same as if using Occupation Lane, and without having to negotiate the very narrow Occupation Lane and the poor junction with South Ealing Rd.The closure of the road is a solution to the very long-standing problem of the use of the road as a rat run between South Ealing road and the A4. The roads beyond Occupation Lane are obviously residential, and the use of Occupation Lane and those roads as a rat run to avoid the main road and a traffic light is obviously a problem. The almost 90 degrees bend at the East end of the long, dark straight of Occupation Lane has been a perennial accident hotspot, with the council having to routinely rebuild bollards, and the residents have had to rebuild their wall on at least two occasions. One driver has been killed. That corner is also the intersection of two footpaths (as well as the road footpaths) - one down the cemetery and one alongside the South East boundary of the cemetery going towards the hospital – along which folk walk their children to and from school, amongst other use. The other end of Occupation Lane also has a problematic junction with South Ealing Rd.

John Dickinson ● 1754d

I detailed to Cllr. Lambert a plan to both stop 'rat-running' while preserving the shorter route for ambulances to Clayponds. This meant using ANPR cameras to identify non-emergency vehicles. He rejected this as 'too expensive' while in another thread on the TW8 forum was claiming that ANPR was 'cheap' and would be used to stop rat-running on Green Dragon Lane.
If you are going to bullsh*t, at least be consistent!

N V Brooks ● 1757d

It’s a coup by the rabid anti-car lobby. The covid excuse is perfect for anti-democratic impositions of this sort. The traffic problem is chiefly caused by perpetual digging up of the roads (and we’ve seen the effect of that on local trees too). Sort out the roadworks and you’ll cut peak time congestion. For most of the day the traffic in South Ealing is relatively light.Bet your bottom dollar these ‘temporary’ measures become permanent without any evidence to support their success or otherwise. It’s those who rely on motor vehicles to get about who are most inconvenienced here, including the elderly and infirm. Not everyone can cycle the three miles we are now told is a reasonable distance for a ‘local’ journey.

Simon Hayes ● 1757d

The (possibly temporary) concrete blocks positioned this morning at the South Ealing Road entrance to Occupation Lane are not preventing motorbikes from accessing Occupation Lane, as I witnessed this morning. I am curious as to how this can be prevented.Occupation Lane is currently, by the way, a favourite racetrack for both cars and motorbikes as well as being used by large lorries. Living nearby, I am also aware of numerous accidents at the narrow entrance to the Lane.

Mary Geddes ● 1757d

Regretfully, the Hounslow Cabinet member for Transport. Cllr. Guy Lambert has completely ignored all logical arguments and LBH have proceeded with the closure. It is the same 'Politburo' approach they adopted in Isleworth when a survey rejected by 70% of respondents to close Church Street was ignored to pander to a few local Labour supporters.
The same will happen when Green Dragon Lane is effectively closed to through traffic soon.
Basically, it is a case of 'sod the motorist', 'sod logic' and "I'll do what I damn well like".  So much for democracy.

N V Brooks ● 1757d