West Ealing – Hanwell town centres new proposed traffic scheme.
The above proposes not less than six raised tables and a 20mph speed limit on the Uxbridge Road. This is Ealing’s main artery used not only by public transport, motorists, commercial vehicles and cyclists but also, more important, by all three emergency services. I wonder whether any of these vital services have been asked to take part on the initial design of the draft scheme.When few years back I was a member of the Specialist scrutiny panel set up to look at the 20 mph zones we were astonished to find out that emergency services were not consulted on the various schemes being implemented then. When we asked the officer in charge of transport/traffic we were told that “they (the emergency services) always oppose these schemes” The reason for their opposition was that it slows down their response time. One of the Panel’s recommendation that was then included in the council policy that governs the implementation of the 20mph schemes, was that emergency services must be engaged.Historically all three services have had their base on the Uxbridge Road (Southall, Ealing and Acton Police stations, The Fire Services and Ealing's A&E as it allows them to respond promptly and quickly to any emergency that arises.I do hope that, if they have not yet been approached, at one point they will be asked to take part in the consultation and that their comments be taken on board.
Rosa Popham ● 4860d8 Comments