Call Made to Postpone Devonshire Road Cycleway Works
Preparatory work is already taking place at the Devonshire Road junction
A local councillor and some of the businesses on Devonshire Road are calling on the council to rescheduled planned work on Cycleway 9 which would require a closure of the road.
The ongoing upgrade of the segregated cycleway currently requires work at a number of junctions with Chiswick High Road. The council are gradually progressing west with the work and, at the moment Brackley Road and Cranbrook Road are shut at their northern ends.
The next phase will involve work at the junction with Devonshire Road and it is feared that this could have a significant impact on takings during the run up to Christmas. Shops, cafes and restaurants which were already struggling due to Covid and the reduced spending power of their customers, are very reliant on a strong period of trading in the run up to Christmas.
Letters were sent this month to residents and businesses on Devonshire Road and Linden Gardens giving them two weeks’ notice of the intention to start work at these locations.
Some Devonshire Road businesses are concerned that there will be a double whammy of restricted vehicle access to the road and a reduction on parking space availability in the car park in front of the old police station. The council has not yet given any indication as to what access will remain for parking. With the entry and exit points at Devonshire Road and Linden Gardens likely to be closed, one local shop manager says she believes the only way to continue operating the car park would be to reopen the access point on Chiswick High Road by the George IV but she is sceptical that the council would be prepared to do that and is anticipating a total closure of the car park.
Like the other roads where restrictions were introduced, Devonshire Road will operate on a two-way basis. There are additional concerns about how deliveries will be handled.
Devonshire Road will be switched to two way operation
Cllr Jo Biddolph accused the council of being insensitive to the needs of local businesses and described the short notice as ‘insulting’. She said, There is no information about how shoppers, suppliers, customers can use the car park. How will they get in and out to shop locally? Or will the spaces be unusable? If so, what does it mean not just for shoppers but also for the cheese and antiques market? (The planned dates means the flower market will not be affected.)
“I have asked cabinet members Cllr Katherine Dunne (roads) and Cllr Tom Bruce (economic development) if work to these junctions can be postponed until after the new year, with work done to other junctions (where there is no retail or hospitality) instead. “
She added, “I urge you to adjust the schedule and enable Chiswick's traders to make the most of pre-Christmas trade. The timing is as a result of delays to earlier sections of the High Road. The impact of those delays should not be inflicted on businesses trying to rebuild after the pandemic and capture Christmas shopping that might be done early before the impact of the cost-of-living crisis hits hard. Please change the timing of work to these two junctions. “
A closure of Devonshire Road is expected to have a negative impact on takings
There is some anger among both residents and businesses as they say they were told that the impact of Phase 3b of works on Cycleway 9 would be minimal. In the event, the work that has taken place so far on Cranbrook Road and Brackley Road has been quite extensive and residents say it has caused them significant disruption.
Cllr Dunne, Hounslow Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Transport Strategy, said, “Hounslow Council and its partners at Hounslow Highways and Transport for London are working hard to make sure that any disruption caused by the constriction work on Cycleway 9 is kept to an absolute minimum.
“Through careful planning, we have ensured that transport routes will remain open throughout the construction period. We have been speaking with residents and businesses in the area. We have listened to their concerns and have acted upon them. We are working hard to ensure that residents and visitors have access to parking. Where we have to suspend parking bays, we will do so as quickly as possible.
“Inevitably there will be the potential for some disruption to travel due to these works, but we are doing all we can to minimise this. We will continue to keep residents and businesses updated throughout the construction period. We thank the community for their continued understanding and support.”
The council have dismissed suggestions that the work has been poorly publicised.
Meanwhile on Brackley Road, some residents say that the works are causing them misery with confusing revised parking restrictions, including some for removal vans, and draconian enforcement leading to many getting parking tickets.
Brackley Road is closed at the junction with Chiswick High Road
One resident contacted us to say, “Temporary parking restrictions are quite normal but, in Brackley Road, the Council have put in multiple suspensions at the same time or overlapping. This has led to many residents and local business owners receiving parking fines as parking attendants swoop on the street en masse in the early hours of the morning. “
She reported a case of one resident who has health problems and lives with a severely disabled person receiving a fine for parking outside his front door at 7.30am as he prepared to leave for hospital for an important heart appointment. Another disabled resident says he was fined for parking in a bay that wasn’t suspended and another got a PCN after the notice of suspension got so drenched it was unreadable. He had got up at 6.30am to move his car and avoid a fine but unwittingly parked in the restricted bay.
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October 30, 2022->->->