Forum Topic

The Italians new bus gate

There are new lines painted on the road following the work outside The Italians/Connollys pub.  On the road past the double lines it stated ‘Except buses’.  Can cars turn left from CHR up to Chiswick Park station? There are no signs to say no but the road message is confusing.

Lena Armstrong ● 2230d19 Comments

The plans of the temporary Cycleway 9 show no changes to the Acton Lane/CHR junction, only the new bus gate to the west.  But they also don't show this new "Except buses" marking!

Richard Jennings ● 2230d

You an turn left up Acton Lane after you have passed the bus lane.

Helen Whitman ● 2230d

I think it always said except buses.
As far as I recall/understood, the left lane was for cars to ONLY turn left. But buses in the left lane were allowed to travel straight on (down CHR) — so the "except buses" was to indicate that was an 'allowed move' for buses. 
Of course, I may be wrong. 

Angela Knight ● 2230d

It never said ‘ except buses’ before.  It was just a left arrow. Thank you for letting me know we can still turn left - it saves a long journey up to Stamford Brook!

Lena Armstrong ● 2230d

Hi Lena,I saw this tonight as well. It definitely looks like the road markings say buses only for the left turn. I have posted on another thread "Driving Question" with more details.If I was driving and saw this I would not turn left (unless I was a bus)They are completely splitting Chiswick in 2 if you rely on a car.Ian

Ian Kettlewell ● 2229d

Thanks Ian.  It is totally crazy.

Lena Armstrong ● 2229d

Ian see the other thread, your comment is wrong. It says 'except buses', which means the left lane is only for the left turn, EXCEPT for buses. Buses will be going straight on from the bus lane, as they did before. For a car there is NO change to the use of this junction

Paul Green ● 2229d

PaulThis was my understanding also (see my previous response). Regardless, it is clearly very confusing. Frustrating.

Angela Knight ● 2229d

Until there's a 'No Left Turn' sign on a lamp post, I'll assume I can still turn left. I'm not sure if arrows painted on the road are obligatory and therefore how necessary the 'Except Buses' actually is. A better use of the paint might have been some 'No Access' or 'Access Only' painted on the road to emphasise some of our other recent road 'closures'.

Peter Evans ● 2229d

It is confusing. I believe there will be a new traffic light to hold traffic and prioritise buses. This is not yet in place. But once you pass the bus gate you move into the left lane to turn left as before. This will make the less turn lane less efficient (much shorter) and add to delays here. The ONLY route across the tube lines becoming harder to reach. Madness.

Paul Green ● 2229d

Having gone past it this morning it is monumentally confusing and is slowing the traffic.  Those going left will be cutting across the inside lane at the last minute when buses are going straight on.  It has obvious accident potential

Justin Stephenson ● 2229d

I think this issue will be resolved when the new light is installed. But I never once had a problem here before and still cannot see how this helps, just make things worse

Paul Green ● 2229d

It's confusing at present because there's a mixture of old and new signage. At the current end of the eastbound bus lane, there's this collection of signs:Presumably the bus lane will be extended to the new bus gate, the old arrows on the road will be erased, and the upright sign showing the lanes at the Acton Lane junction will be moved nearer to the junction.Then, after the bus gate, these are the new road markings:Left-hand lane: left turn except buses.Right-hand lane: ahead only.

Richard Jennings ● 2229d

Thanks for the clarification everyone. Yes, I thought the painting on the road suggested only buses could turn left, but now you have explained, I can see it means left turn only unless you're a bus.I still think it's confusing and hopefully, when they have finished, it will become clearer.

Ian Kettlewell ● 2229d

As I read this - if you are in the left hand lane in a normal vehicle then you can now only go left and not straight on. Only a bus in that lane can choose to go straight ahead.Personally I have very rarely seen anyone in the left hand lane decide to go straight ahead across the lights anyway. Also most of the High Road bound buses have already abandoned the left hand bus lane well before they get to the end of it. They tend to pull out into the straight ahead lane much earlier.By lengthening the bus lane there will be a lot more cars who wish to turn left clogging up the straight ahead lane until the last minute (along with all the buses) and leaving the left hand lane potentially empty.Can anyone elaborate on what the thinking is behind this?

Carolyn Valder ● 2229d

Another crazy and confusing change to the roads in Chiswick. We have lived here many years, and my wife returning from Chiswick business park today took it as not being able to turn left on to Acton Lane from the High Road, and therefore thought she would have to drive all the way down to Goldhawk Road to get to Bedford Park...Apparently you can still turn left here, but IT IS NOT CLEAR! It is about time something is done about all this crazy confusion - it is almost as if someone is trying to make our lives even harder in what is already a very difficult time. It is worth adding that my family and I feel safest when travelling in our car due to the fact so many people still seem to be refusing to wear a face covering on public transport. Therefore we should be encouraging private vehicle usage, not trying to force people back onto potentially unsafe public transport.

Mark Edwards ● 2229d

Chiswick Business Park to Bedford Park isn't very far - why not walk ?

Simon Tranter ● 2228d

As others have suggested, the arrangement is, in principle, much the same as before, but with a much shorter length of Left Turn lane for non-buses to get into between the new bus gate and the traffic lights (and this to accommodate more left turning traffic that can't now to use Fishers Lane and TGT). It might have been better to put the bus gate further back, where the end of the previous bus lane used to be (shown by the branching arrow on the road in the foreground of Richard's picture), but what do I know.

Peter Evans ● 2228d

This was adding to delay earlier today even before its fully operational. The shorter left turn lane meant that at a red light, the straight ahead lane was often empty as traffic unable to reach the left lane blocked back. So the overall amount of traffic that can go through each change of lights has fallen. This will fall further when the new additional traffic light is installed. Queues back to the business park, lots of traffic cutting down to Wellesley. Madness.

Paul Green ● 2228d