Forum Topic

Watch out for Hounslow Council's latest cunning TGT trap

Because of the Acton Lane works, diversion signs have been put up telling people to go up Turnham Green Terrace.I'm sure any fines given out will be easy to appeal but the council know that many people receiving them will not make an appeal so this will be a lucrative day for the council.

Francis Rowe ● 2197d26 Comments

Didn’t know about the roadworks until right next to them. Poorly signposted ( no surprise there) and traffic jams. So Chiswick high road is now the perfect route for anyone who wants to drive through it but hopeless for locals who live around it. I speak as a cyclist walker and drive in that order. Maddening how poorly this has been designed and executed

Alex McDevitt ● 2197d

Someone take a copy of the diversion sign - don't trust them not to deny it later

Claire Moran ● 2197d

Yes, again had to abandon a trip to go shopping locally today due to the traffic both getting to and on CHR.Ended up having to drive down Bath Road to get to Shepherd Bush and beyond to do a family shop and get various other household items.A shame, as would rather shop locally, but have to use a car for such a trip. Can one assume that with the roadworks on Acton Lane that it is OK to drive up TGT, albeit temporarily, or is the signage a mistake?

Mark Edwards ● 2197d

There is a photo of the sign on the article on the front page.I don't think that Hounslow would persist with rejecting the appeal of anyone who drove up TGT today saying they saw this sign even if they couldn't produce photographic evidence. What may happen though is that some people will get a PCN in the post and not have a clear recollection of the circumstances and pay the fine unwittingly. In any other walk of life this sort of thing would be regarded as fraud.

Francis Rowe ● 2197d

Does anybody have a record of how many times a year one utility or another digs up this bit of road? It does seem to be a worryingly frequent occurrence and it always causes traffic mayhem. That was of course before TGT and Fishers Lane were closed to through traffic, so I would suggest there needs to be be an easily and rapidly implemented signage plan in place  to open the Terrace or the Lane to through traffic as a relief valve whenever this happens.

Bruce Hammal ● 2197d

I live on Chiswick High Road next to the traffic lights besides Turnham Green Terrace. I see people all times of the day for weeks now taking photos of the signs that are up or not up. I have never actually checked. But figured out all those people taking the photos have obviously been given tickets. I can imagine the council are making a small fortune.

chris poole ● 2197d

I don't think the fortune is small Chris.Hadn't they already issued £500k of fines by the beginning of October.Today, if you want to get from South to North Chiswick the are no options between Chiswick Roundabout and Goldhawk rd. Unless you want to use the TGT Toll Road.Quite ridiculous, outrageous and incompetent by Hounslow Council and Mark Frost in particular.  mark.frost@hounslow.gov.uk

Richard Potts ● 2197d

Hang on, folks.Due to a burst water main (i.e. no fault of LBH or LBE), Thames Water have had to dig up the road.So the Council(s) open up an alternative route which saves a very long diversion.I would understand complaints had they not done so, but now that they have? Seriously?

Richard Cathcart ● 2197d

One of my colleagues promptly reported this new sign  to LBH senior traffic officers and Parking Services today.This  obvious confusion of signage should clearly promptly lead to NFA. against motorists following the diversion sign(s).

John Todd ● 2197d

Exactly, so there is no redundancy in the system, and the slightest glitch makes it go t*** up.

Steven Trembath ● 2197d

Well that's one possible scenario. The other is that Thames Water's contractors put out the diversion sign without any discussion with the Council. This does seem to have been an unplanned excavation and it is a weekend! Anyone not familiar with the area would no doubt look at the map and see that the obvious solution was to send traffic down Turnham Green Terrace - without knowing about the restrictions. If no joined up plan was formulated  then anyone receiving a PCN for following the diversion is reliant on somebody in Hounslow House doing the decent thing and temporarily removing the restriction. You can only hope befuddled drivers aren't forced to go through the process of challenging the tickets, that would be adding insult to inconvenience to injury.

Bruce Hammal ● 2197d

My reply was to Richard's post.

Bruce Hammal ● 2197d

Actually if you were driving up Sutton court road and wished to continue on to the northern part of Chiswick and turned  left onto high road from heathfield terrace the road closure wasn’t obvious until we were there and diversion signs not obvious either so we ended up driving on to Chiswick roundabout and up the north circular and back down Bollo lane onto Bollo bridge road to get to top of the avenue.

Alex McDevitt ● 2197d

Mark Frost is a paid employee.He is able to respond to an applicant from St Albans with regard to the proposed antique market.Yet he is unable to respond to local residents and businesses.He has not done his job.I find Richard's defense of Hounslow laughable. Agreed most likely scenario is Thames Water created a diversion in the absence of any coordination. After all, LBH is only open Monday through Friday, 9-5. Plus it always takes 10 working days to do anything. So while the world changes in an instant, LBH plods along ineptly.Otherwise, this example makes me think there should be an equivalent system to that used on smart motorways. Instead of printed signage, digital could be programmed to open and close TGT depending on time/day and to flick a switch easily in case of emergency works.

David Lesniak ● 2197d

It took me over an hour to drive from Chiswick roundabout to Rusthall Ave yesterday afternoon.  I saw the diversion sign pointing up TGT but didn’t trust it, so carried on to Goldhawk Rd and doubled back to South Parade. Utter madness.

Belle Martin ● 2197d

DL: "I find Richard's defense of Hounslow laughable"It appears one of two things happened.1.LBH realised (out-of-hours btw) that there was an emergency, and so responded by re-opening TGT, to ease congestion.OR2. Thames Water took it upon themeselves to divert traffic via TGT.If the former, then what was wrong with that?And if the latter, how does LBH cop the blame? I'm beginning to get the impression from your prolific posting that you have it in for LBH, regardless of fact or circumstance.

Richard Cathcart ● 2196d

Is there any consultation between Councils and Workmen on these projects that you know of John.  Were the Council aware of the works, were the workers aware of the local restrictions.  I ask because if the new road layouts don't change this will happen again.

Maggie Dodge ● 2196d

David Lesniak made the following point -"Otherwise, this example makes me think there should be an equivalent system to that used on smart motorways. Instead of printed signage, digital could be programmed to open and close TGT depending on time/day and to flick a switch easily in case of emergency works."John - any chance you could put this idea to Mark Frost ?

Richard Greenhough ● 2196d

Ah yes. It seems that motorists are extremely confused and rightfully angry at this mess. And that is exactly he reaction the Council wants. The Lead Member for Highways, Guy Lambert, has made it perfectly clear that he wants people out of their cars. He wants you so frustrated and confused that you haven't  a clue where you can or can't drive so that you are too scared to use your car in Chiswick for fear of being fined no matter where you park or drive. This Council cares not a jot about the businesses which will fail due to lack of footfall as long as they achieve their short-sighted goal of motor vehicle free Chiswick.Madness rules supreme. 

Steve Taylor ● 2195d

Ventured up there today. No signs warning of closure I can see on SCR, there is nothing at bottom of Sutton Lane. One sign (I think) that had fallen over by the lights at High Road junction. Coming from east I saw no signs either. So the only time people are aware of the closure is when they reach the junction. This is bad enough at normal times, but when Hounslow make this the only legal route to cross the tube lines this situation demands clear and obvious signs and also clear signs advising to use TGT. Acton Lane by the bridge is dug up regularly, so it should not be a surprise. But the complete chaos and queues and risk of fines again shows there is no real regard for the local community or a desire to reduce congestion. Shocking.

Paul Green ● 2195d

The item about this on the front page is such a catalogue of ineptitute and contempt of the governed by those that are governed.It is so predictable that this chiselling bunch have exploited the situation to squeeze more money out of people. This time the defenders of the council's actions can't blame the people being fined for ignoring the signs. Can anyone suggest a possible justification for not automatically refunding people? If a private company behaved like this their victims would phone the police.Suspicions that Cllr Hanif is delusional may be confirmed by the statement in which he says "the diversion route will now be amended to utilise Goldhawk Road which will reduce the impacts of these emergency works during the Low Traffic Neighbourhood trials". Perhaps I am being hard on the guy and he does know what he is talking about. If so could someone explain to me how this could be it would be appreciated.

Francis Rowe ● 2195d

No Francis, he clearly does not know what he is talking about and clearly these people hold the residents of Chiswick in utmost contempt. This is what we have come to, a few loony cycling zealots have captured the council decision makers, who are now so entrenched in their lunacy that they cannot back down. A two mile diversion, ignoring a perfectly fine B road that was designed exactly to bridge the two halves of Chiswick, closed for no reason whatsoever.Remember, these schemes are predicated on the promise of cleaner air, less congestion and the greatest con of all, traffic evaporation. The daily gridlock is a testament to the failure of these schemes. They are insane and will destroy this community before admitting their errors. Meanwhile, the real lunatics will continue to tell us how popular these schemes are.

Paul Green ● 2195d

Not using TGT  as the diversion route !!...and sending traffic to Goldhawk Rd. Absolute proof these people are not fit to run a bath, never mind a council.

Nick Jenkins ● 2195d

I think the front page article and this entire thread should be printed out and sent to The Transport Minister Grant Shapps - also sent to the PM's office, the London Mayor, Local MP's - the BBC & ITV News teams - editors of all National Newspapers.  Hounslow Council far from improving the local street scene and helping residents, businesses and visitors is deliberately destroying all of Chiswick  - Hounslow Council over 7 months months is sucesfully doing what Hitler failed to do in 6 years, killing Chiswick stone dead!  Just get your heads round this Hounslow, what will you do for cash once the Cash Cow of the Borough has been slain?

Jennifer Selig ● 2195d

Add this to the mix:Bath Road is now the target of another LTN scheme. No details at present. If traffic is diverted to Goldhawk and folks then have to access Bath Road, what will happen?Beverly Road is also another new target. Odd. That entire section of Chiswick is a closed loop. What's left to do? Sod it over? Sprinkle it with fairie dust?

David Lesniak ● 2195d

Whatever is being planned for Bath Road it probably won't mean the blocking of the road itself. LTNs require distributor roads and Bath Road is likely to be one.Traffic management measures will be required here because queueing on Bath Road, South Parade and Acton Lane will mean that sat navs will start directing drivers up roads like Abinger or those without such devices will get tired of waiting and look for a cut through. Like CPZs these schemes have a domino effect because they don't reduce traffic just shift it elsewhere.

Paul Corcoran ● 2195d