Forum Topic

Why did the Hogarth Roundabout proposal get so far?

While I'm sure nearly everyone in the area is breathing a sigh of relief that the Hogarth Roundabout scheme has been scrapped, it does raise the question about how on earth it got to the stage it did. The flaws in the scheme were always self-evident not least the required turn in front of Church Square. The designers simply can't have taken the time to visit the area or talk to anyone who was familiar with the layout and must have drawn up the scheme using a map. A huge amount of money would have been saved if they had done any prior investigation.

Diane Brown ● 2d6 Comments

Let's not forget how TFL tried to shove through this ridiculous half-baked scheme with minimal consultation. And kudos to John Todd for forcing them to extend the consultation period - despite mockery on this forum by the usual suspects.

Bruce Hammal ● 6h

Large organisations, whether in the private or public sector, often make what appear to be illogical decisions due to internal management issues. I'm persuaded that TfL put forward these proposals because of growing concerns about capacity issues at Hogarth Roundabout and the A4 in general. The emphasis on safety and the closure of Church Street may have unlocked funding pots but constrained what they wanted really to do. You couldn't blame transport engineers, let alone Sir Sadiq if this was what happened.The timing of the announcement might be significant. We are clearly going to hear something on Heathrow shortly. That may mean that funding becomes available for measures that don't have to pretend they are not about increasing road capacity.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 7h

Get rid of Kahn

Steve Taylor ● 1d

What can we do to stop them wasting our money?

Chris Lucy ● 1d

The reason this absurd consultation, and many TfL consultations,  go as far as they do is simply to keep incompetent morons in overpaid jobs.

Steve Taylor ● 1d

It is a very good question. I don't know the answer but if I had to guess I would say that it was caused by the decision being driven by budgetary issues rather than proper long term planning. That is to say, there was a pot of money available to spend with a time limit on it and consulting on this project conveniently used it up.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 1d

If it was tfl, can't say I'm surprised they slightly cocked it up

peter king ● 2d