West London Transit Scheme
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WEST LONDON TRANSIT SCHEME Trams - What Planned Closures May Look Like
In a recent interview in the Ealing Gazette, Tim Jones, the man in charge of the project, revealed that Acton High Street will be closed for 433ft from Steyne Road to Market Place. This suggests that the main west-east route will be Gunnersbury Lane - Avenue Road with the traffic turning into Acton Lane and then up Winchester St. past the Town Hall to rejoin the Uxbridge Road. Traveling east-west, Winchester St. could be turned into a two-way street or traffic could loop around the swimming baths as it currently does. However, Avenue Road is currently not wide enough to cope with the potential volume of diverted traffic and concerns have been raised that gridlock here will lead traffic further south towards Bollo Lane and Chiswick High Road.
It should be stressed that the alternative routes outlined in the map above are speculative and that no indication has been given from Transport for London as to where they plan to divert the main bulk of traffic that formerly passed along the Uxbridge Road. Tim Jones was reportedly dismissive of local opposition to the plans saying of recent protest against the scheme, "There are 1.5 million people living in West London and I don't give much consideration to just 1,500 people." Ken Livingstone has pointed out that 75% of respondents to a consultation were in favour of the scheme but Save Ealing's Streets say that the possibility of the diversion of traffic was not mentioned in the consultation document. However, an ombudsman has recently upheld the Mayor's position ruling the consultation to be valid. Currently 27,000 cars a day travel along the Uxbridge Road and the tram scheme is envisages reducing traffic to 80% of that level. At it meeting with over 1000 local residents last year, Ealing Council leader, John Cudmore, promised more detailed consultation with local residents before the scheme proceeds. February 20, 2003 Save Ealing's Street's manifesto The Story So Far - Documentation on the Planned Scheme Mayor Says Yes to West London tram scheme Trams in Acton June 2002 ActonW3.com "The Uxbridge Road will get trams, Chiswick will get traffic." October 2001 ChiswickW4.com Map of planned route (Adobe Acrobat required)
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