Whitton High Street safety plans a missed opportunity, say Lib Dems

8:00am Friday 15th February 2013 in News By Rachel Bishop

Richmond Council is missing an opportunity to make Whitton High Street safer, according to Liberal Democrat councillors.

The opposition has called for a 20mph limit in the street as part of improvement plans in the area, but said the administration was not pursuing this.

Councillor Liz Jaeger said: “There is strong public support in Whitton for a 20mph limit in the high street. “The first works to be done will realign kerbs and ease pinch points for buses and other large vehicles. This will help traffic move more freely but also possibly increase speeds.

“Given safety concerns, this is an ideal opportunity to introduce a 20 mph limit, as indeed is planned for the Twickenham town centre improvements.

“I urge the council to think again. Not only would this reduce risks at the zebra crossing outside the station, it would also be safer for cyclists. Given the overall cost of the scheme, this would be an easy and inexpensive win for everybody.”

A council spokesman did not confirm whether a 20mph limit would be implemented, but said plans had not been ruled out.

The spokesman said: “Speeds are relatively low in the area, and we hope that features in the new scheme, such as raised crossing points, will help to keep speeds at an appropriate level. We feel this is a suitable approach rather than simply adding more illuminated signage at this stage.”

Comments(14)

Scott Naylor says...
2:15pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Oh here we go again, paint and more signage for a road already bound by it's width and already constrained space.

I would first of all want to know what the accident record is here for the past 10 years and what mitigation has been considered/implement
ed, then I would also.want to have the speed and user survey data to look at. Twickenham Town has so many different challenges, hardly a useful comparison! Why not look at Teddington?!

Report this post »

Twickenham Bob says...
4:52pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Regularly you see motorists speed up when they see someone is trying to cross at one of the zebra crossings or the lights changing to red on the pelican crossing.

Slower speeds would be very welcome in Whitton. Residents should come first in the town centre - not people in a rush to their own funeral.

I see the 20mph as part of the jigsaw in regenerating Whitton.

Report this post »

Twickenham Bob says...
4:52pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Regularly you see motorists speed up when they see someone is trying to cross at one of the zebra crossings or the lights changing to red on the pelican crossing.

Slower speeds would be very welcome in Whitton. Residents should come first in the town centre - not people in a rush to their own funeral.

I see the 20mph as part of the jigsaw in regenerating Whitton.

Report this post »

lucullus says...
5:58pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Scott Naylor wrote:
Oh here we go again, paint and more signage for a road already bound by it's width and already constrained space.

I would first of all want to know what the accident record is here for the past 10 years and what mitigation has been considered/implement

ed, then I would also.want to have the speed and user survey data to look at. Twickenham Town has so many different challenges, hardly a useful comparison! Why not look at Teddington?!
Why not look at Teddington indeed, councillor? Twickenham will also be constrained by space and design, so why not just leave that at 30mph as well?

It would such an easy thing to do, and a great signal to all visitors to our town centres that having a safe and pleasant experience there is a real priority.

Report this post »

Sparkythecat says...
9:58am Sun 17 Feb 13

I wonder when Cllr Jaeger last drove along Whitton High St. She would be extremely lucky to get into 3rd gear, let alone do 30 mph. With zebra crossings, 2 sets of pedestrian lights, delivery lorries, car doors opening, people trying to park, bikes, need I go on? I don't know where she gets her idea from that everyone thinks it's a good idea, everyone I speak to thinks it's ridiculous, laughable and totally unnecessary. Let's just stick to it outside schools shall we?

Report this post »

Twickenham Bob says...
6:23pm Mon 18 Feb 13

We should have a borough wide 20 MPH zone.

The borough is suburban and we need radical solutions to reduce air and noise pollution and enable children to be able to walk to school in safety etc.

The council should also look into introducing its own version of the congestion charge. It would be cheap to introduce as the borough could piggy-back on TFL systems for the central London congestion charge zone.

Report this post »

Scott Naylor says...
6:28pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Whatever Twickenham Bob is on, I definitely advise readers to stay well clear of it. Vehicle pollution is addressed by National Policy and interaction with engine manufacturers, children walk and scoot to school very happily without needing to own the roads too, and the much hated extension zone of the Congestion Charge was welcomed for being abolished. I am confused which band-wagon 'Bob', or whatever your name is, is jumping on, but it does look like a very dubious 'populist' set of views without foundation, good sound-bites though!

Report this post »

Sparkythecat says...
9:20pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Could we please have a guarantee from Cllr Jaeger - and Twickenham Bob for that matter - that we could reach 20 mph in Whitton High Street on all occasions.

Report this post »

lucullus says...
11:05am Thu 21 Feb 13

Cllr Naylor is right that children indeed walk and scoot to school without needing to own the roads.

Yet children at our borough primary schools cycle to school around 4% of the time (some less), while some schools report that up to half of their primary children said they would like to be able to cycle to school.

Yet the council - despite thinking 20mph is good enough for the new Twickenham - doesn't think 20mph is good enough for our schoolchildren or our residential streets. It's a quixotic attitude, to say the least, so all credit to the council's cycling champion for stepping off the party line on this one.

Report this post »

Scott Naylor says...
11:45am Thu 21 Feb 13

Many people like the idea of cycling, and alike me who trained and rode with my girls to senior school to.teach them a route we both felt comfortable with, and she still uses it, back doubles and predominantly away from high streets but can deal with when required, who like the idea of cycling, and on ooccasions do it, often they prefer the bus and walking for a variety of reasons and that included carrying a multiplicity of books for GCSE's, and now big arch-lever files and seemingly even bigger books, so even given a total road to themselves they may not consider cycling.


W have the walking buses which St Stephen's were early adopters of, they used to have two or three, and as far as I am aware still do. There are multitudes of scooters in the cycle parking areas of the school, and these the children use alongside siblings friends and parents, often the three wheelers for the younger ones, and the two wheeled ones once they have mastered these (I came home with one of the originals when they cost £100 from a US business trip, I found it in a Hollywood sports shop, (I was looking for a baseball bat and glove to bring home for two very sporty girls), the second I got through the front door, they sad 'what's that Daddy', I showed them how it 'sprung up from it's collapsed form, and I then had trouble separating them so got a timer out for 10 minutes each as they sped up and down the pavement of the street. Needless to say I had to go out the next day and try to find a second one; they still have them, and even their mother was caught occasionally scooting back from school as I was, (I bought mine for getting around the huge exhibition halls in International Trade and Business Events ). I am also delighted to see that there is now scooter training being provided to Infants and Junior schools, and it covers all the skills you would use on a bicycle, including how to emergency stop, and to brake normally, rather than just throwing themselves off the scooter, use the rear brake! I am delighted this is occurring as often I get comments about kids running smock on pavements, so the choices are from parents about wanting to walk.with other parents and their children and siblings and babies together. I wonder if we will be getting a London and Richmond Scooter Club who will be soon demanding some special space for themselves, speed limits dropping to 10or even 5 mph to accommodate their road use, why not?

Report this post »

lucullus says...
12:36pm Thu 21 Feb 13

I think the '20's plenty' campaign has done a good job of explaining why it's reasonable to ask for such a restriction, Scott. Your failure to particularly engage on the basic request is a bit perplexing - what could be wrong with 20mph limits outside our schools?

And based on experience in New York, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Berlin, etc., don't you think more people would cycle if you offered them a proper place to do so? Because all the actual evidence suggests that this is *exactly* what will happen ...

Report this post »

Scott Naylor says...
1:15pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Lets you you do this Tim working with the TFL remit of keeping everything moving. I welcome your totally rational .explained and costed masterplan for the Borough which doesn't end up in gridlock.from day one here and in abounding Boroughs.

Your evangelising as much as it is apllaudable ignores basics, please consider as above, I do not have the power to wipe all vehicles off the road as you have often suggested. I do not agree it should be that way either, cars also give personal choice, presumably you have chosen not to own one because you personally with your family do not have a need, as indeed I don't right now?

You also ignore suggestions and comments above, which is perplexing...

Report this post »

Scott Naylor says...
1:15pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Lets you you do this Tim working with the TFL remit of keeping everything moving. I welcome your totally rational .explained and costed masterplan for the Borough which doesn't end up in gridlock.from day one here and in abounding Boroughs.

Your evangelising as much as it is apllaudable ignores basics, please consider as above, I do not have the power to wipe all vehicles off the road as you have often suggested. I do not agree it should be that way either, cars also give personal choice, presumably you have chosen not to own one because you personally with your family do not have a need, as indeed I don't right now?

You also ignore suggestions and comments above, which is perplexing...

Report this post »

lucullus says...
1:40pm Thu 21 Feb 13

We have a car, as it happens, Scott. And the 20's plenty campaign - like a number of others - is not advocating removing all cars from the road.

Instead it asks for a safer, more welcoming environment for all. Slower traffic speeds in built-up areas help everyone, and we've known since the 1950s that building more road space for motorised traffic leads to more motorised traffic.

We're asking you to give people in the borough a *real* personal choice - make it an attractive, simple, safe option to get on a bicycle, and people invariably do it - just look at Cambridge. People still drive there, but a lot also cycle. And other evidence (like New York's new cycle ways) shows that providing better cycling facilities supports pedestrians *and* businesses better than providing that space for motor traffic.

You have the power and resources of TfL and council officials behind you - how about *you* provide a master plan that has something more substantial than actively encouraging people to drive absurdly short distances?

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree