Church Street, Isleworth Trial Closure Monitoring Update Isleworth - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Monday, 26 September 2016 Church Street, Isleworth Trial Closure Monitoring Update Isleworth & Brentford Area Forum 15 September 2016 Mark Frost Head of Traffic & Transport

Church Street Closure – Data Collection As part of the introduction of the trial closure of Church Street initiated on 7 December 2015, officers have commissioned an independent transport consultancy (SDG consultants) to collect a range of data in order to assess its impact. This includes: • automated traffic counts (ATC) for general traffic in Church Street, North Street, Park Road, South Street and Twickenham Road. Officers are also collecting data in other surrounding roads, including St John’s and Worple, to see if there have been any quantifiable impacts on these roads from traffic possibly displaced by the trial closure, as has been reported by some. – Data is collected over a one week period. The numbers provided represent an average weekday flow (averaged over five days) or average weekend flow (averaged over two days). • bus journey times along South Street, Twickenham Road and London Road (these also provide proxies for general traffic given the absence of bus priority along most of these lengths). – These are based on averages of all trips made by all buses serving a particular route across within a single week. • cycle and pedestrian numbers with video surveys taken in Church Street to assess whether the closure has led to increases in people using these modes of travel. – These are based on surveys undertaken over two week days and averaged. • Officers have also collected air quality and collision data, however in both cases we would stress that it is too early to draw any firm conclusions as to the impact from the closure on these issues.

Church Street – Pedestrian & Cyclist Numbers • The numbers of pedestrians and cyclists using Church Street was monitored by video survey in October 2015 and May 2016. • Weather conditions in October 2015 and May 2016 were similar in temperature, mostly dry with little rain. Cycling in central London is 27% higher in the summer compared to the winter. • Based on these surveys there has been an increase in the number of pedestrians and cyclists using the link, by 45% and 47% respectively • Video survey shows most cyclists route through Church Street via Syon Park and vice versa, with fewer using Park Road. Church street pedestrian comparison 2015 – 2016 October 2015 May 2016 Difference % change 859 1245 387 +45% Church street cycle comparison 2015 – 2016 October 2015 May 2016 Difference % change 504 740 236 + 47%

Church Street – Vehicle Numbers • Surveys were undertaken in November 2014 and May 2016 • There was a recorded reduction in traffic flow at weekdays – 80% southbound and 72% northbound in weekday morning peak. • There was a recorded reduction in traffic flow at weekends – 73% southbound and 57% northbound at weekends Northbound weekday Southbound weekday

North Street – Vehicle Numbers • North Street has three sets of monitoring data – November 2014, January 2016 and May 2016 • Analysis in January 2016 revealed North Street had seen an increase in traffic since the closure of Church Street. • However, since then some flows have now started to decrease - weekday AM peak figures are now back to pre-closure levels at weekends and in the westbound PM peak. • Vehicle flows do however remain above pre-closure levels in the eastbound PM peak remain above pre- closure levels. Eastbound weekday Westbound weekday

Park Road – Vehicle Numbers • Park Road has also seen a decrease in AM peak volumes (both directions) and southbound peak volumes since the introduction of the closure on weekdays. • However, there has been an increase of 21% in PM peak volumes northbound, equivalent to around one extra vehicle every two minutes. • Overall traffic levels (7am – 7pm) are down by around 770 vehicles/day compared to pre-closure. • This could be due to variations in visitor numbers to Syon Park. Northbound weekday Southbound weekday

South Street – Vehicle Numbers • Traffic flows have decreased slightly on South Street since the closure heading westbound. • Eastbound flows during the weekday PM period have increased by 27% (equivalent to just over 1 additional vehicle per minute). Eastbound weekday Westbound weekday

Twickenham Road – Vehicle Numbers (1) • Traffic data for Twickenham Road has shown an increase post closure southbound, during both peak periods and through the inter-peak period. Weekday data shows that the largest increase has been in the morning peak, with an 18% increase. • Traffic flows heading northbound have remained similar in off peak period and the evening peak, but reduced by 11% in the morning peak. • Weekend data shows a similar pattern, with southbound flows increasing by 11%, whilst northbound flows have remained consistent. Northbound weekday Southbound weekday

Twickenham Road – Vehicle Numbers (2) • Across both weekdays and the weekend from 7am to 7pm the total number of vehicles (in both directions) on Twickenham Road has increased by around 500 vehicles since the closure. • This represents around 2-3% of the total flow on Twickenham Road during those hours. All journeys between 7am and Northbound Southbound 7pm weekdays weekends weekdays weekends 2014 8042 7735 8393 8027 2016 7555 7384 9351 8927 Number change -487 -351 +958 +840 Percentage change -6% -5% +11% +10%

Bus Journey Times - 267 • Route 267 is the main bus service running along Twickenham Road. • Northbound journey times on the 267 have remained consistent between Syon Lane/London Road to Isleworth library pre and post closure. • Southbound journey times in the 7 – 10 AM peak have increased since November 2014, of just over 1 minute. • The 4 - 7PM peak period journey time increased by 36 seconds. • Some of this increase in southbound journey occurred prior to 7 December 2015. Route 267 – Southbound average journey times

Bus Journey Times – H37/235 • Journey times for H37 and 235 are provided below. • Both show negligible increases in journey times as a consequence of the closure, supporting the findings from the traffic flow data. Route H37 Route 235

Air Quality/Collisions Air Quality • Air Quality data has been collected for the first six months of the year by an independent consultancy. • The data collected shows that there have been decreases in 6-month mean concentrations at all sites in 2016 relative to the annual mean concentrations in previous years, particularly 2011 and 2012. • A full year’s worth of data is necessary before having any confidence in these findings, which also need to be ‘bias adjusted’ to account for differing weather conditions etc. • This decline would however be consistent with the finding that overall traffic levels on the local network have apparently declined. Collisions • Published data is only available for the first two months of the calendar year. This does not show any significant increase in collisions on Twickenham Road however that is not a robust amount of data on which to base any strong conclusions. • Further data will be available prior to any final decisions being made.

Consultation Feedback (1) Open consultation • All address in Syon/Isleworth were sent letter in November 2015 of the 18 month trial closure of Church Street. • Dedicated FAQs set up on council’s website. • Exclusive email (churchstreet@Hounslow.gov.uk) set up to receive all comments/feedback. • Social media (Facebook/Twitter) has been received and monitored. • As of end of July 725 emails received from 350 individual respondents via the Church street inbox, 18 were received prior to closure. • 265 emails were received within the first month (7 Dec – 7 Jan) of the closure, of which 62 were received on 15 December, a week after closure. • Email traffic has decreased to around 20 emails being received during July 2016. • The council has also had representations expressing some concern about the impact of the closure from some local business including – West Middlesex Hospital, – Octink – Wyevale Garden Centre – Hounslow Chamber of Commerce.

Consultation Feedback (2) Open consultation • The majority of the feedback received is in opposition to the closure. • Specific feedback varies, but common themes include: – Church street to be re-opened shortly after closure because of delay to journeys made at various times – Concern about air quality impacts on the Twickenham Road – Concern about safety on the Twickenham Road, and in particular for children travelling to school – Concern about impact on business and revenue, particularly from Syon Park based businesses • There have also been a number of comments made about Church Street itself and the nature of the closure: – support for the street to remain closed – issues with parking on single yellow line in Church street – vehicles turning at closure point – blocking of cycle lanes through closure – Change in the environment in Church Street required to maximise benefits from removal of traffic flow – Possibility of it being re-opened as one way • A full breakdown of responses to be provided ahead of any permanent decision on the experimental order.