ePetition details

Need Better Traffic Control for Colindale Avenue

We the undersigned petition the council to 1. implement double yellow line waiting restriction on even number side of Colindale Avenue at junction with Mornington Close to allow safe access from Mornington Close to Colindale Avenue outside the operating hours of waiting restrictions; 2. implement double yellow line waiting restriction on the even number side of Colindale Avenue between Mornington Close and Guardian Avenue; 3. implement double yellow line waiting restriction outside 135-141 Colindale Avenue; 4. implement yellow box junction / KEEP CLEAR road marking on Colindale Avenue at the junction with Guardian Avenue; and 5. implement yellow box junction / KEEP CLEAR road marking on Colindale Avenue at the junction with Charcot Road.

( Photos and videos can be found in the change.org petition website - https://www.change.org/p/barnet-council-chief-executive-john-hooton-better-traffic-control-needed-for-colindale-avenue-nw9 )


Background

The current waiting restriction for Colindale Avenue between Ajax Avenue and Charcot Road is Monday to Saturday 8am to 6:30pm, and there is no waiting restriction on Sunday.

Colindale Avenue is served by three bus routes providing an important east-west link for Colindale Tube Station, and is used heavily by the Metropolitan Police Service accessing Colindale Police Station, and the NHS Blood and Transplant service which is located behind Colindale Tube Station.

There are two issues that need addressing as a matter of urgency by Barnet Council:

1. Traffic turning onto Colindale Avenue from Mornington Close
2. Severe congestion on Colindale Avenue between Mornington Close and Charcot Road

Issue 1 - Traffic turning onto Colindale Avenue from Mornington Close

Whenever someone tries to join Colindale Avenue from Mornington Close outside the waiting restriction period, the driver finds it extremely difficult to turn onto Colindale Avenue because vehicles parked on the single yellow line on Colindale Avenue between Mornington Close and Guardian Avenue block the sight line completely.

Vehicles usually start parking on the single yellow lines from 6pm Monday – Saturday, and the whole of Sunday (and certain bank holidays when waiting restriction is not enforced by the local highway authority).

Outside the operating hours of single yellow lines, there is no way that anyone can have a clear sight line of what is coming down on the westbound carriageway of Colindale Avenue. We are aware of a number of near misses between vehicles, bicycles and motorcycles travelling at high speed on the westbound carriageway of Colindale Avenue and traffic leaving Mornington Close due to extremely poor sight line from Mornington Close.

Although TD42/95 (Geometric Design of Major / Minor Priority Junctions) of Volume 6 of Part 6 of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges is not necessarily applicable to non-trunk roads, this document suggests a 70-metre sight line from a minor road for a T-junction (see Table 7/1 of TD42/95) assuming that the sight line is not blocked by vehicles parked on the main road. The photos above clearly demonstrate that it is not achievable from Mornington Close.

There was in fact a head-on collision between two cars at about 7:30pm (outside the waiting restriction period on Saturday 29th April 2018 (Met Police reference number 7070) outside 95 Colindale Avenue due to reduced carriageway width as a result of vehicles parking on the westbound carriageway of Colindale Avenue outside the waiting restriction hours.

Rule 243 of the Highway Code advises road users not to park within 10 metres of the corner of a junction except in an authorised space. Please note that failure to comply with the rules of the Highway Code does not in itself cause a person to be prosecuted. There is currently no specific provision in Highways Act 1980 and Traffic Management Act 2004 regarding parking within 10 metres of the corner of a junction.

For Issue 1, we urge the Council for London Borough of Barnet to go through the necessary Traffic Regulation / Management Order process and change the waiting restriction from “Monday – Saturday 8am – 6:30pm” to “at any time” (i.e. double yellow line) on the westbound carriageway of Colindale Avenue between Ajax Avenue to 120 Colindale Avenue to provide a better sight line for drivers leaving Mornington Close.

Issue 2 - Severe congestion on Colindale Avenue between Public Health England and Colindale Tube Station

Outside the waiting restriction period, there are always vehicles parked on the single yellow line outside 137 / 139 Colindale Avenue immediately opposite to Guardian Avenue.

These vehicles are parked outside 137 / 139 Colindale Avenue without consi

This ePetition ran from 24/03/2019 to 05/05/2019 and has now finished.

3 people signed this ePetition.