Everyone’s talking about Mayfair Road…
We’re aware that there is quite a lot of discussion in Church Cowley about the plans for a filter on Mayfair Road. One concern is this will create a large (and dangerous) volume of traffic using the southern arm of Westbury Crescent.
A related concern is that this traffic will overload the junction of Westbury Crescent and the A4158 (“Rose Hill” road).
It’s easy to see why blocking other ‘exits’ could raise alarm bells. There are probably 530 households in the proposed catchment for the Westbury/A4158 junction. But take a closer look:
1) This is a relatively small ‘catchment’ for a single junction (see image).
2) Out-of-catchment traffic (“through-traffic”) will be zero.
The main aim of an LTN is to prevent motor traffic short-cutting through a residential area. Although any one filter might have a positive effect on its immediate surroundings, they have to work together to limit motor traffic to access only. And this is why Mayfair Road is so important. Without it, a route through the neighbourhood remains open, meaning Westbury Crescent really could face the additional pressure that people are worried about.
Any new scheme such as this one will have pros and cons and there will always be some people who face inconvenience due to exactly where the filters are placed. We think that for our community as a whole, the benefits of the LTN (safer, more pleasant streets, cleaner air, etc) outweigh the cons. All we’re asking is for people to give something different a try – but the real tragedy would be if the LTN fails to achieve what it sets out to, not because it can’t, but because we settled for half measures.
While we’re at it …
An outstanding issue for our neighbourhood is the footpath cut-through to the A4158 via Hillsborough Close. This needs attention to fully serve its purpose as a connector to Rose Hill. A cargo-bike friendly entrance and better lighting would do wonders. Drop us a line with your ideas to make it a more “liveable” piece of infrastructure!
