I used to do a daily return trip by cycle for work between Harlesden (St Johns Avenue) and Park Lane, Wembley Central. To say it was more dangerous than going over the Berlin Wall would be an exaggeration, but I was often surprised to still be alive at the end of the day.
Next year it will be 5 years since Brent Council and TfL began working on safer cycling and pedestrian routes for the Wembley Centra to Harlesden journey and the long-awaited TfL consultation opens today and closes just before Christmas on December 21st.
TfL say:
We have been working
closely with Brent Council since April 2019 to develop a project that would
make it safer and easier for local people to walk
and cycle between Wembley and Willesden Junction.
We are developing the
project in phases, and the first phase will focus on the area between Wembley
Central and Harlesden stations, where we propose to provide a new high-quality
Cycleway and improvements for pedestrians.
The changes would make
streets in the area safer and more pleasant by enabling people to walk and
cycle more and drive less.
The proposals include a protected two-way cycle
lane on the A404 Harrow Road and Brentfield, new and improved cycle and
pedestrian crossings over Harrow Road, better street lighting to help make the
area feel safer and more trees and plants more welcoming.
This would help us to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions, which could
improve local people’s health. It would also address congestion, and help
support new developments(External link) (External link) planned across the wider area by
providing better walking and cycling links to local businesses and stations.
The changes we would like to make are:
- Introducing a new protected two-way cycle lane
on the A404 Harrow Road and Brentfield between Sylvia Gardens and First
Drive, with separate low level cycle signals at junctions, new cycle
crossings and better connections to other local cycle routes
- Introducing bus stop bypasses for cyclists at
bus stops C and K, with the two-way cycle lane behind the bus stop island
for cyclist safety
- Improving the quiet road cycle connections to Wembley
Central and Harlesden stations
- Improving the route for pedestrians by adding
a new crossing over Brentfield near Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre
and making existing crossings at the A406 junction more direct, which will
reduce crossing times
- We’ll add measures to slow traffic speeds, add
better street lighting and drainage, and new areas of planting and trees
where space allows along the route
- Improving the service for bus passengers by
extending bus stop D so two buses can stop here at a time, and moving stop
B in line with the traffic lane so that buses can pull away easily after
passengers board
- Other changes to allow us to make these
improvements include closing the left turn filter lanes from the A406 onto
Harrow Road and Brentfield, making Sylvia Gardens exit only for motor
vehicles (currently entrance only), shortening a parking bay on Harrow
Road and reviewing parking restrictions on the quiet road connections. We
would also move bus stop ‘Sunny Crescent’ 90m to the eastern side of
Wyborne Way to make space for the new cycle lanes
The maps below will give you a more detailed idea of the proposals:
Two drop-in events are planned to discuss the proposals:
Public
drop-in event 9th December
Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre, Brentfield,
Harrow Road, London NW10 ORG (10:00 - 14:00)
Public
drop-in event 12th December
Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre, Brentfield,
Harrow Road, London NW10 ORG (15:00 - 19:00)
You can find the full online consultation here including further information:
https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/wembley-harlesden
I have embedded the consultation form below in case you would like to preview it before responding or perhaps prefer to answer offline.
