HC Deb 21 November 1951 vol 494 cc527-36

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House do now adjourn."—[Mr. Heath.]

10.18 p.m.

Mr. Reader Harris (Heston and Isleworth)

I wish to begin by thanking the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport for the courtesy he has shown by coming here tonight to reply to the matter I wish to raise.

I wish to detain the House for a few moments about a matter which is causing a great deal of alarm and despondency in my constituency of Heston and Isleworth. I refer to the Great West Road which runs through the northern half of my constituency. It also runs through the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Chiswick (Mr. Lucas) who may have a word or two to say about it in a few moments.

The point I desire to raise is the fact that the Great West Road, in the view of my constituents, is becoming something of a danger. They feel about it so strongly that in the course of the last week or two some hundreds of them got together in a local hall and voiced their protest. The general feeling is that traffic tends to move along the Great West Road too fast for the safety of the residents. Most of the road which runs through my constituency is flanked by houses, though other parts are flanked by factories. The residents in the houses flanking the road feel unsafe whenever they wish to cross the road, which they have to do because the road, so to speak, bisects the community.

There are eight or nine crossings on the Great West Road at which the traffic is regulated by traffic lights. These traffic lights are in themselves not particularly satisfactory, though I will say a word about that presently. The main trouble is that the traffic going along the road goes so fast in between the traffic lights—and I would say that the traffic lights are on average about half a mile to three-quarters of a mile apart—that when the traffic lights turn red against the traffic a large number of vehicles just do not trouble to pull up.

When a vehicle is travelling 50 or 60 miles an hour and the driver sees the lights go yellow it is an intolerable nuisance to have to pull up; so what he always does is to put his foot down on the accelerator and increase his speed to 65 or 70 miles an hour and hope to beat the lights. This beating of the lights goes on so persistently that not only are my constituents getting alarmed about it, but I am getting alarmed as well. I am afraid that unless something is done there may be a by-election in Heston and Isleworth —and in Spelthorne as well, because my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Beresford Craddock) has to travel along the Great West Road to get to his constituency. And it may well be that there are a number of other hon. Members who have to travel along the Great West Road to get to their constituencies or their homes.

This beating of the lights is becoming quite intolerable. I have been nearly killed when travelling in my own small car when I go across various crossings notably the one where the Lampton Road crosses the Great West Road, and where Vicarage Farm Road crosses, and where Victory Road crosses. They are three particularly bad spots. The distance between the traffic lights is just sufficient for vehicles to be able to get up a really good speed and that is why they are—

Mr. Frederick Elwyn Jones (West Ham, South)

Are there no police patrols? This is a most disturbing picture which the hon. Member is painting, and it would appear that the Home Office ought to be represented here as well.

Mr. Harris

The police patrols are relatively few and far between. As the hon. Member will know there is a great shortage of police, but I will say a word about the police in a moment. My main worry is the vehicles beating the lights. The distance in between the lights is just enough for them to be able to get up a really good speed, and that is why though there may not be a very large number of accidents, often there is very nearly an accident, and occasionally one does occur.

I have five points which I wish to make this evening. The first is that the residents of Heston and Isleworth would very much like to see a speed limit along, at any rate, part of the road. I am not suggesting a speed limit along the whole of it, as it is a main artery and a lot of traffic does go along that road. But if we could have a speed limit along the part from the Osterley Hotel to Vicarage Farm Road it would be of great assistance to the residents in my borough.

If it is not possible to have a speed limit on that part of the road I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether it is possible for a roundabout to be constructed at the Lampton Cross-roads. There is a fair amount of land available at that spot and it would be physically possible to build such a roundabout. We note with interest, and with some pleasure, that a roundabout has recently been constructed on the extension beyond the Great West Road, on the Bath Road up from Cranford, and a roundabout does have the effect of slowing down the traffic.

A further suggestion which I would put to the Parliamentary Secretary is that if possible the traffic lights should be moved back away from the crossings. At the moment the traffic lights are hard on the crossings and the traffic, when it does pull up, is right at the very edge of the crossings. So when my constituents cross the road, when the lights are against the traffic and in their favour, they have to walk with their coats brushing the radiators of vehicles which are lined up like a lot of chariots waiting for the word to go, and to rush off at the moment the lights turn yellow.

When the lights turn yellow all the cars jerk forward about a yard. It puts the "wind up" my constituents; they do not like it. If only the traffic could be held about 10 yards back, it would give them a little breathing space and enable them to cross before the vehicles are upon them. This is a most important point.

When we have got traffic like that on a main artery like the Great West Road, which has no speed limit, the psychological effect of drivers going at great speeds when the lights turn red is one of intense annoyance. They are simply fuming, and, when the yellow light comes on preparatory for the green, there is a general "revving-up" ready to go, like a lot of wild horses. It would be of great assistance, therefore, if the lights could be moved back, or the line at which the traffic must stop could be set back, in order to give my constituents a little more chance of getting out of the way.

The fourth suggestion which I would make is that it would be of great assistance if the duration of the lights could be lengthened a little, so that the period of time which pedestrians are given in order to cross would be longer. At the Vicarage Farm Road crossing, the period of time on the average is 17 seconds. That may seem a long time, but it is not very long when one considers that the traffic is almost on top of where one has to walk to cross the road, and, for elderly people in particular, it is not a very long time.

My fifth suggestion is that, in two or three places, it would be desirable that there should be adult patrols. At the moment, there are adult patrols at Thornbury Road and the crossing near St. Francis's Church, because there are schools there. There has been a policeman on duty at Thornbury Road in the morning and again in the afternoon, but he is only there if his duties permit, and the local police say that there is such a shortage of police that they cannot guarantee his attendance on all occasions. We think that an extension of the adult patrol system would be of assistance.

Lastly, I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary if he would bear in mind that there is always trouble in crossing the road at Osterley Station, which is a very dangerous place. The station is built on the side of a slight incline, and vehicles coming up on the other side are quite unable to see anyone crossing the road in front of the station. This crossing was so dangerous that a railing was put up right down both sides in front of the station for about 100 yards. That meant that, if one wanted to cross the road, one had to cross a very high iron bridge, which was not a very sightly object, but was no doubt useful and may have saved some lives. It meant, however, that one had to climb steep steps, and elderly people do not use it. The solution in that case is a subway under the ground and a long sloping ramp.

Those are some of the points which I would be grateful if the Parliamentary Secretary would consider, because this is a matter which causes much disturbance to people living in that part of the borough, and I think they are acting reasonably in making some protest.

10.28 p.m.

Mr. Frederick Elwyn Jones (West Ham, South)

I want to confirm the rather sombre picture of the perils of the Great West Road which the hon. Member for Heston and Isleworth (Mr. R. Harris) has painted to the House.

I do so as an ex-constituent of the hon. Member and a resident of Cranford. It was always a source of anxiety to my own wife when our children had to cross the Great West Road at Cranford, and I well remember the inhabitants of that little community frequently asking that something should be done by the Ministry of Transport. Indeed, I myself raised the matter during the period of the last Administration.

I venture, from this side of the House, to confirm the fact that the hon. Member opposite has raised a matter of real importance, and one which has caused grave anxiety to the communities which adjoin the Great West Road.

10.30 p.m.

Mr. P. B. Lucas (Brentford and Chiswick)

I should like to intervene briefly to support the plea put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Heston and Isleworth (Mr. R. Harris) because I think there is a strong case for the introduction of a 30-mile-an-hour limit along certain sections of this main road. In my constituency there are three considerable housing estates on the border of the Great West Road, the main one being opposite the site on which British Overseas Airway Corporation's resplendent building now exists. From the many letters I have received from constituents and parents living on this estate, I can assure the Parliamentary Secretary that there is considerable anxiety in the public mind as to the danger to children in the neighbourhood.

There are two brief proposals which I should like to put forward. First, I would suggest that a 30-mile-an-hour speed limit be introduced for 1.42 miles eastwards from Boston Manor Road to the roundabout at the end of Chiswick High Road and, second, that traffic lights should be placed at the junction of Clayponds Avenue and the Great West Road where I consider the danger to children to be the greatest. These are two small requests and I can assure the Parliamentary Secretary that he will find my constituents very grateful to him if anything can be done in this matter.

10.32 p.m.

Mr. Beresford Craddock (Spelthorne)

I should like, in just one minute, to reinforce what has been said by my hon. Friend, because he mentioned my constituency of Spelthorne, and because I use the Great West Road a great deal. There are two points to which I would draw attention. First, the lighting at night is particularly bad, and the road is full of "blind" spots, liable to cause serious accidents.

During the past year, I have witnessed some very dangerous occurrences, and although there is an Order which rules that no motorist, except during fog or snow shall use a fog lamp which is more than two and a-half feet from the ground, one invariably sees vehicles with both headlamps on, and a fog lamp blazing. That is probably due to the bad lighting, but more attention to the regulation in this respect would help the very dangerous conditions at night.

10.33 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. Gurney Braithwaite)

On yesterday's Adjournment Motion, the House discussed affairs on our railways; to-night, we turn to matters concerning our roads, and may I say at once to my hon. Friend who raised this matter that he has placed me in familiar territory because this great highway is the gateway to the West Country, leading to Reading, Newbury and Marlborough, and across the Wiltshire downs to Bath, until the traveller reaches his desired goal in the fair city of Bristol.

But it is the "upper reaches," if I may use that term, to which we turn our attention to-night. Hon. Members will know that this is one of the earliest of the arterial roads to be constructed in this country; it was built shortly after the First World War, and designed to avoid the narrow and congested streets of Brent-ford and Hounslow. Throughout the length of the road in my hon. Friend's constituency of Heston and Isleworth, there are dual 30-feet carriageways, cycle tracks and footpaths. It carries an enormous volume of traffic, and although the last complete census was as long ago as 1938, the figure then was 33,946 tons in every 16-hour day, both commercial and private; and pilot censuses taken since the last war suggest that there has been a sizeable increase even on those figures.

There are traffic signs at Syon Lane, Wood Lane, Thornbury Road, Lampton Road, Sutton Lane and Vicarage Farm Road. During the two years 1949–50 there were 24 accidents, six of which proved fatal, involving pedestrians; and 184, of which five proved fatal, to other road users. During the past six months there have been 10 accidents involving injuries to children, but only two of these were to pedestrians, one of them at school time, and seven involving pedal cyclists, and the House will be glad to know that none of these proved fatal.

I will now take the hon. Gentlman's suggestions seriatim. The first was that from the Canal Bridge to Vicarage Farm Road there should be a 30 miles an hour speed restriction. To impose a speed limit on this main arterial road, possessing as it does a dual carriageway, cycle tracks and foot paths, would run counter to the recommendations of the Departmental Committee on Road Safety. While all accidents are deplorable, the record of this highway compares favourably with others of its kind, and a speed limit on this two-mile stretch would not be justified.

Indeed, were it to be imposed the traffic might well be thrown back through Chiswick and Hounslow, thus defeating the whole object of the construction of this arterial. Pedestrians have only to look out from one direction, and traffic signals are placed at all important intersections. I must inform my hon. Friend that no representations have reached the Ministry of Transport for some years now regarding the imposition of a speed limit on this length of road.

My hon. Friend's second proposal was for a roundabout at Lampton Road crossing, and he told us that the land was available. Yes, but it is extremely expensive land to acquire and would need a very large financial outlay. Nor is it believed to be justified. as all the other important junctions are signal controlled.

I now turn to the proposal that the traffic lights might be set back in each direction at each crossing because of the difficulty which pedestrians find when the lights turn green. I do not know whether my hon. Friend is aware that the Ministry's standard position for the stop line at signals is six feet from the pedestrian crossing, and there is no reason to depart from this standard of installation on the Great West Road. May I point out that to increase the distance would also increase the delay to traffic and add to congestion because it would then be necessary to lengthen the amber phase very considerably.

This, in turn, would delay opportunities for the pedestrians to cross. However, I would inform my hon. Friend that as a result of his representations on this matter the agent authority, which is the Middlesex County Council, have now been asked to set back the stop to six feet from the pedestrian crossing in four places —Thornbury Road, Lampton Road, Sutton Lane and Wood Lane, where they are at present less than that distance.

As to the question of adult patrols, or, as I prefer to call them, escorts, where children cross, there has been no demand made for these at all, except at one point —Thornbury Road—and here, as the hon. Gentleman informed us, a police officer has been stationed since the 6th of this month—possibly one of the beneficial results of the change of Administration which took place recently. This police officer has been stationed since that date at Thornbury Road at the times of school assembly and dispersal. I will check up as to whether that has been strictly observed; that is certainly our intention, and we will make representations on that score if it is not observed. The Great West Road is not considered generally suitable for the use of patrols owing to the volume and speed of the traffic.

My hon. Friend's last point dealt with the length of signal timing at crossings. The signals are set at various timings by the police, and while the red signal allows sufficient time for most pedestrians to cross the trunk road, I quite agree that there is potential danger if they are halfway over either carriageway at the moment when the signals change, as the three-second amber signal is, of course, insufficient interval for them to cross. Since my hon. Friend called my attention to this important matter, the Ministry's engineers have been reviewing the timing of the signals to consider the introduction of what is known as the "all-red phase," when the red light shows not only on the main highway but on the tributaries as well, so that all traffic is halted at cross roads.

Mr. Harris

Excellent.

Mr. Braithwaite

That is under review at this moment. It is believed that this all-red phase may prove of considerable assistance to pedestrians. It is our view that along this road the signals should be uniform, to overcome the confusion and, indeed, the danger on the lines suggested by my hon. Friend, and by the hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for West Ham, South (Mr. Elwyn Jones), who, I think, confirmed the description of the conditions that there prevail, although I think he was talking of a stretch of the road a considerable distance further down from my hon. Friend's constituency. No doubt the conditions there are of much the same kind. My hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Chiswick (Mr. Lucas) mentioned the same point.

I will look into the matter of the road at Osterley Station, and ask for a report as to conditions there. As to the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Beresford Craddock), he did not give me notice of it, and, although I make no complaint of that, it is for that reason that I have not been able to look into the question of the lighting of this road to answer him. However, I can assure him that I will look into this question—

Mr. Beresford Craddock

Thank you very much.

Mr. Braithwaite

—and that, as a result of his intervention tonight, the lighting will be gone into without delay.

The authority in this matter, this being a trunk road, lies, of course, with the Ministry of Transport. Those who have taken part in this short discussion will, I think, feel that they have served a useful purpose in raising it if I tell them that, in consequence of it, and of the approach which has been made to our Department tonight, our divisional road engineer will hold discussions without delay with the local authority and with the police, with a view to ensuring the greatest possible degree of safety upon this important Highway.

Adjourned accordingly at Eighteen Minutes before Eleven o'Clock.