AVENUE CROSSING GETS FUNDING BOOST

Campaigners for improved road safety on the Avenue were celebrating following news that a grant has been made to fund a road crossing. The Acton Area Committee has given £15,000 to fund a zebra crossing at the southern end of the Avenue by Bedford Corner. The crossing will be a huge benefit to children from three local schools and hundreds of local commuters who have been forced to cross a stretch of road notorious for speeding cars. Accidents are a common occurence on the road including one fatality. Ironically another crash occured on the road the day after the decision.

Likely site of zebra crossing at Bedford Corner

Nicky Kelly, a local resident who presented the case for the crossing at the Area Committee Meeting said, "We'd very much like to thank Cllr. Gray the chair of the AAC and our local ward Councillors, Harvey Rose, Andrew Mitchell and Kieran Ryan who spoke in favour of the scheme. In addition the officers at the Transport and Planning department at Ealing Council gave invaluable assistance."

The Avenue has had a troubled history with a road fatality leading to traffic calming measures being implemented nearly a decade ago. The design of the measures proved to unsatisfactory and they were quickly removed with no attempt to replace them with any alternative. The road remains notorious for speeding and the area is increasingly plagued with rat-runners. Some residents argue that traffic has increased on the road since the opening of Chiswick Business Park.

A plan has already been drawn up for the crossing and local people will be consulted on the scheme. The local Liberal Democrats for Southfield Ward have recently surveyed people in the area but concluded that support of a generalised traffic calming scheme on the Avenue was mixed but they believe the new crossing will serve to help calm traffic on the road.

Councillor gets behind Avenue Crossing Plan

Speeding on the Avenue