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Don’t forget the School Streets consultation is open until Sunday 7 Nov.

You can still take part and have your say on the future of Harrow’s School Streets by completing the online form at www.harrow.gov.uk/schoolstreetsconsultation

Thanks

Thank you for your comments and feedback on each of the four School Streets.

The Commonplace School Streets pages are now closed.

Following the extended trial period, we have launched a formal consultation as part of the review of these schemes.

We’re asking local residents/ business / school communities in and around the School Streets for Grimsdyke, Marlborough, Newton Farm and Park High schools, to take part and share their views on the future of the schemes.

The consultation is open from Monday 18 October to Sunday 7 November 2021. Visit www.harrow.gov.uk/schoolstreetsconsultation

The Commonplace School Streets pages will be closing for comments from Thursday 14 October.

As you know, the School Street schemes for Grimsdyke, Marlborough, Newton Farm and Park High schools were introduced on a trial basis last year, using an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) which can remain in place for up to 18 months. The trial period for the four schemes was extended for six months, following Harrow Council’s Cabinet decision earlier this year

Throughout the trials, we have regularly monitored the schemes and gathered the views of residents, ward councillors and key stakeholders, including schools. As part of this process, we will be launching a consultation soon, where local residents will be able to give their views on how we progress with the schemes.

In the meantime, you can continue to have your say on the schemes, until Thursday 14 October, when the pages will close.

Dear Commonplace respondent

As we begin the new school term, this is a gentle reminder that School Streets will be in operation, from 1 September 2021.

A School Street is a road with a school on it, or nearby, that becomes a vehicle-restricted zone at the start and end of the school day. The scheme is controlled using CCTV enforcement cameras and there are traffic signs at the entry points to the zone, to inform drivers of the restrictions. All vehicles without permits that enter the zone during operating times, may be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).

Introduced in 2020, the experimental School Street, is designed to reduce traffic and congestion around the school entrance at key times, improve road safety and local air quality. The trial period for the schemes were extended for six months, following Harrow Council’s Cabinet decision earlier this year, and will run through until late Autumn, when a full consultation will be carried out.

What do you need to do?

• If you already have a permit, there is no need for further action as your registered vehicle will be exempt from restrictions.

• If you do not have a permit, please register your vehicle(s) now. For details of how to apply for a free virtual permit, visit www.harrow.gov.uk/schoolstreets . Vehicles without permits that enter the School Street zone during operating times, may be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).

Don’t forget to give us your feedback on the scheme, simply click on the button to have your say .

Thanks to everyone who has already shared their views so far.

Thank you for taking part in the Schools Streets (phase 2) engagement. This ended on 9 May and is now closed for comments.

Following analysis of the survey, a decision has been made to not go ahead with phase two of the school street schemes at this time. Feedback indicated that there was insufficient support for the schemes. While the school streets may have improved traffic and safety immediately outside the school, concerns have been put forward about the impact on the surrounding roads and residents, which we need to consider before any of these schemes are physically put in place.

We consider road safety of paramount importance, so we shall look at different ways to achieve this priority, particularly in the streets surrounding our schools.

Your views are important to us, so we are taking time to get the right solutions for Harrow. We already have four other Schools Streets in place, and we will be reviewing these in the Autumn. We will use the feedback and insights we gain from this review to help shape further proposals elsewhere in the Borough, which we will then come out and discuss with local residents, parents and schools.

Council to remove cycle lanes and low traffic neighbourhood schemes

· Experimental low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) and cycles lanes to be removed from Harrow.

· School streets trial to be extended for six months.

· Road safety measures to be reviewed.

Harrow Council’s Cabinet took the decision last night (29 April) to remove two of three Transport for London (TfL) Streetspace schemes designed to support people to socially distance and encourage active travel during lockdown.

The Council will remove the experimental LTNs and cycle lanes in Harrow over the coming weeks. The decision follows recommendations from the Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel last week to remove the schemes while extending the trial period for school streets.

Following the removal of the schemes the council will look at potential road safety measures such as introducing speed reductions in the roads and streets of the cycle lanes and LTNs with existing ongoing issues. The cycling strategy will also be reviewed to improve and expand the existing infrastructure including quiet ways, to create a seamless cycle link across the borough. Consultation will take place on the cycling strategy and all proposed speed and traffic calming measures, which will only be implemented where there is support from local people.

The four experimental school streets will be extended for six months and following the TARSAP recommendations, an action plan will be developed by officers to learn from the engagement so far and take relevant steps to directly address the problems highlighted through engagement with residents, parents and the schools.

Leader of Harrow Council Graham Henson said:

“It is clear from the statutory consultation undertaken over the past six months that there is little support for the cycle lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods implemented as part of the national initiative. And so, the decision to remove these experimental schemes is the right one for Harrow - we will keep residents informed about when this will take place.”

“We have listened to and understand resident's concerns about how the schemes were implemented. Going forward the council will do things differently - engaging with our residents to shape projects before they are implemented.

“We have some difficult decisions ahead of us to make our streets safer for all road users and reach our Climate Emergency pledge to lower emissions in the borough and be carbon neutral by 2030 but we will approach this challenge together in partnership with our residents.”

The decision is now followed by a five-day call-in period during which Councillors can ask for the decision to be reviewed. Council officers are working with contractors to arrange dates for the removal of these schemes, likely to be in mid to late May – following and dependent on the call-in period.

The School Street scheme and Cycle Lane scheme pages are now closed.

The four school schemes and three cycle lane schemes were introduced last year, using an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), for six-month trials. 

Thank you for all your comments during the last few months. Throughout the trial period, we engaged with residents, ward councillors and key stakeholders including the emergency services about the schemes.

All comments submitted will be reviewed and reported to the Council's Traffic & Road Safety Advisory Panel (TARSAP) meeting on Thursday 22 April. TARSAP can consider removing the schemes, extending the trial (up to a maximum of 18 months) or making the schemes permanent.

Thank you for taking part.

LTN consultation extended

Technical problems with the Harrow Council website and web forms yesterday, meant the website was down for a few hours. This downtime may have impacted on the Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) consultation and respondents may not have been able to complete the consultation process during that period.

The LTN consultation has been open for three weeks and was scheduled to close yesterday, but following the website’s technical issues, a decision has been made to extend the LTN consultation until 23.59 tomorrow evening (23 March), to ensure respondents have an opportunity to participate.

The pages are now live and can be accessed at www. harrow.gov.uk/ltn

Have you had your say on the Streetspace cycling and school street schemes yet?

• Feedback open to all Harrow residents and stakeholders

• Harrow Streetspace Commonplace page closes - 31 March

• Feedback to be considered at a Special Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel (TARSAP) in April.

Harrow Council seeks to encourage residents to leave their views about its experimental cycle lanes and school streets, as they near the end of their six-month trials. Residents have until the 31 March to take part and leave their feedback via the Harrow Commonplace engagement portal.

The Harrow Streetspace initiative, funded by the Government, includes four school streets and three cycle lanes. These measures were put in place following government guidance to create space for people to socially distance, making streets safer, quieter and less polluted and to encourage walking and cycling, while public transport was at reduced capacity.

School streets were introduced in areas with historically high levels of drop off and pick up by car, in order to keep the environment safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Cycle lanes were created on either dual carriageways or roads that have multiple lanes, reducing some road speeds to 30mph to improve safety for cyclists.

The cycle lane and school street schemes support Harrow’s longer-term climate and health objectives of reducing air pollution, levels of obesity and diabetes, while also tackling congestion, speeding and improving overall road safety.

Introduced using an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), the schemes were proposed for a trial period of six months. An ETRO can stay in place for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 18 months, while the schemes are monitored and assessed.

During the trials, engagement with stakeholders including bus operators, community groups and the emergency services has taken place. Online engagement via the Harrow Streetspace page on Commonplace has also received feedback since the start of the schemes.

Residents, businesses, schools and key stakeholders in each scheme area have been written to, encouraging them to share their views on the schemes before the deadline.

Scheme comments can be left at https://harrowstreetspacestrials.commonplace.is/overview .

The Harrow Streetspace engagement page closes for comments on 31 March.

Feedback on the schemes will be considered at a special TARSAP meeting in April 2021.

The Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) consultation is now open. We welcome views from all Harrow residents and stakeholders, as to how we progress with the LTN schemes currently in place.

The Headstone South, Francis Road, Vaughan Road and Southfield Park* LTNs were introduced last year, using an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) for a six-month trial period. 

The consultation forms part of the six-month review process of the schemes and is open until 21 March 2021.

Take part in the consultation at www.harrow.gov.uk/ltn

*Southfield Park

The Southfield Park LTN scheme is not part of this consultation. Due to the complexities of this particular scheme and the unintended impact on surrounding streets, specifically Manor Way and Priory Way, a decision has been taken by the Corporate Director for Community, in consultation with the portfolio holder for Environment and the Leader of the Council, to suspend the operation of the Southfield Park LTN. A letter has been sent to all residents within the LTN and surrounding roads with details.

As a reminder, the Commonplace Low Traffic Neighbourhood page is now closed. We would like to thank you for all your comments and feedback on the scheme so far.

Changes to Harrow’s Street Space pages

The Commonplace Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) page is now closed.

The Headstone South, Francis Road, Vaughan Road and Southfield Park LTNs were introduced last year, using an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) for a six-month trial period. 

Throughout the period, we have engaged with residents, ward councillors and key stakeholders including the emergency services. Thank you for all your comments on the scheme during the last few months.

The council committed to holding monthly reviews of the scheme and a consultation as part of the six-month review process. We will be launching a consultation soon, where you will be able to give your views as to how we progress with the scheme.

We will keep you updated with further details on how you can take part.

Immediate action is being taken to further improve access for Emergency Service vehicles to the Headstone South Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) following feedback from the Emergency Services this month.

The three remaining road closures in the Headstone South LTN at Canterbury Road, Gloucester Road and Beresford Road will be amended today (Wednesday 27 January) to allow a five-metre gap for access for the emergency services to pass through unrestricted.

Enhanced signage will make it clear that the opening is for emergency access only.

Mobile CCTV cameras will be used to act as a visible deterrent to motorists, reinforced by warning letters and fines for repeat offenders – the use of the Mobile CCTV cameras will be directed by traffic surveys to be carried out this month.

Changes to Harrow’s Streetspace programme will improve access for the emergency services and give residents peace of mind over Christmas.

We have made immediate improvements to our Streetspace programme following conversations with emergency services and ward Councillors.

At the talks the London Fire Brigade highlighted potential changes to ease access to Stanmore Fire station. While the Ambulance Service, the Fire Brigade and the Police confirmed the positive news that they have continued to meet their statutory target response times in the borough, the concern is that with the significant and growing increases in Covid-19 infection rates and additional winter pressures, this could impact severely on the resources of the emergency services when dealing with additional cases.

The need to support our emergency services partners is a priority for the Council, particularly in the run up to Christmas when services may be over stretched.

In response, we've decided to make immediate improvements to the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and Honeypot Lane cycle lane which include:

Cllr Graham Henson, Leader of Harrow Council said of the immediate changes, “Following recent conversations with the emergency services on the growing pressures they face with winter and the increasing infection rates for Covid-19 in Harrow, we have taken swift action to support their services by improving their access to the LTNs and Stanmore fire station.

“LTNs have a place in Harrow and we are committed to creating schemes that work for our residents and local communities.

This is why we will be engaging directly with those residents living within LTNs and school streets in the new year inviting them to give their views on these changes and future proposals for the schemes.

“In normal circumstances, we would have engaged more extensively with the community before introducing the Streetspace schemes but due to the nature of the emergency and the requirement of the conditions of Government funding we had to act with unprecedented speed.”

There have been mixed reviews of the use of planters to close roads in LTNs to reduce traffic and improve safety. The Council are carrying out monthly reviews to understand their impact, which includes feedback from residents and the emergency services.

The December review (based on data collected in November) and any proposed changes to Streetspace schemes will be presented at a newly scheduled Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel (TARSAP) meeting in January.

School streets on the other hand are growing in popularity amongst Harrow Head Teachers with a further 10 talking with the Council about how the scheme would work for them and the application/funding process.

Cllr Henson says: “As cases of Coronavirus continue to rise rapidly in Harrow, and London, it is vital that we deliver traffic-schemes that enable our residents to social distance while also creating safer neighbourhoods, improving road safety and reducing the impact of the climate emergency.”

The next TARSAP meeting will be held on Monday 11th January 2021 at 6.30pm.

Residents can give their feedback on the LTNs, as well as the cycle lanes and school streets, under Have your Say .

Vaughan Road area LTN scheme update December 2020

Headstone South LTN scheme updated December 2020

Last week we temporarily moved planters on Southfield Park, Kingsfield Avenue and Pinner View (by Bolton Road) in response to residents’ concerns and to help alleviate the additional pressure on the road network caused by essential road works to replace gas mains on Station Road.

The planters were installed as temporary emergency measures earlier this autumn in four areas of Harrow to create safer streets in neighbourhoods affected by high volumes of traffic and pollution. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) are part of the Government initiative to support social distancing and promote greater levels of walking and cycling. Councils were required to implement emergency schemes with unprecedented pace – the speed that the council acted was in response to the nature of the emergency but also a requirement of the conditions for Government funding.

We’ve listened to your feedback and we're going to keep these changes in place until we do the overall review of the scheme.

The traffic schemes, including the LTNs, are reviewed on a monthly basis to understand their impact, this includes feedback from residents – the data for the most recent review can now be viewed online at www.harrow.gov.uk/streetspace

LTNs have a place in Harrow and we are committed to creating schemes that work for our residents which address the ongoing issues of speeding and high levels of traffic on narrow residential roads. We will continue to engage with you about the future scope of the LTNs ensuring your views are listened to as part of the decision-making process.

You can give your feedback on the LTNs, as well as the cycle lanes and school streets, on Have your say

Hello everyone,

We are advising you that some more proposals for low traffic neighbourhoods and school streets have been added to the portal this weekend. Click on Harrow Street Spaces Proposals to see details of the schemes. Please have a look through the proposals and let us know your comments and views.

Harrow Transportation Team

Hello everyone,

We are advising you that some more proposals for low traffic neighbourhoods and school streets have been added to the portal this weekend. Click on Harrow Street Spaces Proposals to see details of the schemes. Please have a look through the proposals and let us know your comments and views.

Harrow Transportation Team

Hello everyone,

We are advising you that some more proposals for pedestrian space measures and for strategic cycling routes have been added to the portal this weekend. Click on Harrow Street Spaces Proposals to see details of the schemes. Please have a look through the proposals and let us know your comments and views.

Harrow Transportation Team

Hello everyone,

We are advising you that some more proposals for pedestrian space measures and for strategic cycling routes have been added to the portal this weekend. Click on Harrow Street Spaces Proposals to see details of the schemes. Please have a look through the proposals and let us know your comments and views.

Harrow Transportation Team

Welcome everyone,

Thank you to all of you who have contributed so far – we’ve had a fantastic response to the launch of the website with 445 visitors and 417 comments / agreements being received over the last week. Your feedback has been really useful and is helping us to put together some ideas for further applications for schemes to TfL.

We are now advising you that some of our detailed proposals for pedestrian space measures can be seen on the portal. Click on Harrow Street Spaces Proposals.

Please visit the website and have a look through the ideas and let us know your comments and views.

It’s really important that we reach people who don’t normally get involved in this sort of initiative, so please do encourage neighbours and friends to get involved and let us know of any opportunities to get the word out.

We will keep you informed regarding progress via the portal which will be regularly updated. More to come soon.

Harrow Transportation Team

Welcome everyone,

Thank you to all of you who have contributed so far – we’ve had a fantastic response to the launch of the website with 445 visitors and 417 comments / agreements being received over the last week. Your feedback has been really useful and is helping us to put together some ideas for further applications for schemes to TfL.

We are now advising you that some of our detailed proposals for pedestrian space measures can be seen on the portal. Click on Harrow Street Spaces Proposals.

Please visit the website and have a look through the ideas and let us know your comments and views.

It’s really important that we reach people who don’t normally get involved in this sort of initiative, so please do encourage neighbours and friends to get involved and let us know of any opportunities to get the word out.

We will keep you informed regarding progress via the portal which will be regularly updated. More to come soon.

Harrow Transportation Team