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Grand Drive Traffic - Report

Report by  our member, Demetri Anastasiou, Chartered Civil Engineer 

BACKGROUND

Grand Drive is a designated “B” road. The official classification states: “B-roads are numbered distributor roads, which have lower traffic densities than main trunk roads or “A” roads. This classification has nothing to do with width or quality of the physical road, and “B” roads can range from dual carriageways to single track roads with passing places.” The definitive list of B roads was published on 1st April 1923, following consultations with local authorities. Government funding towards repairs of these roads was set at 60% for the former and 50% for the latter. This is where the problem originates as this classification has its origins in an Act passed nearly 100 years ago where the volume of traffic, the varying traffic mix and the operation requirements of theses B roads have changed dramatically over the years. 

1.THE GEOMETRIC CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ROAD

Grand Drive is approximately 1,800m from the traffic lights at Bushey Road (A298) to the roundabout at Tudor Drive. The road varies considerably in width particularly after the introduction of some traffic calming measures a few years ago.  

Traffic Calming Measures

These include the area around St John Fisher School, the mini-roundabout at Westway/ Southway and the traffic lights at Crossway and Cannon Hill  Lane. 

Inclination of the Road & Speeding

There is a huge inclination North to South of 8-10 metres up to a high point around 120 GD opposite Blenheim Road, with a significant drop of approximately 8 metres to Meadway Road, just after Elm Walk. 

These characteristics inhibit drivers but also encourage them to accelerate up the hill towards the crest of the road then roll downhill, often exceeding the speed limit. 

Going south to north, from the Crossway lights to the Bushey Road is a speeding section.

Traffic Police have confirmed this behaviour. 

This driving behaviour can only be corrected by appropriate, frequent warning & advisory traffic signs and random policing which is currently rare or non-existent. 

2. VOLUME & MIX OF TRAFFIC 

 

Many years ago, residential car traffic proliferated, peaking at certain times. Then, with the development of the Garth Road Amenities (Merton Refuse Centre, Garth Rd Refuse & Recycling Centre, Suez Recycling & Recovery UK facility) a huge number of 6-axle articulated lorries use the road for waste, recycling, dumping or loading and transporting away from the site. Additionally, the rental of Merton land for the B&T Plant hire LTD and similar operations have changed significantly the traffic mix on GD from cars to HGV lorries. 

This change has been exacerbated by HGV through traffic from the A298 (Bushey Road) to A24 at Stonecot Hill and through Tudor Drive/ Sutton Common Rd to A217. 

Also a key contributor to the traffic volume and speeding is the excessive use of the road by delivery vans (Amazon, DHL UPS, PDP, et al) 

At certain hours of the day there is a continuous flow and abuse of the speed limits by workers’ vans and delivery vans. 

3.  0PERATIONAL/USE/REQUIREMENTS/CHARACTERISTICS  

There are restrictions in place from London Lorry Control Scheme which bans HGVs over 18 tonnes from using Grand Drive between 9 pm and 7 am on weekdays and 1 pm on Saturdays until the following Monday at 7 am. However, I can assure you categorically that HGV lorries do not adhere to this ban as Grand Drive has no traffic signs to advise/warn the HGV drivers and the road is not policed.  

4.  TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT DEFICIENCIES 

Current traffic management deficiencies and key omissions contributing to HGV unauthorised use and speeding are clearly the lack of any comprehensive traffic management in place other than Merton collecting money from offenders in two yellow box locations driving South to North on Grand Drive. There is serious lack of informative and traffic prohibiting signage for HGV usage exclusions and speed limit. There is a flashing speed limit sign on the ‘uphill’ from North to South which, as I explained before, the geomorphology of the ground and the road makes it difficult for the HGVs to speed contrary to the downhill segment where there are a couple of small 20 mph signs on lamp posts. Therefore, the wrong positioning of the electronic sign and small speed limiting signpost require an overall traffic management re-thinking and definite their repositioning. On two occasions recently the Traffic Police Unit checking traffic in both directions positioned at Heath Drive facing North confirmed that the road is inadequately signposted for speeding restrictions and HGV use.  

5.  CONDITIONS OF THE ROAD SURFACE 

Some of you might be aware of the efforts of the residents to persuade Merton to resurface Grand Drive. Eventually this was achieved, was accepted but only for a small segment. The road has not been maintained so it has deteriorated further ever since. The deterioration was exacerbated by the gas works when Conway were the BG contractor to reinstate the road. There was little supervision as it can be seen by the current condition of the road surface cracking and subsiding in many places. Clearly a very inferior and cheap work surprisingly accepted by the Roads & Streets Department of Merton Council!!!  

6.         RECOMMENDATIONS 

(i)   Firstly there is a need for an Automatic Traffic Measuring Device to be installed halfway along the 1,800m of Grand Drive. There are two cables on the road that include sensors to pick up the traffic volume and mix for a number of working days, identifying the traffic use.  

(ii)  Large warning signs for HGV lorries prohibiting use of Grand Drive between 9 pm and 7 am on weekdays and from 1 pm on Saturdays until the following Monday at 7 am. These signs like those at the A3, warning about emission control zones, must be placed just after the A3/A298 flyover at the traffic lights between Bushey Road and Grand Drive on junction and equally approaching on A298 from the East.  Signage like this must be placed on the A24 and A217 junctions both ways with B279 at Stonecot Hill and Oldfield Road junctions.  

(iii)   Merton Council (and possibly Traffic Police) to notify the main offenders of HGV use after hours and of speeding, which include  Veolia, Garth Road Reuse & Recycling Centre, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK facility, B & T Plant Hire Ltd plus other smaller operations in the Garth Road area using HGV lorries and , unidentified skip lorries driving without load cover and the security chains free to sway and make noise hitting the skip container. 

(iv)     Notify the following offenders (speeding) about the speed restrictions in the area: TfL for Bus route 163, Amazon, DPD, TNT, DHL delivery vans plus all grocery delivery vans.  

(v)    Efficient and effective speed limit signposting: There is an urgent need to add more 20 mph sigh posts on the lamp posts in both North and South traffic flow directions.  

(vi) Policing the road. The three days in the last year that a Met Police Road Traffic Unit was in the area significantly reduced the speeding of all traffic. Therefore, frequent spot checks will enhance the awareness of drivers. Again, this needs to be planned as twice the Police carried out the checks during or near peak times where congestion was evidence. The best time is during working mid-day and/or after evening rush hour. 

(vii)      Improvement to the condition of the road surface of Grand Drive for its full length. It is worth pointing out that 4.3% of all the Tax collected in central Government by all taxpayers, including pensioners, goes for Transport improvements. A significant amount of the Council Tax in Merton should go to road maintenance and improvement. This is not evidenced anywhere in the Borough and with road, street and pavement works unsupervised so the Utilities - Water, Gas, Power Networks and Openreach have had a free hand..   Therefore, going forward, close supervision from the ‘Municipal Engineer’ of Merton Council is needed for all works remedial, improvements or new at Grand Drive. 

A simplified guide about lorry weights and sizes may be read at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211948/simplified-guide-to-lorry-types-and-weights.pdf

 

 

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