LibDems Issue Damning Report on Inmans Row Traffic Management Scheme

11.48.00am GMT Sun 31st Jan 2010

Following dozens of complaints about the Inmans Row traffic management scheme and the failure by Redbridge Council to review its operation, Geoff Seeff and the Monkhams Liberal Democrats team have conducted their own investigation and issued a damning report.

The scheme, which cost £185,000 and was funded under TfL's 20mph Zone and School Travel Plans programmes, was implemented in Autumn 2008 with the specific objective of improving road safety around the Avon House School, located at Woodford High Road Woodford Green at the junction with Inmans Row. It created a 20 mph zone, designated Inmans Row a one way system eastwards, installed a number of flat top road humps and increased waiting and parking restrictions. One of TfL's conditions of funding was that the scheme should be designed and committed in the year in which the monies were allocated so there was limited consultation and no proper assessment of likely outcomes.

Monkhams Lane: 8.30 am of a Friday morning in December

There were always problems of traffic congestion during the early mornings and late afternoons in and around this area but, largely because of it, speeding was never a major issue during school opening and closing hours. However, with access to the Woodford High Road is now channelled through Monkhams Lane, making for a more dangerous right (north) turn, there is additional traffic along that road, increased congestion at peak times, displacement of traffic to formerly quiet residential areas and increased pedestrian movement as children attending one of the many schools along the High Road leave or join parents' cars at remote waiting points to avoid getting caught up in the congestion. Residents using the facilities along Inmans Row, in particular All Saints Church, have been severely inconvenienced and any that are obliged to use cars to transport goods or elderly or disabled people experience considerable distress arising from access difficulties and limited availability of parking.

The report concludes that "the Scheme has created more problems than it has solved………and it has not even made the roads safer for pedestrians, the original objective. We are of the view that most of the obvious problems with the Scheme could have been avoided had there been wider and more in-depth consultation with local residents and local organisations in the Zone. By this we mean where the consequences of each measure are explained to respondents and where notice is taken of their comments ion the scheme design. It is an indictment on LBR that these problems have been allowed to continue for as long as they have after they were brought to the attention of the Area 2 Committee…….."

The Morning Crawl along Woodford High Road

Although much technical work will be required to devise a lasting solution the new problems, the LibDem team conducted a survey of residents' preferences for possible solutions, specifically reversing the direction of traffic flow in Inmans Row and construction of a mini-roundabout in the Woodford High Road at the junction with Monkhams Lane. From a total of 84 responses 80% were in favour of reversing the one way and 47% in favour of the mini-roundabout with 15% in favour if the one way system could not be reversed. Only two of the respondents indicated that they were not in favour of any changes to the scheme, so the perceived need for change was near unanimous.

Although Woodford High Road is a through route, linking the M25 with East London A roads, the six schools located within a half mile of each other along the High Road are major generators of traffic. The pupil intake at four of the schools is drawn not only from across Redbridge but also from neighbouring boroughs and a high proportion of children attending them require transport. The report ends with a call for a comprehensive review of the current situation in order to identify the strategic options for an effective solution to traffic management in Woodford Green.

A copy of the full report is available on request; email info@cwglibdems.org.uk or call Geoff Seeff on 0789 723 7158