Forum Topic

kew bridge road layout

As you drive from Kew to Strand-on-the-Green, can you turn right, on the northside of the Kew Bridge?The broken chevrons suggest YES only if it is safe to do so, however the 'ahead only arrow' on the lane suggests otherwise.

Edward Przepiora ● 2028d27 Comments

I think you can but you get caught by the council's camera and it's a £130 fine. Others more local than me can confirm I'm sure

peter king ● 2028d

Yes please, I also need an answer to this as it is not clear from the road signs if you get a fine by turning right at that point. Also, I am having to traipse to Kew Bridge itself when I book ubers as they realise too late they can't turn right, and cancel the job rather than face going up and round Chiswick Roundabout to come back down.  What an awful world :) Thanks

Deborah Brown ● 2028d

Yes, you can turn right into Strand on the Green.  The arrow on the road is only advisory, and there is no sign banning that turn.  However, at the entrance to Strand on the Green there are signs meaning "No Motor Vehicles / Except for buses, taxis & for access".  The £130 fine mentioned by Peter King applies if you drive through SotG/Thames Road into Grove Park without making any access to premises before you reach Grove Park (specifically the junction between Grove Park Road and Grove Park Terrace).Ubers (which don't count as taxis) may make the turn off Kew Bridge provided that they are heading for premises within the Thames Road restricted area, but not if they are using Thames Road as a short cut to get to, say, Chiswick Station or somewhere else in Grove Park.

Richard Jennings ● 2028d

excellent thank you!  I will try to educate the uber drivers in my area but unfortunately most just get scared at the point of turning right and cancel the booking. I might need to get on my bike instead (never!)

Deborah Brown ● 2028d

Hello Richard.If one drives along Thames Road from Kew Bridge.. and bought something at a shop along there...is one allowed to proceed easterly and travel down Riverview Grove or Grove Park Terrace to exist the area?Indeed..do I have to visit a shop?Thanks as always.

Jim Lawes ● 2028d

We don't know how long you have to stay in the area to count as not passing through.Buying something isn't part of the criteria.

Ed Saper ● 2027d

The sign is except for Access.  If you are stopping at a shop, then you are legitimately accessing the area.  If your visit is quick enough that you trigger the timer on the cameras, you would have legitimate grounds for appeal.It would be worth getting a receipt from the shop and keeping it so you have proof though.

Al Webber ● 2027d

Suppose you live in that area and work in Brentford or Kew. You drive into Thames Road but, before getting home, zip on to Budgens in Fauconberg Road or the Coop by the station for groceries. This will mean a fine.

Vivienne Cox ● 2027d

I attended a rather confusing online presentation by Paul Traynor from Hounslow about this - as I remember access is very loosely defined.  You could be dropping somebody off, you could be posting a letter, you could just be dropping off keys. You just have to do something indicative of having a purpose. Basically stop your car, open the door and do something purposefully for a minute or two and take a picture if you are worried.  You don't technically have to produce a receipt.  Just don't drive through without stopping.

Jackie Elton ● 2027d

That's really helpful - thanks.It suggests that the time threshold for issuing a ticket would be relatively low - say average time to go through plus 5-10 minutes?And that if you can provide proof you were doing something, you can appeal a ticket.For taxis that means they could drop off and then exit by going through I think?I don't suppose there's a document clarifying this anywhere?We had a councillor on the forum a couple of weeks ago who said Hounslow were keeping the algorithm secret from him and the public in order to avoid people gaming the system.  In hindsight, he might have been over egging it a bit :-)

Ed Saper ● 2027d

So this would mean a resident cannot access their home.Brilliant.

David Lesniak ● 2027d

'Suppose you live in that area and work in Brentford or Kew.'Then walk or cycle to work.

Ken Munn ● 2027d

Isn’t this too stupid for words. How long has this been in operation and people still don’t understand how it works .

Maggie Dodge ● 2027d

I think it is the opposite - they can access their home. They can also pass through if they can prove they were using the road for access and not just as a cut through.

Ed Saper ● 2027d

I’m not sure if the cameras are live yet Maggie. Has anyone received a ticket?

Ed Saper ● 2027d

The 'No Motor Vehicles Except for Access' signs such as those being used on Thames Road/Strand on the Green are pretty self explicit yet people seem determined to find them complicated. They've been in the Highway Code and used on UK roads for years. So if you live in that stretch of road you can obviously drive to and from your home. The same presumably applies to visitors, minicabs and deliveries, or calling at shops, or indeed, stopping to post a letter. The point is you can't drive straight through. The time spent in the road should be irrelevant, as just pulling up for 10 minutes might satisfy the cameras but isn't really 'access'.

Peter Evans ● 2027d

The current position is that Thames Road is 'access only' but as the cameras have not yet been installed it would be difficult for a penalty notice to be issued.  Once the cameras have been installed Thames Road will be 'access only' for residents visitors deliveries etc but may NOT be used as a throughway from Kew Bridge to Grove Park and Hartington Road and visa versa.  Right turn off Kew Bridge and left turn from Chiswick Roundabout into Thames Road is allowed. SoGA is actively promoting an amalgamation to Lbh of the four cpz (SOTG/RV/CS/FR) into one area with common traffic measures. email me if you want further details and to join promoting this scheme.

Strand on the green association ● 2027d

Do the signs say 'Except for Access to boundary roads and no further'(and then list the roads you can access before being fined)? If you live in a street next to one that is deemed out of this area, then how do you know when you are breaking the law? Surely, you are still accessing your home, it just happens to be in a street that someone has deemed you are not allowed to go into anymore? Whole thing is bonkers.

J Morse ● 2027d

The SotG/Thames Road signs just say "except ... for access" with no explanation of which roads that applies to.  The Traffic Management Order that defines the scheme says that vehicles are allowed to enter the area if accessing, making deliveries to or collecting goods from"premises, residential or commercial, that are only accessible from - Grove Park Road (that section that lies between its junctions with Grove Park Terrace and Thames Road),- Strand-on-the-Green, or - Thames Road, Chiswick."If you live in one of those premises (that you can only drive to by entering the restricted area), then any journey to your home by you or a visitor IS ALLOWED.

Richard Jennings ● 2027d

There must have been some way of enforcing 'No Motor Vehicles Except for Access' signs before ANPR cameras were invented or there'd be no point to them.  And the proposed cameras aren't actually detecting 'Access' or otherwise.

Peter Evans ● 2027d

"There must have been some way of enforcing 'No Motor Vehicles Except for Access' signs before ANPR cameras"Coppers and Traffic Wardens. Currently in short supply.

Ken Munn ● 2027d

"They can also pass through if they can prove they were using the road for access and not just as a cut through."This is true, but how will the parking services actually know this? Are they telepathic? How can a third party assess what a driver's intention is when he enters "the zone".The objective of the scheme i.e. to stop rat running, is to be applauded but the enforcement details are poorly thought out. The uncertainty and complexity is annoying a great many local people who now realise the huge detours along congested roads that they are going to have to make just going to and from work. A simple trip to Screwfix or Brentford High Street - forget it. Hounslow Council want you to shop on line and pass the problem on to the delivery driver.Uber drivers are already refusing to come into the area even before the ANPR cameras have been implemented.The truth is that this is an experimental project that has not been tried anywhere else apart from a pilot scheme on Green Dragon Lane. Lawyers at dawn and I am afraid that it will all end in tears.

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2026d

Iwant detals from SOTG re their proposed scheme but when I fill in the DM page I can't send it as a message come up saying it's an unsecure site!  If anyone from  SOTG reading this please send me the details via DM if possible.

Jennifer selig ● 2026d

Could you ask Paul Traynor to explain how it works? Apparently he gave presentations to residents.

Ed Saper ● 2026d

You seem to have changed your tune Sam.Previously you said that the ANPR solution was “simple and elegant” to quote your exact words. You said it should be implemented everywhere, didn’t you?Who would have thought that a mile or so was a “huge detour”. Just shows that some people lose all perspective when it comes to changing the status quo of driving.Still, the physical barriers at Harvard Hill and Staveley have proven their effectiveness and can be replaced with something more aesthetic and permanent.

Michael Robinson ● 2026d

Hi Michael, so a mile or so is in your view not a huge detour. But multiplied by hunders of joruneys a day that becomes a litte of additional congestion and pollution. Also the signed alternative route would see traffic go via Chiswick roundabout, A4 and then Barrowgate Road onto SCR. Last time I checked, Barrowgate is a residential road. So you are happy to see traffic diverted onto residential streets north of the A4 as part of your plan? At least you seem to acknowledge your schemes displace traffic and cause more congestion. Shame for the other residents in W4 that sufferThe bottom line is, as you well know, it is very easy to allow all GP residents access. its a very simply database exercise.

Paul Green ● 2026d

To SotG "An amalgamation to Lbh of the four cpz (SOTG/RV/CS/FR) into one area"Please send me the info. via a DM,  I agree and would like to add my name to your proposal.  Thank you.

Jennifer selig ● 2026d