Forum Topic

TGT/CHR Rainbow crossings cost £48,174

In the Telegraph this morningTGT/CHR rainbow crossingsThe crossing took a year to develop alongside the West London Queer project, with the rainbow crossing itself costing in excess of £34,000 in addition to £9,000 on resurfacing and road markings, £1,900 on traffic management and more than £4,500 on road safety audits.

Rahman Hyatt ● 1189d31 Comments

About the same cost as one of the many shindigs at No. 10 I suspect, yet far more useful. If it helps a just handful of youngsters feel included, and that it isn't wrong for them to be gay, money well spent I'd say.

Gordon McDonald ● 1189d

Good. Well done to the West London Queer project. Up with people celebrating difference, and down with people who drive a couple of kms to work every day when they have an abundance of other options available to them.

Paul Campbell ● 1189d

Well Said Paul.

John Kennedy ● 1189d

What a waste of money in such difficult times.  There can be no justification for using public money like this.  We are a borough which has huge diversity of citizens and many in great need.  Lots of people from all walks of life work quietly behind the scenes volunteering and raising money to help the many charities that support the needy and lonely.  The situation is too serious for playground tactics from the usual suspects.  The markings are already beginning to look scruffy.

Elizabeth Ross ● 1189d

Ridiculous comment.  How exactly does painting coloured stripes on the road help gay people?  It's just another form of virtue signalling at a hefty cost which could be better spend elsewhere, on services for gay people if you prefer. It took a while for me to even notice them and then wondering WHY?  Why couldn't the cost have been spent on something worthwhile? It's not as if there is a shortage. Filling in a few potholes maybe, a danger to motorists and cyclists, gay and otherwise.

V Killick ● 1189d

Actually it’s the same people who complain about everything complaining about this. Serial whingers who are rightly ignored because nobody needs their negativity.

Paul Campbell ● 1189d

"The markings are already beginning to look scruffy."Whereas your markings, Elizabeth, as a bigoted Daily Mail reader, are still very much visible.

Mike Smith ● 1189d

As W Churchill and others have said:  "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance".Let's not return to these anti-gay days of the 1980s...

Martin Weaver ● 1189d

Maybe next year they can spend another 50 k and change them to an anti-bullying theme

Rahman Hyatt ● 1189d

Actually, money spent on teaching people how to respect and care for each other would be welcome.  Anything other than this constant barrage of poisonous polarisation, promotion of selfishness and fear mongering would be welcome.

Martin Weaver ● 1189d

OK but not so sure it should be local government spending tax money on things like this when kids are getting stabbed in the street on a weekly basis, and funding for social services is so meagre.  The money could have been raised privately, as it seems there are so many supporters on this forum, I am sure they would happily reach into their own pockets for such a worthy cause.

Rahman Hyatt ● 1189d

In my view, road markings should be to promote road safety, not to make political or social comments.The right turn out of Turnham Green Terrace is already difficult for strangers, with cars frequently ending up in the cycle lane. The rainbow markings may be a further distraction to some drivers.

Philip Hodgson ● 1189d

Perhaps there should be a gammon stripe in there too and then these whiners would feel more included?

John Hall ● 1189d

Why not a Black Lives Matter crossing - much cheaper and wouldn't get noticeably scruffy.

Bill Reed ● 1189d

V. KillickGood point. The state of Chiswick's potholed roads would have deserved the money instead of more dangerous lines added to the confusion of lines in Chiswick for the purpose of cyclists.

Carl Johns ● 1189d

Personally, I have no problem with money spent on rainbow crossings. I have more of an issue with £250k wasted on Johnson’s legal fees.£29 million given to a Tory peer for PPE which was useless and the billions given to Serco for Track and Trace for very little return.But then we know that this isn’t really about the money at all.

Stewart Jones ● 1189d

Elizabeth RossWell said.

Carl Johns ● 1189d

Well said Philip H. The people supporting it are the real complainers, as that's their expertise until they get their own way; and kick high waters until they do. On the cycle lane front, My fingers are certainly crossed when the government makes law, that all cyclists, battery op bikes etc... will need a registration plate, road use tax like al other vehicles and insurance at the highest rate because of their open vulnerability.

Carl Johns ● 1189d

vegetarian. don't assume every 'oyk' eats your fav dish

Carl Johns ● 1189d

Money well spent

Tim English ● 1189d

You have bojo on the brain. Given the chance he creeps into conversation at any given oppotunity

Julian Pavey ● 1189d

The 'road use tax' (sic) for my car is £0.00Can't imagine any sane person suggesting that cyclists should pay more than what I pay.

Andrew Jones ● 1189d

I posted about the cost at the time Its not the idea that its wasted money,its not the idea that i personally am against them. My point is that someone at LBH got conned by about 65% of the cost at best because someone clearly got in contact with  a contractor,asked how much,got a reply of 48k and said,luvvly jubbly when can you start.

Julian Pavey ● 1189d

it should be simple just take out insurance when purchasing a bike, as insurances can be checked out just have the insurance number on the bike.  Not sure about road tax but insurance is the law for other road users.

Janice Evans ● 1189d

So the Queer Project couldn't have found better use for £48,000.  As with everything else road related, safety seems low on the agenda. As has been said, that area is complicated enough.  This will not help the cause if enough people object to the safety and cost issue.  But hey ho when do we ever get a say in these matters.

Maggie Dodge ● 1189d

Play nicely, Jillian, there’s a dear.

Stewart Jones ● 1189d

Rainbow crossings are cheerful and changes should draw attention and draw attention and shake road users out of their unthinking behaviour.  There are plenty of black and white ones which could do with new paint.  Hopefully all road users including car drivers will soon have to be tested and re-tested more often on the Highway Code.  Most driving licences nowadays must be photocard by now with a shorter life than the old paper ones which lasted for far too long.

Philippa Bond ● 1189d

The National Federation of the Blind of the UK said “inclusion must mean inclusion for all, including blind people”.Sarah Gayton, the federation’s shared space coordinator, said: “We’ve got a man in his 80s who has a visual impairment and uses a walking stick – he says that all these different colours really confuse him when he’s walking on the road.People are being left confused and distracted when crossing the street, but these councils think they know best and just ignore these widely-expressed concerns.You can have flags elsewhere. That money could be spent on much-needed safety and accessibility for blind and visually impaired people.”

Michael Good ● 1189d

Well said V KillickAs one of Chiswick's gay residents I couldn't agree more. If the idea behind the rainbow crossing is to make young gay people feel good about themselves then including the homophobic, misogynistic trans ideology colours wasn't a terribly good idea. But, hey, that's the thing about such fatuous virtue signalling it doesn't matter if you know zilch about what the colours represent. I'd prefer more police on the beat and fewer pot holes.

Stephen Edwards ● 1188d

Not sure why this story has cropped up again - these numbers were in the public domain not long after the crossings were installed. Perhaps it is filling a slot that the Torygraph was saving for the greased piglet before he signed up with the Daily Mail.My view is that aesthetically this adds something to the High Road and therefore I am quite happy with it. I'm not aware of any groups representing the disabled or the elderly locally having any problems with it or Chiswick based people with visual impairment saying that it causes them issues.However, if you look at other rainbow crossings in other parts of London they do degrade badly. There is one outside Richmond station and another on Wood Lane. Given the high visual impact of the bright colours, a crossing like this can go from an adornment to something that makes an area look neglected and run down. What probably needs to happen is a biannual repainting. It would be unfair to ask council tax payers to stump up for this so the West London Queer Project should set up a crowdfunder for its maintenance. I wouldn't necessarily be averse to contributing a few pounds to help the centre of town look its best.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 1188d