Petts Hill Bridge project
The Petts Hill railway bridge carries the Chiltern Line over the road on the boundary between Harrow and Ealing, immediately south of the junction of the A312 (Northolt Road) and A4090 (Alexandra Avenue). It is a ‘bottleneck’ for all traffic and has been identified as a source of delay to buses because of the restricted width of the carriageway under the bridge. Conditions are also poor for pedestrians and cyclists under the bridge and connections to nearby Northolt Park station are unsatisfactory. In addition, tall vehicles frequently strike the bridge, as the clearance height is not to current standards.
In order to improve this important gateway to the borough this scheme is being developed by Harrow Council in partnership with Ealing Council, Network Rail, who own the bridge and Transport for London (TfL), who are the major funding partner, although all four partners are contributing to the latest scheme. More information is available on this project from the Petts Hill Bridge website.
Press release: Petts Hill Bridge improvement work begins
Brief chronology of key dates
August 2008: Construction starts. Work will focus on
building the foundations of the new bridge
July 2008: Preparation work commences on site
January 2007: Final project implementation document between partnerships to be signed.
December 2006: Petts Hill Bridge project-specific website launched. The project has been moving forward with a lot of 'behind the scenes' work to get design, timetable and firmer costs in place.
May 2005: Network Rail becomes partner in the project and agrees to contribute up to £1.3m. New bridge option adopted.
12 January 2005: Call-In Standing Scrutiny Panel: The Panel resolved that the decision of Cabinet be upheld.
12 January 2005: Northolt Area Committee immediately after the Scrutiny Panel received a short presentation and update, with consulting engineers present to answer technical questions. The Committee noted the report.
December 2004: Cabinet considered the results of public consultation carried out during September. Objections submitted by the Danemead Grove and Petts Hill Residents Association were listed and responded to in Appendix 3 of the report. Cabinet added (minute 16 vi) that residents’ concerns be considered and addressed during implementation of the scheme with particular regard to three issues that had been raised during the consultation process.
Following the Cabinet decision, the Shadow Cabinet ‘called in’ the decision for the following reasons: ‘To seek more understanding of the decision and its implications and to ensure that residents concerns are addressed prior to the implementation and a review of the other options available and related comparative costs of other schemes as opposed to the current scheme’.
9 March 2004: Cabinet resolved (minute 14) to approve the proposals for Petts Hill Bridge; authorised land acquisition including by compulsory purchase; authorised the entering into a boundary road agreement with Harrow to cover future maintenance.
12 November 2002: Cabinet gave its support to the scheme in principle and to joining Harrow in a bid for funding to Transport for London in November 2002 as part of a ‘Bus Priority Action Plan’ – please see section 5 of the report.