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Westfield's weekend rush-hour
Felix Allen10.11.08
WESTFIELD shopping centre is causing a seven-day rush hour with huge traffic jams across west London, residents claimed today.
Roads surrounding the 23-acre mall were in chaos last night with up to mile-long tailbacks on major routes out of London, despite a £200million upgrade to the local transport infrastructure.
Motorists complained of half-hour queues to travel just a few hundred yards, while those on public transport faced delays as buses struggled to get through the traffic jams.
Shepherd's Bush residents claimed local roads turned into car parks at the weekend and the area had become another Oxford Street.
Worst hit was the West Cross Route as thousands of shoppers left the Westfield car park, jamming the four-lane southbound carriageway. Shepherd's Bush Green, Wood Lane and Holland Park Avenue were also affected, with traffic stationary for long periods of time.
The problems were made worse by emergency roadworks on the A40 northern roundabout, just north of the new £1.7billion shopping centre, which knocked out one of the lanes.
The problems came despite the new Wood Lane Tube station, a new overground link at Shepherd's Bush and the redevelopment of Shepherd's Bush Central line station.
Transport for London had predicted 60 per cent of Westfield's shoppers would come by public transport. But Shepherd's Bush resident and mother-of-two Sarah Prentiss, 37, said: "There's a massive increase in traffic at the weekends. It's the weekday rush hour, seven days a week."
Motorist Shelley Patrick, from Fulham, said the situation was ridiculous: "It'll take me an hour to get to Fulham. I wouldn't have come if I'd known."
Street cleaner Abdelkader Maallem, 45, said: "Before Westfield opened it was much quieter on Sundays. Now it's like Oxford Street. The traffic is crazy." Others said they would ditch the cars and use public transport.
Stephen White, 40, who had taken his three children shopping, said: "Getting into the car park was a piece of cake. Getting out is turning into a nightmare. All the cars are joining roads that are already busy. If we ever come here again I will get the Tube."
Tube stations coped with the crowds, but bus passengers were badly affected. Kiz Ahmet waited nearly half an hour for a 237 to Brentford, which normally comes every 12 minutes. The 22-year-old student said: "This traffic is mad. I've been waiting in the rain and I don't know how long it will take me to get home."
Last week Hammersmith and Fulham council used emergency powers to change parking rules after residents complained that Westfield shoppers were parking in their streets.
Transport for London said it would work with the council on the traffic problems. A spokesman said: "Due to unplanned roadworks on the A40 Northern Roundabout on Sunday there was congestion between 4pm and 7pm along the A3220 West Cross Route, close to Westfield's shopping centre. By 7.30pm traffic had returned to a smooth flow on both the A3220 and A40.
"While it appears many Westfield shoppers are getting to the area by public transport, motorists in west London should still be assured that TfL will continue to work closely with the borough to minimise any impact that the Westfield's development has on local traffic."
Reader views (15)
Insane...it's only shopping for goodness sake...get a life...go somewhere else!
- Caliwag, york UK
If this was me trying to do a big shop i'd have a look at getting myself a cargo bike. They're extremely popular in certain parts of mainland europe and would serve an ideal purpose in this situation.
The only problem being cars piled up in bus lanes on the weekend. What's all this about? Very selfish, but it seems to be allowed in certain parts. You have individuals sitting behind a wheel clogging up the roads for the selfless few who ride the bus.
- Adam, London
Yes, this is the city that will host the olympic games. This is the city with the smallest, unconfortable and narrowest tube cars in Europe, this is the city where most of the roads are just one lane each way, this is the city where a tube travelcard can easyly cost more than £100 a month, this is the city where at weekends most tube lines seem to be in neverending rail works, this is London.
- John Span, london
If you want to avoid traffic come early morning on sunday or monday.
On sunday parking is free anyway!
Also,driving to Oxford Street has always been nightmare-at least now you have choice!
- Fabiana Bartelli, London
Once again a great bit of urban planning by Livingston. By creating this level of congestion through allowing the building of Europe's largest in Town shopping centre, of course 60% of the people visiting will go be public transport. All that money spent on brand new clothes is ripe for the wasting through getting crushed on the tubes and trains.
This really isn't surprising from a man who openly hates the car, doesn't have a licence and did his best to making motoring a misery!
It's a brave new world. I'm just glad I hate shopping, so won't be going anywhere near it. Thanks for the warning!
- John Smithson, London
I live very near Westfield and can assure you all that the roads have always been like this - with or without the shopping centre.
Quite simple really - avoid if you hate shoppings centres.
If, however, you enjoy shopping, then it's fantastic!
- Sophie, London
"with only 4,000 parking spaces"
Just try to imagine the jams if Westfield had provided 10,000 parking spaces! Nothing would probably move for most of the day in Barnes, Hammersmith, Shepherd's Bush, White City, Kensington etc.
In reality Westfield ought to have been allowed to provide no more than a handful of parking spaces, only for people with the most severe disabilities. End of!
I was in favour of the abolition of the CC, but now I'm not so sure any more.
- John Smith, London, UK
The public transport in west London is just about functional if you are a fit adult on your own, without luggage and with lots of time to spare.
Try negotiating underground gates and stairways with small children or elderly relatives and lots of parcels and you will find it to be a complete nightmare.
Go as a party of four and the TfL fares makes the Westfield parking charges look reasonable.
I am all for public transport when it works in a user friendly way. In West London it just does not.
- Robertd, London
We had to go to Oxford Street urgently on Saturday lunchtime, so we drove. It was almost completely clear both ways - this was via the A40 and Westway. I didn't notice any huge amounts of traffic around Westfield.
As for taking a car to Westfield, no thanks, if I go again and get anything too big to carry on public transport I'll get them to deliver it and save me carting it to the car park, which in itself is a schlep. Then I'll get the Tube or bus home.
Still, it'll be nice to watch our petrolhead Mayor try and sort this one out without upsetting motorists.
- Tom, London
Who, gave permission to build this stupid thing in the first place? Livingston I presume.
- Frederick, London, UK
This area was always a traffic nightmare anyway--well before the shopping centre was even thought about.How stupid of the greedy planners to not have properly factored this all in and scoped it out properly.
Presumably -all those exposed to these nightmare delays will think twice before revisiting this site?
- William Grierson, Kimpton, UK
TfL and H&F council must have been smoking something. When people go shopping they have to "carry home goods". Westfield exists to attract people to come and make lots of purchases on one trip, so they have lots to take home. If its more than a few items they TAKE A CAR NOT A TRAIN. Thats an observed phenomena all over the world. Its what people do. It should be no surprise.
The roads in the area were already congested. The western extension to the congestion charge zone which runs alongside the centre pushed more traffic out on to those roads. Adding Westield without adding road capacity was crazy. Building a centre that needs 20,000 visitors a day to stay in business and wants 100,000 per day at weekends with only 4,000 parking spaces is lunacy. It only needed the back of an envelop calaculation to predict this chaos.
- Robertd, London
I fail to understand why people have to drive to Westfield Shopping Centre. London has a perfectly fine public transport system, and there are at least two tube stations very close by the mall. And to those who come from outside London - how about leaving your car in zone 4 and taking the tube? You'll find that a lot more relaxing than standing in a traffic jam.
- Paulina Smid, London
For the past 2 Saturdays there was a traffic jam all the way back to Barnes due to the Westfield centre. Castlenau ,Hammersmith Bridge are a nightmare now. Excellent planning!
- Paul, London
This is the city that will host the olympics??????
- Anna Gilbert, Colchester Essex
