Pinner residents pressed Harrow Council to improve a dangerous junction at a meeting of the council’s Cabinet on Thursday, June 29.
Robert Bruce presented a petition, signed by more than 380 residents, calling for traffic calming measures at the junction of Lyncroft Avenue and Cannon Lane. Finley Harnett, who narrowly missed out last year on becoming Pinner’s first Labour councillor, challenged councillor Anjana Patel, portfolio holder for environment and community safety, to take steps to improve the junction following a serious moped collision in May.
Finley said: “Pinner residents have raised with me their concerns regarding speeding and poor sight lines at the Lyncroft Avenue/Cannon Lane junction. A combination of vehicles travelling at excessive speed on Lyncroft Avenue and poor sight lines for traffic exiting the junction southbound from Cannon Lane has left Pinner residents feeling unsafe.
“We’ve seen a spate of accidents and near-misses at the junction; most recently, on May 14, a serious incident occurred when a car pulling out of the southbound junction and turning right onto Lyncroft Avenue collided with a moped travelling east. With that in mind, then, what steps will Harrow Council be taking to improve sight lines at this dangerous junction and reduce speeds on Lyncroft Avenue?”
In response, cllr Patel said: “In relation to the Lyncroft Avenue and Cannon Lane junction, there has been no reported personal injury accident at this junction in the last 36 months of [available] data from up to December 31. So obviously the incident that you’re referring to [the moped collision], is not included in this data.
“Accordingly, based on the current prioritisation and ranking compared with other borough-wide requests, no special priority can be given to this junction at the present time.”
Finley said he was disappointed the junction was not being considered a priority, and called on cllr Patel and Pinner councillors to meet with him and affected residents to discuss the “practical solutions needed to fix this junction”.
He then asked cllr Patel what assessment she had made of the potential merits of improving the sight lines for drivers, introducing speed humps, providing a pedestrian crossing, and enforcing the weight restriction for vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes using Lyncroft Avenue.
Leader of Harrow Council councillor Paul Osborn then intervened to say these proposals would be considered by the council’s Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel as part of the petition.
Cllr Osborn said: “We’re very happy to consider [the proposals], but we need to look at the practicality of them and also the cost of them. But we’re certainly very happy to look at all of those potential solutions.”
Speaking to Pinner News after the meeting, Finley said: “Given the serious moped collision that occurred last month, I was disappointed to hear cllr Patel tell me this junction is not being treated as an urgent priority. However, I am glad the proposals I set out will be considered by the Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel.
“Action is required now to prevent avoidable accidents and save lives.”
Harrow Council has been contacted for comment.
To view the petition, visit www.change.org/p/improve-lyncroft-avenue-cannon-lane-junction-pinner-harrow-introduce-traffic-calming. You can view videos of Finley’s questions here: twitter.com/HarnettFinley/status/1674751176821071878.
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