Proposals for a pedestrian/cycle underpass beneath the railway line, from the southern end of Latimer Road through to Wood Lane, have been around for several years.  Funding for this project is one of the ‘community benefits’ from the Imperial West scheme.  Both RB Kensington & Chelsea and LB Hammersmith & Fulham support the proposal, as an improvement in connectivity between local neighbourhoods.   Walking and cycling times between many destinations will be reduced.

After a very long wait for anything to happen, a planning application has been submitted to both local councils.  The applicant is Imperial College, who are meeting the £4m costs of the project.

We are not happy at the lack of informal consultation on the detailed plans for the underpass (which we were promised back in April).   But now the proposals are here and any interested residents will need to send comments to the Council by November 4th.  These can be sent online via the RBKC planning application page at this link or by email to planning@rbkc.gov.uk or direct to the Case Officer (barry.valentine@rbkc.gov.uk),

The St Helens Residents Association consulted its membership on the principle of an underpass back in 2011.   At that time, the email responses which the Association received were 20 in favour and 10 against.   Similar results have been found when we have asked for a hand vote at more recent meetings of SHRA/StQW Forum.

On this basis, the StQW Draft Plan supports the proposal for the underpass.  We have sent in a set of comments on the planning application, which can be seen at this link StQW to RBKC re underpass. Oct 2014.V2

Every resident and business in the area is entitled to their own opinion on the subway.  The pros and cons have been identified as follows:

• will bring footfall, vitality and better security to Latimer Road, helping to revive the currently deserted southern end of the street and to re-fill vacant commercial floorspace
• for much of the StQW neighbourhood, will significantly cut down walking times to and from White City Underground station (Central Line), Hammersmith Hospital, and Westfield.

The concerns that have been raised locally are:

• more cycle and pedestrian traffic along Oxford Gardens (if people don’t use the cycle route alongside the Westway Sports Centre)
• greater accessibility to the neighbourhood could bring an increase in street crime and burglary
• pressure on residents parking could increase, from drivers parking on the RBKC side of the underpass when visiting Imperial West, QPR football ground, or other destinations in LBHF.

Plan of underpass

The subway will be 6m wide and 2.85m high.  It will be straight, and we estimate the length as 30m.  It will be well lit, and covered by five CCTV cameras along it length (we have asked who will be monitoring these).  The entrances will be landscaped.

Cycle and pedestrian routes through the subway will not be segregated, other than by different surface treatments.   We have asked why this is so, given the potential for pedestrian/cycle conflict and resultant accidents.

The underpass will have a significant impact on this neighbourhood, over time.  This part of the Oxford Gardens Conservation Area has been cut off from Hammersmith, by the railway line, since the 1890s.  The initial impact may be modest, but will increase as the new development sites in White City are built out.

We have not yet been given a timetable for construction of the underpass, if planning permission is granted next month.  Both RBKC and LBHF Ciuncils will be deciding separately on the planning application.