Freedom of Information request - proposals for the creation of new bus lanes on the A1000 in Barnet High Street (between Wood Street and Meadway) and in Whetstone High Road (between Ravensdale Avenue and Oakleigh Road North
Request ID: FOI-3390-2324 Date published: 18 January 2024
You asked
This request is made under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations and is submitted on behalf of Friern Barnet & Whetstone Residents’ Association.
The term “documents” used below includes documents whether in written or in electronic formats and includes reports, papers, notes, emails, letters and memoranda.
This request relates to proposals for the creation of new bus lanes on the A1000 in Barnet High Street (between Wood Street and Meadway) and in Whetstone High Road (between Ravensdale Avenue and Oakleigh Road North)-
1. Is it correct that such proposals are being/have been considered by
Barnet Council, the Mayor of London /GLA and TfL?
2. Is the physical extent of the proposed new bus lanes correctly and fully described above? If not, what other sections of the A1000 are also the subject of such proposals? Questions 3 -12 below also apply to any such other sections of proposed bus lanes as well as to the sections described above.
3. What are the proposed hours of operation of each of the sections of the proposed bus lanes?
4. What public consultations are proposed in relation to the proposals, and when?
5. What cost- benefit analyses have been carried out in respect of the proposals? Please provide copies of the analyses and of any documents considering or discussing them.
6. Please provide full details of the proposals.
7. So far as not provided in response to questions above, what information is held as to the anticipated loss of on-street parking spaces in each section of the proposed bus lanes, what is the anticipated effect of the loss of that parking on local businesses, what studies have been carried out to attempt to quantify that effect on those businesses and what proposals are there to mitigate the effect of those losses of parking spaces?
8. So far as not provided in response to questions above, what information is held as to the “before and after” current/ predicted journey times (both north-bound and south-bound) a) through each of the sections of proposed bus lanes and b) through the sections of the A1000
roadway feeding into them, in each case for 1) buses and 2) other
traffic.
9. Please provide copies of the evidence base upon which the case for the proposals is based.
10. Please provide copies of the documents recording –
A) the internal discussions of the proposals within the TfL organisation since 31 December 2019.
B) the discussions between and the Mayor of London/GLA/LA/ London Borough of Barnet since 31 December 2019.
11. Please provide links to the minutes of any meetings of GLA/LA committees recording discussions of the proposals since 31 December 2019
12. Please provide the contact details of the TfL officers responsible for leading TfL’s involvement with the proposals.
We answered
Our ref: FOI-3390-2324/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 22 December 2023 asking for information about new bus lanes on the A1000 in Barnet High Street.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.
Is it correct that such proposals are being/have been considered by Barnet Council, the Mayor of London /GLA and TfL?
The Mayor for London is committed to reducing journey times for bus passengers. Transport for London invests in the bus network on both the TfL and Borough road networks. Projects funded under the borough bus priority programme are led by the relevant borough council, with support provided by TfL in progressing through the necessary design development, consultation and delivery stages. The A1000 is a borough road and Barnet Council have submitted a request for funding new bus lane extensions on this road which TfL are now considering as part of their annual Bus Priority Local Implementation Programme.
Barnet Council has two submissions for the A1000, where they are investigating the potential to introduce bus lanes on their network:
Bus Lanes A1000 High Road (Whetstone & North Finchley) between St Margaret’s Avenue and Ravensdale Avenue
Bus Lanes A1000 High Road Barnet High Street (Wood Street to Meadway)
Is the physical extent of the proposed new bus lanes correctly and fully described above? If not, what other sections of the A1000 are also the subject of such proposals? Questions 3 -12 below also apply to any such other sections of proposed bus lanes as well as to the sections described above.
The project names on the LIP submissions from Barnet are as follows:
Bus Lanes A1000 High Road (Whetstone & North Finchley) between St Margaret’s Avenue and Ravensdale Avenue
Bus Lanes A1000 High Road Barnet High Street (Wood Street to Meadway)
We would suggest you refer this question to Barnet Council as they will be designing and delivering the bus lanes on their road network if the funding is approved. Barnet Council will be able to confirm if a full or partial bus lane is feasible within these sections of the A1000.
What are the proposed hours of operation of each of the sections of the proposed bus lanes?
What public consultations are proposed in relation to the proposals, and when?
What cost- benefit analyses have been carried out in respect of the proposals? Please provide copies of the analyses and of any documents considering or discussing them.
6. Please provide full details of the proposals. 7. So far as not provided in response to questions above, what information is held as to the anticipated loss of on-street parking spaces in each section of the proposed bus lanes, what is the anticipated effect of the loss of that parking on local businesses, what studies have been carried out to attempt to quantify that effect on those businesses and what proposals are there to mitigate the effect of those losses of parking spaces? 8. So far as not provided in response to questions above, what information is held as to the “before and after” current/ predicted journey times (both north-bound and south-bound) a) through each of the sections of proposed bus lanes and b) through the sections of the A1000 roadway feeding into them, in each case for 1) buses and 2) other traffic. 9. Please provide copies of the evidence base upon which the case for the proposals is based. TfL does not hold the information requested in questions 3-9 above questions. We would suggest you refer these questions to Barnet Council as they will be designing and delivering the bus lanes on their road network if the funding is approved.
10. Please provide copies of the documents recording –
A) the internal discussions of the proposals within the TfL organisation since 31 December 2019. An email search has been carried out for the requested timeframe and for just one key officers emails. This returned 311 ‘hits’. A ‘hit’ refers to an email found withinour IT system that potentially fits within the scope of your request. In order to ensure we identified all relevant correspondence hold, we would need to expand this search to other officers who may have had involvement. All emails identified would need to be collated and manually checked to see if they were relevant to your request and whether any redactions are required. Due to the amount of resource this would take, we are refusing this part of your request under section 14(1) of the Act, as we consider that providing the requested information would place an unreasonable burden on us. We do wish to clarify that whilst we consider that your request falls under section 14(1) of the FOI Act, this does not reflect a conclusion that it has been your intention to deliberately place an undue burden on our resources.
B) the discussions between and the Mayor of London/GLA/LA/ London Borough of Barnet since 31 December 2019. 11. Please provide links to the minutes of any meetings of GLA/LA committees recording discussions of the proposals since 31 December 2019 This information is not held by TfL. You may wish to refer this question of the Mayor/GLA/LB Barnet.
12. Please provide the contact details of the TfL officers responsible for leading TfL’s involvement with the proposals. Any queries should be submitted via our Customer Contact centre: https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/
Please let me know if this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
