Richard Harrington MP has held several meetings in previous months following disruption caused at the front of Watford Junction station. Following these meetings a trial will take place in January with the aim of easing congestion and making the forecourt safer for drivers and pedestrians.
The Watford MP has issued the following statement:
After several months of meetings and discussions, it has now been agreed that a trial to partially move the taxi rank at Watford Junction will take place in January.
Since Watford Junction was re-designed there have been a number of problems, many of which have focused around the taxi rank. There is limited space to work with at the Junction site, especially given the competition for that space between pedestrians, cyclists, buses, and drivers. However the proposal we have reached may see this pressure slightly eased, as it should open up the access road next to the Flag.
Currently the taxi’s rank up Clarendon Road and come down to the left hand side of the access road which leads to the station car park. They then, when space becomes available, head under the tunnel and turn around on the mini roundabout, to rank up the opposite side of the road for pick up. The trial, which will begin on 20th January and be manually managed with support from the Hackney Carriage Association, will see if pick up times can be improved and confusion be decreased by taxi’s approaching the rank via the station car park. If the results are positive, we will seek to have the signalling system changed and the move made permanent, and this would mean taxi’s would in future only operate on one side of the road.
This would once again allow some space for drop off at the side of Watford Junction which many people have called for, though the current short stay area situated at the end of the bus forecourt would remain and be used for all pickup. Moving forward we are also looking to see if it is possible to create another proper exit from the Junction, so that less traffic is forced out to Clarendon Road.
I must stress this will only move forward should the trial be successful and I will send an update on that once it is complete, though I will continue to work on this in the meantime and do appreciate how important this is.