> Any indication of the timing of the restriction? The Rowing Clubs are frequently the venue for meetings in the evening.There are no specific timings so they apply 24/7, they're just not enforced 24/7. As others have said I'm guessing this is just in response to complaints about an increase in rat-running due to Hammersmith Bridge being closed.If you have business at a rowing club (or other business along that short stretch to the next turning) then you'll be covered by the "except for access" exemption, and if you did get a ticket in the post you'd be able to argue against it especially if you can provide proof.The upper sign is the red circle with the "flying motorbike" symbol in it. This means no motor vehicles. The lower sign is "Except for access". It's not that tricky to understand. If you consider those signs optional rather than mandatory then you run the risk of getting a fine in the post if you ignore them. If you consider them ambiguous at all then I suggest you re-read the Highway Code and save yourself from some potential fines. (Things have almost certainly changed since you passed your driving test or last read the HWC.)If you see that sign you have to ask yourself "Am I driving along here to specifically get access to something?" Anyone using it as a rat-run isn't accessing anything along there, so they have no reason to be using that section of road. It doesn't really matter where the other end of the restriction is if you've got no legitimate need for access, it's not as if the other end is going to be the other side of Putney Bridge. Generally signs like that only apply to short distances.The council may have some sympathy if you come across that sign and you were driving to, say, Thames Rowing Club (which is just the other side of the zone) or the back of Leader's Gardens. But, again, you have a choice. You can either drive past the signs and risk a fine (or attempting to overturn one) or turn before the sign, go up to Lower Richmond Road, and go back down a different road closer to your intended destination.The problem is that driving along there has been normalised by a lack of consistent enforcement and it's become a much bigger problem since Hammersmith Bridge has been shut. I'm sure plenty of people have done it in the past and despite walking/running/cycling along that stretch of road thousands of times I'd never really clocked the signs myself. But, as someone has already said, ignorance is not a defence. The signs are properly sized and placed (at least at the Glendarvon Rd end) and there is no ambiguity in their meaning.Coming from the Rotherwood Rd end it is only signed on one side of the road, but if you want to use this to challenge a ticket then you'll probably have to do so in court (and run the risk of increased costs) as the council most likely aren't going to back down prior to that.
Alex Greenbank ● 2541d