Agenda item

For Information

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment which provided an overview of the proposed experimental Safety Scheme at Bank Junction. Officers advised that there have been a number of casualties at Bank Junction and this was not a safe environment for cyclists and pedestrians. The focus of the proposed scheme would be on casualty reduction and to ensure safety at this key location.

Officers advised that to ensure the scheme delivers maximum benefit, it was proposed to implement an experimental traffic order with only buses, cyclists, and pedestrians allowed access to Bank Junction from 7am to 7pm from Monday to Friday. Officers highlighted that the modelling work carried out has shown that the average peak journey times for general traffic would be more efficient if only buses and cyclists were allowed access to the area whereas if taxis were allowed to continue using the Junction, the impact would be worse on traffic journey times than if nothing were to be done.

The Deputy Chairman advised that he had attended a meeting with the Taxi Trade and the following comments had been raised at the meeting:

·         the Trade did not have confidence in the modelling results as they felt they had been discredited by the Cycle Super Highway;

·         they would like two trials to be conducted, with one to include taxis;

·         that there would be a negative impact on mobility impaired customers if taxis were not allowed in the zone;

·         that another taxi rank be provided at King William Street if the scheme were to go ahead;

·         that the taxis do not need all of the possible routes through the junction and they would be prepared to forego these if east-west access was maintained.

·         that zero emission taxis should be allowed within the zone; and

·         that taxi users had not been consulted in the survey so could another joint survey be carried out.

A detailed discussion took place with a number of questions and comments made by Members which included:

·         Members confirmed that they had confidence in the modelling and evidence that had been presented to them by officers;

·         this would be an experimental scheme to which changes could be made at a later date, therefore only buses and cyclists should be allowed access primarily and this could be amended later if necessary;

·         the area close to Bank junction  would still be accessible for those with mobility impairments;

·         officers had looked into the creation of a taxi rank at King William Street and found that with the location of bus stops etc, this is not possible; however officers would look again to see if any of the other activity could be moved to accommodate a rank;

·         surveys had previously taken place which showed the high volume of empty taxis crossing the Junction;

·         in relation to mobility impaired customers, they are currently unable to be dropped off in the junction and so any new taxi prohibition would not make matters worse as taxis would be able to get near the Junction;

·         as the scheme would encourage more cyclists to use the area, the road danger awareness team would increase their level of activity;

·         the scheme would not specifically target air quality, but there were a number of City initiatives that would look at making improvements in this area;

·         the proposed scheme would not cause traffic gridlock as similar schemes had been implemented in other areas of London, such as Holborn Circus which had been highly successful, and the modelling work carried out had demonstrated the safety benefits to the area;

·         with the increased usage of perimeter roads, significant resources would be put in place for monitoring purposes, particularly in relation to looking at traffic signals;

Overall Members were supportive of the proposals and thanked officers for the level of work that had been undertaken.

Officers undertook to feed the Streets and Walkways Committee’s comments in to the Planning and Transportation Committee.

The Chairman invited the Sub-Committee to undertake a straw poll to demonstrate the feeling for and against the proposals. The straw poll indicated overwhelming support for the recommendations contained in the report, although two Members of the Sub-Committee abstained due to not having been present for the whole debate.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee;

a)    support the proposals set out in the report; and

b)    note the contents of the report.