Agenda item

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment concerning the proposed introduction of an experimental safety scheme at Bank Junction. A resolution of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee, which had considered this item at its meeting on 5 December 2016, was also noted.

The Assistant Director (Local Transportation) briefed the Committee on the background proposal, noting that Bank Junction was one of the busiest road junctions in London. The experimental scheme offered several benefits, but at this early stage the primary benefit would be public safety and a reduction in casualties; monitoring would be crucial to ensure that casualties were not simply being moved elsewhere as a result of traffic diversions and a number of attitudinal surveys, road safety audits, journey time measurements and air quality readings would be taken throughout the life of the trial to ensure a comprehensive understanding of its impact. Transport for London had examined the proposals in detail and had agreed they represented a sound potential solution to issues at Bank Junction, as well as offering real improvements to journey times for buses through the junction.

At the invitation of the Chairman, five persons addressed the Committee from the public gallery: Steven McNamara (Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association), Peter Murray (Construction Industry Cycling Commission), Vincent Stops (London TravelWatch), Steve Monk (London Cycling Campaign) and Tom Platt (London Living Streets) were heard.

Following these addresses, the Chairman opened debate by emphasising that a “do nothing” option did not exist in this case, highlighting the number of tragic accidents in each year, drawing attention to the fact that road safety was currently a red rated Corporate risk; to do nothing would be negligent. He added that he had recently met with representatives of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association who had asked if consideration could be given to their being able to use the bus routes through the junction. Copies of the LTDA’s letter as well as the Chairman’s response had been tabled, but in essence given that buses went through almost all possible routes through the junction, this would effectively result in the status quo being more or less retained for taxis. The Assistant Director (Local Transportation) cautioned that officers’ belief was that the removal of other vehicles whilst retaining access for taxis would result in an increased number of taxis to fill the newly created capacity, thereby leading to similar issues as at present but with an altered composition of vehicles.

A Member spoke to lament the lack of improvements for pedestrians included within this scheme, noting that six crossings were due to see reduced time for pedestrians to cross and that barricades were to be retained. He urged that any improvement to the junction should necessarily take in to account the majority of the junction’s users. Other Members added their hope that more ambitious plans would be brought forward in the longer term which would consider the transformation of Bank Junction in to a modern and first-class location worthy of its location at the heart of one of the world’s greatest cities. Officers confirmed that this particular proposal was just a first step towards this larger scheme, concerned primarily at this stage with improving safety at the junction; a wider piece of work was on-going which would look at the overall transformation of the junction in the longer term.

Responding to further queries around the potential impact on people with disabilities or mobility issues, it was advised that previous monitoring of the junction suggested that only a very small number of such individuals currently used taxis for collection or drop-offs in the affected area and therefore removing the ability of taxis to stop at the junction was not anticipated to have a significant impact. It was also confirmed that the knock-on impact of the changes to traffic outside the City been robustly examined, with highly extensive modelling demonstrating no impact on other TfL roads as the redistribution of traffic would be very local.

In response to a query concerning the impact of the scheme on tourist buses, the Assistant Director (Local Transportation) advised that such buses were licensed by TfL and that he would be engaging with both TfL and bus operators with a view to exploring variations to their routes to take them away from the junction.

A number of Members spoke to express their view that the most fundamental improvement to be achieved would be free-flowing traffic in the area, which would prove more beneficial to taxis and other road users in the longer run than access at the junction. Consequently, enforcement activity in the surrounding areas to prevent activity such as illegal unloading would be vital and officers were requested to bring back reports on enforcement activity within six months. The Assistant Director (Local Transportation) reassured Members that regular monitoring reports would be presented to the Committee, covering aspects such as enforcement and traffic data.

In reply to a question concerning the proposed length of the experimental scheme, it was advised that Traffic Regulation Orders required any scheme to be operated for a six month period. As it was expected that the scheme would need to be tweaked in response to issues that might emerge once it was put in place and, given that the six month period would restart after such changes, it was felt that a total period of eighteen months was a prudent and realistic timeframe.

The Chairman thanked all Members and public speakers for their input to the debate and asked the Committee to consider the proposals as set out in the report. Upon the proposals being put to the vote, fourteen Members voted in favour of the proposals, with no Members opposed and one Member declining to vote. It was consequently:-

RESOLVED: That approval be given to:-

• the recommendation to proceed to implementation of the experimental safety scheme at Bank to be bus and cycle only Monday to Friday, 0700 -1900 for a period of up to 18 months by use of an experimental traffic order;
• authority being delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman to agree the procurement for the temporary enforcement cameras if not within the estimated budget range;
• the budget of £792,000 to implement, monitor and report back to committee the outcome of the experimental scheme within 18 months of the scheme becoming operational; and
• the inclusion of any further Transport for London funding to the project budget that arises after the Committee’s decision.