Westminster Council objects to CS11

Westminster Council has objected to the proposed closure of the four gates in Regent’s Park for CS11 due to what it sees as a lack of clarity with regards to the impact on traffic. A petition against the cycle superhighway has attracted over 4,000 signatures and the council made reference to ‘strong local feelings’ when making its reservations known.

The London Evening Standard reports on a response drafted by councillor Heather Acton, Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking, in which she calls for Transport for London (TfL) to consider the redevelopment of the St John’s Wood Barracks and the potential traffic impact of HS2 when assessing CS11.

“The city council supports the strong local feelings that TfL should adopt a holistic approach by considering the combined impacts of several schemes and major redevelopments in its modelling of CS11.”

The response goes on to say:

“The city council is very concerned that TfL’s traffic modelling data demonstrates that the CS11 scheme is likely to result in significant detriment to pedestrian amenity at important crossing locations along Finchley Road.

“Similarly, bus journey times on a significant number of routes specified by TfL will increase by at least 0-2 minutes throughout the peak periods (and probably throughout the day) resulting in a significant disbenefit to buses across their routes.”

The consultation on plans for CS11 closed in March with the majority of respondents in favour. Out of 6,200 responses, 58 per cent of people supported the project and seven per cent partially supported it, while 35 per cent were opposed.

London Cycling Commissioner, Andrew Gilligan, says the project would turn “what is currently a rat run into a nice part of the park," but others fear that it would result in gridlock. Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith has previously said that he doesn’t see it as a ‘fait accompli.’