Air quality in Westminster is worse than at anytime in the past and the reason for this lies squarely at the feet of Westminster City Council planners.
Vehicular traffic is being unnecessarily detained at certain junctions throughout the borough under the guise of a ‘safer streets’ policy which is causing even more toxic air, causing more preventable deaths.
It’s not as if they have no idea what will happen, they have been informed in a multitude of consultations, which they just ignore.
Just look at one junction, the bottom of Sussex Gardens. The roundabout has been dissected by a barely used cycle lane, going against the traffic flow. The lane is also being facilitated by traffic signals that were never needed in the past.
The lights are phased to give cyclists time to clear the junction while traffic sits for unrealistically extended periods, with their engines running, spewing out so called toxic fumes, where before, the vehicles would just pass through the roundabout.
The new system at Bayswater Road and North Carriage Drive, has resulted in massive traffic jams that were not there before.
No one is held responsible for these dreadful systems.
Then we have the sites where road works, which have been completed, we see plant and materials left in the road for weeks on end, causing blockages and major traffic hold ups.... plus in this age of smart technology, we see antique looking, completely unnecessary four way traffic signal systems (badly phased) in place where 9 times out of ten they are not needed.
Then we have the added mileage drivers have to undertake to get round the borough, where roads have been suddenly, for no good reason been changed to one way, or no entry from certain direction. This added mileage adds to the total toll on air quality and is solely down to the Council.
Yet Westminster’s councillors/planners appear to be blind to all the above carnage and constantly try to shift the blame to a few Taxis on the rank at Marylebone Station.
So, it’s OK for TfL to pump out their toxic fumes, 24 hours a day at certain points in the borough such as Warwick Avenue and Regents Park stations.
Yet if a Taxi is sitting on the Rank by the extractor fan outlet at Warwick Avenue Station with the engine running, the driver could be issued with a fine.... and yet TfL are free to pollute the street as much as they like without any comeback.
Air Quality Action Day
Highly paid Westminster councillors, complete with street wardens (penalty ticket book in hand), along with members of the LTDA, spent the day pestering Taxi drivers working the rank at the station.
This would have been a perfect opportunity for the LTDA chairman of the joint ranks and highways committee to take the councillors on a tour of the worse spots.... such as Sussex Gardens, Craven Road/Gloucester Terrace, Bayswater Road/Victoria Gate... and point out the failings of the council planners.
But unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this happened and turned out to be no more than just another photo opportunity.
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