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Westminster Labour Councillors slam traffic light switch off plan
Westminster’s Labour Councillors have slammed Conservative plans to switch off dozens of traffic lights in an experiment to improve traffic flow in the West End. The experiment will start with a set of lights about 100 yards from Westminster Abbey, at the junction of Victoria Street and Strutton Ground. For the first two weeks the lights will work normally while for the following fortnight they will be switched off, before being put back on for another two weeks. The council is also planning to remove traffic lights completely from a busy junction in Elizabeth Street, Belgravia, at its junction with Ebury Street near to Victoria Station, next year. If the Council considers the scheme is successful, Westminster could remove as many as 20 per cent of its 400 traffic lights.
Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said:
“Experimenting with road safety and peoples’ lives seems to be a very dangerous thing to do. Switching off traffic lights is more to do with speeding up traffic rather than increasing road safety and many people, particularly the elderly, the disabled and parents with young children will be fearful of this ‘traffic-light switch-off’ experiment.
“Added to the Mayor’s plans to reduce the amount of time that pedestrians have to cross the road at green man signals, this all spells increased road dangers for pedestrians.
“Why has there been no consultation with pedestrians before introducing this dangerous experiment?”
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