News
Boris hits back at meddling claims
Friday, 10 October 2008
Boris Johnson
MAYOR Boris Johnson has hit back at claims of meddling in one of Europe’s biggest regeneration projects, saying there were too many unanswered questions.
Boris’s transport adviser Kulveer Ranger said the Mayor wanted to check that the possibility of traffic jams on Walworth Road, Kennington Lane and Kennington Park Road had been “properly addressed” before Elephant & Castle’s south roundabout was removed.
Southwark council has been working on plans for the £1.5billion regeneration of the Elephant alongside Transport for London (TfL) and the London Development Agency for years.
They planned to remove the roundabout and replace it with a T-junction with more access for buses and pedestrians.
Last Friday, we reported how the project could be stalled after Boris asked for more time to look at how removing the round-about would affect traffic flow.
Mr Ranger said the Mayor was “absolutely in favour of plans to regenerate the area and is working tirelessly” to improve them.
But he confirmed TfL had been asked to reconsider the plans.
He said: “When [Boris] was told that the result of removing the southern roundabout would be to snarl up traffic on Walworth Road, Kennington Lane and Kennington Park Road he immediately asked TfL to take a little extra time to see if there might be a better way of carrying out this work.”
Mr Ranger said TfL was now working with the council on an alternative roundabout design.
Council leader Nick Stanton said: “We would like to set the record straight.
"The Elephant & Castle team supported by TfL approved consultants JMT have been working on the designs for five years.
“We’ve taken transport issues extremely seriously and worked every step of the way with TFL officers to ensure they reach the utmost professional standards.
“In January TFL comprehensively reviewed the scheme and in March it approved the design and modelling.
“We’ve noted the new issues raised by TfL and are now working with them to find a solution which meets both the Mayor’s requirements and Southwark’s aspirations to improve the area for residents, cyclists and pedestrians.”
Email: jenny.clover@slp.co.uk
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