Information pack 3

Outline of work undertaken to date and the benefits and impacts of the proposed changes

All Change at Bank Project

March 2021

1 The proposals

• There are several parts to the proposals and the consultation:

1. Traffic changes – including a closure and further restrictions to some traffic movements 2. Enhancements – including seating, greening, trees, ease of movement 3. Proposed bus route diversions

• There is also a section seeking views on if it were possible and appropriate, what people think about changing the timings of the Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm restrictions and/or the mix of traffic allowed during those times.

2 How did you get to this option? 1

• It was agreed in 2019 that work to investigate the potential closure or further restriction of arms into Bank junction be investigated. There were 35 potential combination of arm closures. • These 35 options were assessed based on how much they contributed towards the overall objectives of the scheme and a view to how difficult it might be to deliver. This narrowed the selection to 20 options. • These 20 options were then assessed in more detail including site constraints and high- level forecast journey time implications. This reduced the options to 15. • The 15 options were then assessed on how they could contribute to the City’s Transport Strategy.

3 How did you get to this option? 2 • The top 5 options were then presented in a committee report with an appendix detailing the method used to move from 35 to five options. The report can be found on our website for the 26 May 2020 Streets and Walkways Sub Committee.

4 How did you get to this option? 3

• Following the decision to take three of the five options for further investigation, more detailed traffic modelling was undertaken. • This work looked at how journey time impacts could be mitigated, particularly on the bus routes that would be rerouted as part of the changes. • The design was developed to maximise the space and reprioritise as much as possible to people who walk. • We looked at which types of vehicle could operate on the arms not proposed to be ‘changed’. This concluded that it would not be possible to reintroduce all traffic at all times of day. • An equalities assessment on the three options was undertaken to help identify issues that would need to be mitigated.

5 How did you get to this option? 4

The conclusion of this work was reported in October 2020 recommending the option now being presented in the consultation.

The report can be found on our website for the 15 October 2020 Streets and Walkways Sub Committee.

6 How did you get to this option? 5

• The option presented in this consultation offers the maximum opportunity to:

• provide more space for people walking

• make travel safer for all people passing through the area

• improve air quality and reduce noise

• provide more seating, greening and improve the quality of place

• The proposal is ambitious but has been developed to maximise potential and designed to minimise the impact on the surrounding area.

7 Key traffic and highway changes

We are proposing the:

• Closure of for motor vehicles between Bank Junction and Bartholomew Lane in both directions, to create a walking and cycling only area. • Closure of Queen Victoria Street between Bucklersbury and Bank Junction for motor vehicles, except those vehicles exiting in a westbound direction.

• Keeping Princes Street open for only buses and cycles northbound, and in addition as a route for servicing to Cornhill in a southbound direction.

• Widening of pavements around the junction to accommodate the large number of people who walk through the area normally.

8 What are the benefits of doing this? 1

1. Wider footways. • Improved comfort for those walking in the area and when waiting to cross the street.

2. Less complicated junction. • Reduces the risk of collisions as there are less routes through the junction with fewer arms open to motor vehicles (24/7).

3. Narrower carriageways. • Easier to see vehicles and cyclists coming. • people will spend less time in the road as they cross it. • Easy for drivers and riders to see where their lane is. • Reduces poor lane discipline and opportunities for poor under and overtaking. • Improves overall safety of everyone that uses this space.

4. Safeguarding the area for future growth.

9 What are the benefits of doing this? 2

5. Less traffic across the whole day as there are less routes to take. • Reduces the levels of vehicle emissions in one of the most densely populated spaces. • Improves the sense of place as vehicle noise reduces allowing for other sounds to be heard.

6. Opportunity to create new and improved public spaces that can be used throughout the day. • Opportunity to increase the level of greening in the area including trees.

7. Able to improve the environment for people walking and cycling allowing more space for people to go at their own pace. • Able to offer a more inclusive space for people to pass through and stop in.

10 What are the impacts of doing this? 1

Retain day time restrictions at the junction. • The impact to general traffic and taxi movement in the surrounding area is minimal as they already do not pass across the junction during Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm. • Outside of those 7am to 7pm restriction times at Bank, there will be a reduced number of open arms to all motor vehicles. This may decrease route choices for people in taxis and other vehicles, particularly in a north/south axis. This could have an associated cost and journey time increase.

Extend new restrictions to operate 24/7. • A number of bus routes will need to be rerouted. This will make Queen Street, Poultry, Cornhill and busier with an increased number of bus routes. • This may have a small impact on other traffic using these streets as there will be more buses on these sections of streets than before. • In rerouting some bus services, some passengers may find that they are further away from their destination than before, and others will find that they are closer.

11 What are the impacts of doing this? 2 Resilience of the network. • These proposals will limit the options for diversions when other roadworks are necessary. The design allows for some traffic to be able to use Threadneedle Street and Queen Victoria Street when it is necessary to maintain flexibility for the road network. This would be for planned works only. Access to all properties is maintained, but • for some properties on Queen Victoria Street and Princes Street the reduced routing options that currently operate Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm will become the permanent routing options. Journey time impacts. • Wall, Bishopsgate, and New Change/St Martin's Le Grand are the key corridors that bypass Bank Junction. • In summary the impact for traffic on each of these corridors was estimated to be in the region of a 0-1 minutes delay in the AM and PM peak. • This forecast is based on traffic being at 2019 levels. • There is more information on journey time impacts in the October 2020 committee report.

12 Things to note:

• A number of temporary changes to the City’s streets have been delivered by the Corporation and in response to Covid-19. The long- term status of these projects has not yet been determined, but some may be retained in their current or modified form.

• Any proposals for permanent changes will take account of the proposals for All Change at Bank and will be subject to the usual decision making and consultation processes.

13 Thank you

If you have any questions about the information contained within this document please email the project team: [email protected]

Thank you

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