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FOI request detail

Streetspace for London - Bloomsbury

Request ID: FOI-0488-2021
Date published: 27 July 2020

You asked

We therefore urgently request further information about the proposals. You should treat this as a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the "2000 Act") and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (the “2004 Regulations”). The information we require is as follows: a. Copies of all details, including any options assessment, for proposals for roads between Euston and Waterloo and an assessment of how the proposals will impact on deliveries and taxis accessing the area; b. A copy of the programme for the design development of the scheme; c. An outline of what consultation exercises will be carried out and at what stage of the design development such consultation will be undertaken; d. Copies of any proposed traffic order(s); and e. Any further information about the proposals which will assist my client in understanding the proposals further, the next steps and how my client can input into the formulation of any proposals.

We answered

Our ref: FOI-0488-2021/GH

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26 June 2020 asking for information about Streetspace for London.

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.

In response to your specific questions:

  1. Copies of all details, including any options assessment, for proposals for roads between Euston and Waterloo and an assessment of how the proposals will impact on deliveries and taxis accessing the area;

At this stage, TfL has not agreed on options for the Euston – Waterloo corridor. All Streetspace schemes, including the Euston – Waterloo corridor, will consider the impact on vehicular traffic including bus journey time and reliability, Taxi and private hire accessibility and emergency vehicle access as well as potential impact on local businesses. You may also be interested to note that some detailed information regarding the Streetspace scheme can be found at the following link: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/streetspace-for-london . This link details the considerations that are made ahead of implementing any schemes along with the intended benefits and how they are expected to be achieved.

However, please note that we are refusing your request at this time, under section 14(1) of the Act, as we consider that providing the requested information would place an unreasonable burden on us. Due to the wide and unfocussed nature of this element of your request, locating and collating everything within the scope of your request would require a significant effort that would inevitably require the diversion of limited resource from their core functions. We encourage requesters to be a specific as possible regarding the information they seek as non-specific requests such as this asking for ‘all details’ of a given subject can often lead to concerns about the time and resource required to locate, extract and collate all information that fits within the scope of the request.

Please be advised that we will share information with residents and businesses, and invite feedback, once we are in a position to do so. However, if you or your client wanted to discuss your concerns further we would be happy to arrange for you to discuss this corridor and our progress so far with our engineers. Should you wish to arrange this, please contact our LC&P team CiaranMccartan@tfl.gov.uk and AbbasRaza@tfl.gov.uk who will be able to assist with any specific questions or concerns you may have.

We do wish to clarify that whilst we consider that your request falls under section 14(1) of the FOI Act, this does not reflect a conclusion that it has been your intention to deliberately place an undue burden on our resources.  

b. A copy of the programme for the design development of the scheme;

This information is not held.  As the designs for this corridor are dependent on the outcomes of internal discussions and agreements with boroughs, we do not yet have a programme for the design development of the scheme. As the corridor involves different borough roads along its lengths it is likely progression will happen at different speeds depending on discussions.

c.    An outline of what consultation exercises will be carried out and at what stage of the design development such consultation will be undertaken;

Streetspace measures implemented by Temporary Traffic Orders under section 14 Road Traffic Management Act are subject to publication of a notice 7 days before any Order is made.  Representations may be made during this period.

Our Streetspace Plan is being delivered in line with the statutory guidance regarding engagement and consultation that was issued by the Department for Transport on Saturday 9 May. Local authorities are being urged to move swiftly to reallocate road space to ensure a safe recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and to encourage active travel and to enable social distancing.

Before construction commences on a Streetspace scheme we want to ensure that local residents and businesses are made aware of this. To address this we will write to all premises adjacent to the scheme to explain what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and how to share feedback with us. Feedback is primarily received via our streetspacelondon@tfl.gov.uk email address, but we will be opening up new channels to provide feedback during August 2020. We use this feedback to actively listen to our stakeholders and communities to identify where there are issues with schemes, but equally we are keen to hear where a scheme is having positive impacts.

Although our Streetspace schemes are implemented on a temporary basis, we want to understand where there may be opportunities to make these changes permanent. That’s why over the next six months we’ll be undertaking a rolling consultation with Londoners about what Streetspace means to them and how it should develop in the future.  Our engagement programme for this is under development at present, and more information on this will be publicised via our Streetspace website https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/streetspace-for-london. This engagement work will ensure London’s voice is heard before we make any long term decisions on our Streetspace schemes.

The majority of Streetspace schemes are to be delivered by the relevant Boroughs who will have their own consultation process to engage residents, businesses and stakeholders and so you may also wish to contact the relevant Borough for input into this process. Should a decision be made to make a scheme permanent on roads TfL are responsible for then, in line with the terms of our traffic orders, we will hold a statutory consultation with the public

We will continue to monitor the effects of these temporary changes over the coming months.  This includes their effects on traffic flow, road safety and cycling and walking rates.  We will write to local people, businesses and other stakeholders to explain what changes are proposed and will then be made and encourage them to provide us their views and experiences of the changes. We will listen carefully to the feedback we receive. Using this information we will plan to hold a statutory consultation on any scheme we feel should be made a permanent part of London’s walking and cycling networks.   

d. Copies of any proposed traffic order(s); 

We are not at this stage in the process so do not hold any relevant traffic orders. 

e. Any further information about the proposals which will assist my client in understanding the proposals further, the next steps and how my client can input into the formulation of any proposals.

As explained above, discussions around the corridor improvements are at an early stage. However, to confirm, we would be happy to arrange for you to discuss this corridor and our progress so far with our engineers. Should you wish to arrange this, please contact our LC&P team using the contact details provided above.

The impact of current circumstances on TfL’s resources means we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a further request to us at present.

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.

If you are not satisfied with this response, please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Graham Hurt

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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