Request ID: FOI-2638-2324 Date published: 17 November 2023
You asked
I would like to request all documentation and internal correspondence regarding decisions to retain the pavement extensions on Bishopsgate.
We answered
Our ref: FOI-2638-2324/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 23 October 2023 asking for information about the pavement extensions on Bishopsgate.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. We do not hold documentation or correspondence on a decision to retain the pavement extensions as no decision has been taken on their future yet. The decision we took in the summer pertained to the traffic order that introduced the traffic restrictions not the shape or layout of the highway.
I am sorry that both your original pieces of correspondence with further questions on the Bishopsgate scheme were not forwarded onto the relevant TfL officer at the time. Officers responsible for the oversight of the changes to the Bishopsgate corridor have now been passed your original and follow up emails on the matter and have provided the following response:
As you are no doubt aware, TfL introduced changes to the Bishopsgate corridor in Summer 2020, as a response to the particular set of demands that the COVID-19 pandemic raised at the time. These changes restricted through traffic from using the Bishopsgate corridor by means of ‘bus and cycle only’ gates, between Monday and Friday, 7am to 7pm. The traffic restrictions allowed us to widen, in places, footways along the corridor as overall traffic levels were reduced as a result of the restrictions in place. As people returned to Central London as restrictions related to the control of the pandemic were removed, we made a decision to retain the measures on the Bishopsgate corridor on an experimental basis. This experiment sought to understand if the measures would continue to deliver benefits to pedestrians, cyclists and bus passengers as London recovered. A public consultation, as well as monitoring of traffic data, on the experimental measures took place throughout this period. Upon reviewing the data and feedback from the monitoring and consultation exercises, TfL took a decision to retain the traffic restrictions in July this year and published a number of documents, including a Responses to Issues Report, as part of its decision.
The decision pertaining to the experiment was related to the traffic order. This is a document that sets out what restrictions apply to a stretch of the road network, in this case the traffic restrictions that mean that only buses and cycles may pass through the bus gates during the operational hours of the scheme. No decision was taken at the time on the design of the highway itself, including the areas of footway buildout that are demarcated by blue barriers or in semi-permanent footway materials. Following the retention of the measures that have reduced traffic levels on the corridor, we are now working on a series of phased improvements to improve the highway layout. Initially, works will replace remaining blue barriers with areas of semi-permanent footway. Following this, TfL intends to look again at the full design of the highway, taking into account the feedback that it received during the consultation period, with a view to making further changes. This may involve changes to, or the removal of, areas of widened footway, improvements to cycle facilities and changes to street furniture and the surface of both the road and pavement areas to better reflect the new layout. These plans are at an early stage and we will further engage upon proposed designs when they are sufficiently advanced to do so.
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
