Old Palace Yard
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Ranger of Northwood
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
My Lords, I will take back what the noble Baroness has said. I do know that safety and access concerns have been expressed by Members, including at pedestrian crossings, and parliamentary authorities have already raised this during discussions with Westminster City Council—but I will take back that point.
Lord Ranger of Northwood (Con)
My Lords, I declare my interest as the former director of transport policy for the Mayor of London. I therefore have some acute insight into this issue around traffic management, pedestrian safety and pedestrianisation. In fact, there was a scheme in 2008 to pedestrianise part of Parliament Square but, when it was looked at extensively, there was an issue post the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square; what would happen to traffic flow if there were any incidents in the area? It was considered that we would have gridlock within 10 minutes if we also pedestrianised Parliament Square. Taking that information into account, I urge my noble friend the Minister to please be cautious about any further pedestrianisation. There is a delicate balance between traffic flow and pedestrian safety, which has to be managed with the huge increase in cycling that we all welcome. I hope that all these things will be taken into consideration in any future scheme.
The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
My Lords, I can confirm to the noble Lord that traffic modelling is very much part of the design work that is being undertaken, in part for the reasons described. There are clear safety advantages to this proposal, but all these things will be looked at in the balance.