Traffic on Aldwych

Aldwych and Kingsway in the centre of London are broad, tree-lined avenues whose buildings house embassies (the Indian embassy and the Australian High Commission), hotels, theatres, universities (the LSE and Kings College London), cafes, restaurants, offices, apartment and a radio broadcaster (the BBC World Service). People throng the pavements, frequent the eateries, queue outside the Indian embassy and generally navigate their way around the area. These avenues should be pleasant, friendly areas but they aren’t; they are noisy, traffic-laden nightmares.

Ok, so “nightmare” might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you should see them when the roads are closed to traffic, as they occasionally are when something goes wrong, to understand what I mean. It doesn’t take long on a traffic-free Aldwych to see how much better it is without taxis and buses. The reduction in noise alone is dramatic but the freedom associated with escaping the confines of the pavement is unexpectedly enjoyable. Along these roads the pavements are often quite wide but they still feel too narrow for the numbers of people using them. Simply wandering at will across the carriageways is a rather liberating experience.

The biggest improvement, at least in terms of quality of life for pedestrians, would come from re-routing all the traffic away from part or all of these roads but this is likely to be very difficult. Kingsway and Aldwych have between four and six lanes and at peak times they are often very busy. More achievable, maybe, would be a partial re-routing of buses and a discouragement of other traffic so that amenities for pedestrians (and cyclists - Aldwych at rush hour looks horrific for bikers) could be improved.

Here are a few suggestions that might make things better:

• Removal of the bus park on the south side of Aldwych 
• Reduction in the number of motor vehicles lanes 
• Addition of cycle tracks along both roads 
• Widening of pavements on both roads, possibly with indented bus stops and new trees 
• Removal of traffic lights and light-controlled crossings; replacement with pedestrian crossings 
• Additional pedestrian crossings along both roads 
• Improved road-marking so that drivers have clear lane designations. 

These changes would probably have wider effects; it would be necessary to review the layouts of Strand and Waterloo Bridge, both of which feed traffic to Aldwych and Kingsway. Adding cycle tracks to Aldwych and Kingsway might be difficult and could provoke calls for tracks on Strand, Fleet Street and Southampton Road - all roads that would benefit from having fewer cars (and if Strand had cycle tracks, Trafalgar Square would surely need them - it could be the start of something beautiful).

In short, what I’m asking for is nothing more than a wholesale re-working of the roads in central London. Four-lane highways have no place in the middle of our ancient, people-filled capital. It’s time to think the unthinkable, do the undoable, and make our city once again somewhere that people can walk safely and breathe cleanly.