FUTURE OF LONDON

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 148, 25 June 1938, Page 28

FUTURE OF LONDON

A SPIDER'S WEB COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING (From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, May 18. Overhead roads and tunnels in London's most congested areas are interlesting suggestions embodied in a plan prepared by Sir Charles Bressey, formerly chief engineer at the Ministry of Transport, to solve the city's road traffic problems. With Sir Edward Lutyens, R.A., he has worked for three years preparing a survey based on a 30-year forecast of London's traffic needs. Their report runs to 40,000 words and puts forward 66 schemes. Sir Charles visualises a growth in the population of Greater London to 10,750,000, and a fourfold 'increase in the number of vehicles. If his ideas are carried out, the map of London in 25 years' time will look like a gigantic spider's web—a series of concentric circles linked by lines radiating from the centre. It is impossible, at

y- present, to estimate the cost, says' Si] 1, Charles. f The scheme involves the constructor h of new routes with a total length o: n 818 miles. Three ring roads would be '■ built, including a city loopway, to re- '" lieve the "almost intolerable pressure' '■ at the Mansion House and St. Paul's Cathedral. There would also be s H south circular route to match the exist- - ing north circular road, and north and ' south orbital roads, the pair 125 miles ' in length. Piccadilly Circus would be j widened by setting back obstructive , buildings. * , Five new routes through virgin soil . would be laid down, guarded against r ribbon development and maintained in I strips of green belt. Sir Charles favours demolition and the cutting of , new routes rather than the widening of , existing roads. London, he remarks, ', has too many side streets, alleys, and « courts, and nothing but advantage j would accrue from the creation of larger building blocks served by streets . spaced at wider intervals, i The object of the ring roads is to : divert long-distance traffic, which, now attempts to cut through the centre. Many of the other projects- are designed to make good one of London's most conspicuous deficiencies—the lack of links between the centre : and the new arterial roads on the outskirts. The report also' discusses- the vexed question of parking l ''.in London. It expresses the hope that : local replanning .schemes will provide for the construction of underground garages, but urges that in all future buildings the provision of adequate garage- space should be required. ' V ' As the suggested routes, are .only guides to dictate general direction, it is for the local highway authorities to.decide which streets shall be .affected. There are 150 local highway; authorities and regional committees concerned who have individually to decide whether they want to ■ adopt -the schemes in their areas. , ' Mr. Leslie Burgin, Minister of Transport, believes ■ that negotiations', with local bodies will be crowned with success and lead to early results. "But," he added, "you must not expect these schemes to be produced by .the touch of a magician's wand." ?\ "> . Unlike most. Government., reports, which ihave, blue, thick paper covers, the "Highway Development Survey, 1937," .isistrongly. bound; in-red. 'cloth. It is made to last for The interest attaching to the future'developihent of London is evident in the fact that the whole first edition of 2000 copies of the report was sold within 24 hours of its publication. ,