People who live, work or travel through the London Bridge area are being asked to have their say on changes to the roads and pavements in the area.
Transport for London (TfL) widened the pavement area along a stretch of the northern part of Borough High Street, close to Borough Market and London Bridge Station. The transport agency made similar changes to part of St Thomas’ Street, which comes off Borough High Street and runs behind the station and the Shard.
The pavements themselves have not actually been expanded, but the road area has been made narrower with temporary blue barriers like on a building site, to give people more space to walk in a very busy and crowded area.
TfL made the changes in the summer of 2020 as part of its response to the pandemic. The transport agency wants to promote active travel like walking and cycling, as well as reducing air pollution.
Now TfL has confirmed that the changes are going to stay in place for another eighteen months. The barriers will be replaced with “semi-permanent materials” this autumn. After the consultation, those changes could be made permanent.
The consultation will last six months and you can take part here.
Helen Cansick, TfL’s head of healthy streets investment and delivery, said: “Enabling more people to walk and cycle is a key part of our plans to ensure that Londoners have a healthy and sustainable transport network. Wider pavements played an important role in giving people space to move safely during the pandemic and we are keen to explore whether these changes could have a positive impact on walking and cycling, if made permanent. I’d encourage everyone who lives, works and travels through the area to have their say on the changes.”