Soho summit

I READ with interest the letters by Alida Baxter and Mark Teverson (June 24 and July 1) setting out their concerns on Soho traffic issues.  

The city council both at ward member level and through the officers share these concerns and have not been, as your correspondents suggest, idle in seeking to address them and to find solutions for them.

There have been frequent email and telephone exchanges between those concerned and practical steps put in place to change the original arrangements for the Poland Street closure to allow for more limited closure and more general traffic access.

Works undertaken by the utilities companies, both in connection with Crossrail, other utilities diversions and associated road closures, and also in anticipation of the proposed moratorium in respect of works in the run-up to the Olympics, means that the already pressured grid of Soho has, from time to time, suffered gridlock.

Gridlock is not unique to Soho but is a consequence of intensely used roads and the particular individual circumstances of its layout and the pressure of development.

A meeting to address the specific concerns of Poland Street and the surrounding effects on Broadwick Street and Dufours Place took place at Skanska’s office last month and was well attended by represent­atives of both the business and residential community. 

Traffic issues were brought to the attention of the chairman of Crossrail on his recent site visit.

A traffic summit has been arranged and all those who participate in the Soho Steering Group and its associated organisations have been invited to attend. Those who have expressed an interest in this subject as well as representatives of Crossrail, the police and the relevant council officers will be in attendance and I would ask anybody that still have concerns that they wish to address to come to that meeting at 6.30pm on July 18 at the Offices of Soho Housing Association, 4th Floor, 120 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0JR.

The city council does not have all the necessary powers to solve the problems but we continue to listen, learn and apply help and resource as best we can to address these concerns which we acknowledge and share.

CLLR JONATHAN GLANZ
Cabinet Member 
for Housing and Property