Poland Street road closure a ‘crisis’ for Soho, says resident Alida Baxter

Published: 01 April 2011
by JOSH LOEB

THE closure of a busy road for 18 months because of building work has sparked a “crisis” for local people, say Soho residents.

Alida Baxter, who represents neighbours in Dufours Place, criticised developers Skanska for their “indifference to our health and welfare” and called on Westminster Council to reopen the street for half of each day. 

Ms Baxter, who has mobility problems, said the developers had taken over all of the road and “annexed” part of a pavement, leaving only a narrow gap fought over by pedestrians, cyclists and even moped riders who frequently ignore diversion signs and drive down the walkway. 

She said: “In a month this drama became a crisis. We’ve had two months of an 

18-month development and already there have been two major disasters, one an electrical fault in Beak Street and the other a fractured gas main in Brewer Street.”

Neither of these was because of Skanska’s work, she said, but had added to the major problems with road closures in the area.

“It’s appalling,” she said, “not a single domestic resident was consulted about this, and when I heard this development was for just another film company, I thought: ‘It’s not as if it’s for social housing. It’s not something that’s for the benefit of society’.”

A spokeswoman for the firm said: “Skanska can confirm it is carrying out a project in Poland Street, W1. As part of its works, Skanska has received a temporary traffic order from Westminster Council to close Poland Street to traffic between the hours of 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm Saturday. 

“This temporary traffic order was granted from January 2011 until April 2012 and is in place to allow the safe delivery of materials and services to the project. We apologise to the residents and businesses in the local area for any inconvenience this may cause and wherever possible we reopen the road ahead of 6pm. We welcome the opportunity to discuss any concerns further with residents, and will be arranging a neighbourhood liaison meeting in the coming weeks.”

Councillor Jonathan Glanz, deputy cabinet member for traffic, said the developers said that they would open up the street when construction vehicles were not being used.  

He said: “We are aware that businesses need the street opened for deliveries, and the on-site construction team have agreed to arrange this when it is needed. The council has spoken with residents and businesses about the time it takes to get in and out of Soho, so we are reviewing the available routes and what might be done to improve them. We are also due to meet interested parties with the developer to discuss how to reduce the traffic disruption associated with the works in Poland Street.”

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