Cabbies hit out at Bloomsbury left-turn ban - Taxi firms oppose 'long way round' that avoids danger junction

Published: 24 March 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

TAXI drivers say they are being forced to drive thousands of extra environment-damaging miles due to changes intended to make an accident blackspot junction safer.

They claim a “left turn ban” at Tavistock Place and Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury means they have to take a long way round to reach King’s Cross.

Residents and businesses near the corner campaigned for safety improvements after a number of incidents involving cars.

The junction was considered a blackspot after pedestrians and cyclists got caught up in accidents. A pensioner died after being knocked down there in 2008. 

The corner is now part of Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s “cycle superhighway” which favours cyclists at the junction.

But Geoffrey Riesel, chief executive of Radio Taxis Group (RTG) – which describes itself as the world’s first carbon neutral taxi company – estimates the new left-turn ban will add 3,667,000 miles to his drivers’ journeys and contribute 1,764 metric tonnes of CO2 to the city’s atmosphere each year, the equivalent he says of “15 one-way trips to the moon”.

Mr Riesel added: “Wouldn’t it be better to hold both cyclists and taxicab drivers to the same rules of the road rather than make everyone else pay the price in terms of lost time, higher costs, and increased CO2? 

“Responsible cycling is an important way to decrease our impact on the planet, coupled with carbon offsetting programmes like the ones we use at RTG, but this new traffic scheme clearly does the exact opposite.”

Residents who fought hard for a safer junction have backed the new measures. Kenneth Clemments, who lives in Marchmont Street, said: “They [taxi drivers] have been using this residential street as a rat-run for many years. North Marchmont Street is not a major road and taxi drivers have no right to demand it as their own private shortcut. 

“We have had fatal accidents and countless minor incidents. It was a dangerous mess. The road system had to be changed for the good of all and Camden made the right decision when they closed off the left turn.”

Ricci de Freitas, chair of the Marchmont Association, added: “There was overwhelming support for these measures to improve the safety of this confusing junction. It was not done, as the cabbies say, for cyclists but to improve safety for pedestrians.”

A Camden Council spokesman said: “Providing a safe environment for people using Camden’s streets re­mains our main priority and we are monitoring the situation and taking necessary steps to address the ongoing concerns.”

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