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  • Fri, September 06, 2019 10:38 AM | Anonymous

    Marylebone Association has responded to the Westminster City Council's consultation on their City Plan to 2040

  • Wed, July 03, 2019 4:35 PM | Anonymous

    Marylebone High Street (Paddington Street / Devonshire Street) expected closure till November


    No sooner do we finally get to the end of the Baker Street 2 Way roadworks than we are faced with a summer of road closures on Marylebone High Street. 

    Roadworks to implement the Marylebone Low Emissions Neighbourhood Scheme are expected at the north end of the High Street until November 2019. The works will be particularly disruptive for south and west bound traffic. As TfL would say - "plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey."

    What you can expect: queued traffic on Beaumont Street, Devonshire Street, New Cavendish Street and Upper Wimpole Street/Devonshire Place. 

    For a three week period access to Paddington Street from the High Street will also be subject to a full road closure. Details of the works planned can be found on the diagram below. 

    In summary, the works include the reconstruction of the footway and carriageway resurfacing, installation of new zebra crossings and sustainable drainage pits. Some footways will be temporarily closed during the works and pedestrians will be redirected onto temporary footways on the carriageway, which will be protected by barriers. Pedestrian access to all shops and buildings, we are told, will be maintained at all times.

    We understand that the current road closure on Paddington Street will be lifted on Thursday and two way traffic restored. 

    This Saturday Nottingham Street is closed for a crane movement and Pride will impact Portland Place. Please don't be tempted by rat-running in Devonshire Place Mews there is a camera to prevent right turns onto Marylebone High Street.

    Finally, a reminder that Hinde Street, off Manchester Square, remains closed until 19 July 2019 and there are roadworks on Manchester Street until the end of August to install a new raised zebra crossing facility, including a footway buildout.

    If you have any queries about the works or would like to sign up to the LEN/Conway mailing list to be kept informed of progress, please email robert.burton@fmconway.co.uk and copy: MaryleboneLEN@wsp.com and us at: traffic@marylebone.org




  • Wed, July 03, 2019 4:32 PM | Anonymous

    Anyone walking or cycling past Enford Street on the morning of Thursday 20 June was offered a free breakfast to celebrate Clean Air Day - and some free TLC for their bike. Westminster Cycling Campaign put on the bike breakfast at St Mary’s Bryanston Square School to support Westminster’s very first ‘school street’, where traffic is kept out during school run hours.

    Once the temporary bollards were safely in place at 8am, the pupils took over the road with hula hoops, chalks, balls and skipping ropes until school started at 9. Also there to celebrate were ward councillors Cllr Barbara Arzymanow and council cycling champion Cllr Jim Glen, along with Sustrans Air Quality officer Joe Lindsay.

    Westminster Cycling Campaign were keen to support a scheme that keeps children safe, reduces air pollution and encourages more children to walk and cycle to school. Their ‘Dr Bike’, Philip Benstead, mended several bikes of all sizes, while group secretary Dominic Fee handed out breakfast goodies from his cargo bike, helped by his son, Laurie (3).

    The choice of Clean Air Day is significant, as St Mary’s Bryanston Square School has the worst air quality of any London school. This is thanks to adjoining Marylebone Road, which sees nitrogen dioxide levels reaching over 100μg/m³ - the legal limit is 40. Greening in the playground has meant that air quality is now legal in the school grounds, but the school website says, “We are still concerned about parts of our school that are directly facing the road, about many of our children’s routes to school which involve crossing roads with illegal levels of pollution, and about the places where our families live.” http://stmarys.bryanston.net/?page_id=6131

    Parents welcome the school street. “It feels so much safer now – you don’t have to look all around several times before you cross the road,” one father commented. The contrast was clear when the temporary bollards were removed at 9am and traffic came flooding back.


  • Mon, July 01, 2019 12:00 PM | Anonymous

    Recently we experienced the temporary closure of central London, brought to us by the Extinction Rebellion movement. This effectively introduced the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street by other means, if only for 2 weeks, and further confirmed our fears of just how disastrous the permanent closure of Oxford Street would have been for Marylebone.

    Whilst some may have eulogized over the wonders of a traffic free Oxford Street and may have been breathing cleaner air whilst camping out at Marble Arch, those who actually live in the surrounding areas certainly were not. For them the nightmare of clogged roads, massive increases in pollution and inability to get in and out of the area confirmed what they had known all along: closing Oxford Street to traffic doesn’t make it disappear - it just sends all its traffic into the surrounding areas. Businesses were also unenamoured with this particular experiment having experienced drops in footfall of between 15% and 25% over the period of the closures.

    So it was with good reason that this time last year we were all breathing a sigh of relief when Westminster Council announced they were dumping the Mayor’s previous pedestrianisation scheme for Oxford Street. Promises had been made by the Leader of Westminster Council and others that pedestrianisation was, ‘off the table for good’ following a resounding electoral mandate against the Mayor’s and TfL proposals. It appeared then that the struggle to defend our area from Oxford Street’s unwanted traffic had been decisively won.

    However, things were never going to be quite that straightforward. It was always apparent that the political pressure would still be on Westminster Council to be seen to be doing something with the area. The question was what? And would it continue to honour all those promises made during the election and just after?

    We did not need to wait too long to find out. In October 2018 Westminster Council formerly announced a major new plan to put £150 million into improvements over the whole Oxford Street district via a comprehensive new Place Shaping and Delivery Plan. This new district wide approach was broadly welcomed by many of those organisations who had previously vigorously opposed the Mayor’s plans, including our own Marylebone Association. The fact that many suggestions previously made by us and other amenity societies had clearly been listened to and incorporated in the plan made it easy for us to endorse much of what was being proposed.

    However, as the details of the plans emerged through the course of the ensuing consultation, we discovered that it contained some concerning aspects. Some proposals, reminiscent of the previous scheme, had re-emerged, namely those that advocated the closing or the severe restricting of Oxford Street traffic. As these were contained amongst the large amount of detail about much else, their extent and severity may not have yet been readily appreciated.

    These proposals appear to undermine the principle and purpose of keeping Oxford Street open to traffic and could result in outcomes that we previously understood had been unambiguously abandoned by Westminster Council. In addition they contradict statements made by Westminster both during the recent elections and since the rejection of the joint TfL consultation. They even appear to contradict statements made elsewhere in the Council’s own Strategy.

    There are three main proposals that give us cause for concern and we are disappointed, and not a little surprised, to see their re-emergence now after all that Westminster has previously said. Given their relative importance to residents and businesses, and given that they would re-introduce in part what was widely found to be unacceptable in the previous scheme, they need to be clearly stated:

    A. The proposal to close the section of road around Oxford Circus between John Prince’s Street and Great Portland Street to all east-west traffic and pedestrianise it.

    B. The proposal to restrict the width of Oxford Street to 2 carriageways only, along its entire length.

    C. The proposal to close certain sections of Oxford Street to all traffic other than buses at certain times of the day.

    The most worrying of these proposals is the scheme to pedestrianise Oxford Circus. When WCC promised to abandon pedestrianisation for good, both during and after the election, we assumed that meant in any part of Oxford Street. But this proposal resurrects some of the worst aspects of the Mayor’s discredited scheme. In routing all traffic around neighbouring roads it reintroduces pedestrianisation by recreating a miniature version of the previous plan - that is by creating a needless diversion around a straight line.

    Only in 2009, £5 million was spent in upgrading Oxford Circus to the new diagonal crossing and since then it has become one of the roads most famous features. At the time Westminster Council welcomed this as a major triumph in accommodating safely the many numbers of pedestrians in the area. The figures have not changed appreciably since then.

    Yet here is a proposal to force vehicles to travel at least 3 times as far to get around Oxford Circus rather than through it. The extra time and hassle that this route entails would inevitably deter bus users from using it due to the extra time added to the journey and would result in traffic displacement through neighbouring areas by taxis and other vehicles trying to avoid it. This in turn will generate more pollution and congestion. In addition, even this does not go far enough for the Mayor, who is ‘underwhelmed’ by it. Residents will not want it, so who is this designed to please?

    Well, it certainly appears to please the Crown Estates. They are the owners of Regent Street and see this as an opportunity to create a gateway project for the area. They are, as a result, prepared to contribute to the costs of undertaking the scheme. Westminster Council could find this attractive as they need to take the pressure off their allocated £150 million budget for the area, as the estimated cost of all the works proposed by the Council is presently estimated to be £232 million.

    The principle reason claimed for the proposal it is that of pedestrian safety: that the opening of the new Elizabeth Line (formerly Crossrail) and the resulting extra numbers of travellers will lead to dangerous overcrowding on the pavements and crossings around Oxford Circus. However the principle reason we oppose it is equally on grounds of safety: the scheme proposes to substitute no less than 4 major turns for all traffic travelling along the length of Oxford Street where at present there are none. Each one of these new turns runs across very busy streets which will bring traffic into conflict with pedestrians.

    Rather than improve safety, the potential for accidents will merely be displaced to the smaller roads behind Oxford Circus and indeed, due to all the additional turns made necessary, may be dramatically increased. As for the Elizabeth Line, this project, now 2 billion pounds over budget, has recently postponed yet again, to some time in 2021. TfL have lost all credibility with regard to their time projections on this project - why should their projected footfall figures be any more accurate than their timings? .

    In any case this is the very area that, as a result of the opening of the Elizabeth Line, is forecast to have some of the pedestrian pressure removed and to see a relative decline in numbers. The new Bond Street/Hanover Square stations will take on many of the journeys that previously terminated at Oxford Circus. And this will continue into the future - on WCC’s own figures - during the first 5 years of its operation numbers at Bond Street will be up by 22%, at Tottenham Court Road by 25%, whereas the increase forecast for Oxford Circus is 6%. Does this really merit permanently closing Oxford Circus to all east-west traffic?

    Although it is recognised that there is room for further improvement we would have hoped that this could be realised within the context of the work previously undertaken. For instance, buses and other vehicle turns at Oxford Circus could be banned whilst retaining an east-west flow. Further, the proposals for Oxford Circus appear to be in conflict with the Strategy’s own aspirations for John Prince’s Street which will hardly benefit from having all the Oxford Street traffic routed through it.

    Yet a further problem with the closure of Oxford Circus will likely arise in accommodating the additional traffic crossing in Upper Regent Street as this will require longer red light phases against north-south traffic. However, this traffic already faces considerable congestion from the single lane at Oxford Circus often backing up beyond Langham Place and into Portland Place.

    The proposed diversions will therefore be dangerous, they will cause more pollution and will no doubt result in drivers using alternative routes through the surrounding areas, causing yet further traffic displacement into our neighbourhoods.

    It is significant that whereas the Westminster consultation experienced a high positive response overall, it actually failed to get approval for this scheme. The consultation analysis (Taken from the Steer Report dated February 2019) shows that the proposals for Zone F. - Oxford Circus - 45% strongly opposed or tended to oppose the proposals, with only 39% of Westminster residents strongly supporting or tending to support them. Also, the most frequent comments from stakeholders regarding the draft Place Strategy was fear of traffic displacement - approximately 50% cited this, by far the highest of all the concerns listed.

    The other proposals of concern involving traffic restrictions, or removal, of all non-bus traffic on Oxford Street at certain times of the day will again be bad for Marylebone. These ideas did not get a specific question in the consultation, but they did emerge in part under the proposals for Zone C (the part of Oxford Street containing Selfridges department store, where Oxford Street connects Baker Street and the Mayfair streets of Duke Street, Orchard Street and North Audley Street). Here also respondents generally opposed the proposals outlined in the draft Place Strategy.

    So far, we only have outline proposals for all these schemes. The methodology to justify them is at present being developed, for instance through traffic modelling - which as previous experience has shown, cannot be entirely trusted. The Council stated that issues arising from the proposals will be listened to and taken into account before deciding which ideas to take forward. But the issues arising from them have been stated clearly by us and others and they have been rejected by the majority of respondents to the consultation - but still they have been recommended to be taken forward.

    Accordingly, whilst we look forward to and support the successful introduction of the large majority of the proposals in the Strategy, we will continue to press our objections to this the parts of the overall scheme we feel will damage Marylebone, for all the reasons outlined above.


  • Thu, May 16, 2019 9:00 AM | Anonymous
    Summary of Upcoming Night-time Road Closures

    Please note that these dates are subject to prevailing weather and traffic conditions.  For information on the impact to bus services, please refer to leaflets displayed in the bus shelters or visit tfl.gov.uk/bus/status/ .

    Night 4 Thursday 27th June - Gloucester Place will be closed southbound only between Marylebone Road and Crawford Street.

    Night 5 Monday 1st July - Gloucester Place will be closed southbound only between Crawford Street and Blandford Street.  

    Night 6 Tuesday 2nd July - Gloucester Place, Park Road and Baker Street, will be closed to all traffic between Rossmore Road and Marylebone Road. All traffic will be diverted via St John's Wood Road and Edgware Road. 

    Night 7 Wednesday 3rd July -  Melcombe Street (between Gloucester Place and Glentworth Street) and Melcombe Place / Dorset Square (between Marylebone Station and Gloucester Place) will be closed to all traffic. 

    Night 8 Thursday 4th July - Gloucester Place will be closed northbound only between Blandford Street and Crawford Street.  

    Night 9 Monday 8th July - Gloucester Place will be closed northbound only between Crawford Street and Marylebone Road

    Night 10 Monday 29th July - 
    Baker Street will be closed southbound only between Blandford Street and Fitzhardinge Street.    

    Night 11 Tuesday 30th July - Baker Street / Portman Square will be closed southbound only between Fitzhardinge Street and Wigmore Street.    

    Night 12 Monday 5th August -  Portman Square will be closed northbound only between Wigmore Street and Fitzhardinge Street.  

    Night 13 Tuesday 6th August - Baker Street will be closed northbound only between Fitzhardinge Street and Blandford Street .  

    Night 14 Wednesday 7th August - Gloucester Place will be closed southbound only between George Street and Upper Berkeley Street.   

    Night 15 Thursday 8th August -  Portman Square / Portman Street will be closed southbound only between Upper Berkeley Street and Portman Mews South.   

    Night 16 Monday 12th August - 
    Portman Street will be closed southbound only between Portman Mews South and Oxford Street.  

    Night 17 Tuesday 13th August - Portman Street will be closed northbound only between Oxford Street and Seymour Street.  

    Night 18 Wednesday 14th August - Portman Square / Gloucester Place will be closed northbound only between Seymour Street and George Street. 

    Night 19 Thursday 15th August - Orchard Street will be closed southbound only between Wigmore Street and Oxford Street.  

    Night 20 Monday 19th August - 
    Orchard Street will be closed northbound only between Oxford Street and Wigmore Street.    
    Progress Update and Next Steps

    WCC are pleased to confirm that the major construction works associated with the scheme have now been completed. You will notice a reduced presence of our contractor FM Conway on-site. 

    Surface treatment works are now underway and are the only remaining activity left as part of Phase 4. A total of 17 night-time road closures (during the hours of 20:00 and 06:00) are scheduled to take place between now and Monday 19th August. A road closure summary is provided at the bottom of the page. 

    Summer Works - Snagging and Lighting Columns

    In July our maintenance team will be on-site dealing with defects and snagging issues that have been reported to us. 


    If you would like to raise a defect for the maintenance team to address please do so via: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/report-it 

    Alternatively, to report a problem with a traffic signal please using the following link: https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/contact-us-about-streets-and-other-road-issues 

    A number of lighting columns still require connecting to the electricity network. Consequently, UK Power Networks will be on-site in the coming weeks, working to address this in collaboration with our team. The works will involve some small-scale excavation of the footway to gain suitable access. Please be assured that footways will be properly reinstated.  

    Autumn 2019 - December 2019

    During October, traffic surveys will be undertaken as part of the Monitoring Strategy. The results will be analysed and compared with traffic data that was collated before the implementation of the scheme. The purpose of this exercise is to ascertain how the switch to two-way operation has affected traffic patterns. A report will be published in December detailing the outcomes and any mitigation that may be required. 


  • Mon, May 13, 2019 12:36 PM | Anonymous

    Project 6
    Civil works on New Cavendish Street have been completed and planting took place the week of 29th April. 

    Works to complete the zebra crossing on Marylebone High Street between Pret a Manger and the St Vincent Street junction, including the drop kerb, tactile paving and installation of Belisha Beacons, have begun this week are due to be completed by the 13th May. There have been some delays on these works due to the installation of a bespoke manhole cover at this location. 

    Project 1
    Civil works along Paddington Street have commenced this week. These works will include the installation of footway buildouts, the relocation of an existing zebra crossing, the installation of a new zebra crossing and the installation of rain gardens.
     
    The works have commenced near the junction of Paddington Street and Ashland Place and will move west bound. These works will be taking place for a duration of at least 14 weeks. A deep drainage connection is required for these works, which will cause a full road closure on Paddington Street of at least 4 weeks towards the end of our programme.

  • Wed, April 10, 2019 11:31 AM | Anonymous

    Fashion Re-Told – a pop-up store by Harrods which will raise money for the NSPCC – is opening on Marylebone High Street for the month of May.

    A store for the pop-up has been donated by The Howard de Walden Estate, and will be selling a mix of clothes from Harrods’ own collection together with ‘pre-loved’ high-end designer items.

    Fashion Re-Told will offer designer womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and accessories from brands including Stella McCartney, Chloe, Fendi, RAG & BONE and Versace. The space will also host a series of public events, talks, and workshops.

    A community area surrounding the pop-up at 51 Marylebone High Street will feature floral surroundings inspired by an English summer garden.

    Andrew Hynard, Chief Executive of The Howard de Walden Estate, commented: “Throughout May, Fashion Re-Told will be a must-visit destination for style-conscious shoppers who will be able to buy beautiful clothes and thereby support initiatives that help children across London.

    We’re very pleased to be collaborating with Harrods and the NSPCC on this wonderful initiative.”

    Fashion Re-Told will open its doors from Thursday 2nd – 31st May, at 51 Marylebone High Street.


  • Thu, March 14, 2019 10:56 AM | Anonymous

    TfL caves in face of local opposition.  Ahead of our planned protest outside TfL’s offices later today and our 6,470 strong petition, TfL has announced today it is no longer pursuing the option of a coach station at Royal Oak. However, we will still be delivering our petition at 5.00 pm to TfL to enforce the local opposition to these moves and leave no room for doubt.

    Councillor Emily Payne says ‘This is great news and testament to the relentless hours our local community has spent fighting these plans.’

    Councillor Richard Elcho commented ‘This is a wonderful outcome. We are pleased to see TfL adopting a pragmatic approach that takes into account the views and health of Londoners.’

    While TfL are no longer considering a coach station at Royal Oak they are considering a mixed use development at the site. As these plans progress councillors Richard Elcho and Emily Payne will continue to represent you and any concerns you have about the development.


  • Wed, March 13, 2019 1:23 PM | Anonymous

    Want a place to park your bicycle in Marylebone?

    Westminster City Council for a traffic management scheme to introduce cycle hangars on both Homer Street and Upper Wimpole Street.



    http://westminstertransportationservices.co.uk/cyclehangars.html https://www.cyclehoop.rentals/types/bikehangars

    Please send any observations or comments you may wish to make on the proposals, in writing to Jack.Henry@wsp.com by 29th March 2019, quoting the "7460 - Cycle Hangars - Traffic Order Consultation" reference in any response.

    The City Council will then decide whether to proceed with, modify, or abandon the proposals.

    Find out more about how to rent a space.  https://www.cyclehoop.rentals/how-it-works/bikehangars-and-bikelockers

  • Thu, February 28, 2019 6:48 PM | Anonymous
    The switch to two-way has been completed. Gloucester Place is now numbered as the A4380 and Baker Street is numbered as the A41.

    Therefore, WCC would like to remind drivers and cyclists to remain vigilant whilst using the new road layout. When crossing the road, pedestrians should remember to look both ways. 

    WCC would like to thank the public for their ongoing patience and feedback whilst people get used to the new road layout. Below are answers to some of the key questions we are being asked:

    (1) Safety Concerns

    Following reports of an accident involving a pedestrian and a bus, Councillor Tim Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management, has provided the following statement: 

    “The safety of all our residents and visitors is of course our primary concern. We are deeply concerned that someone should be hurt in this way and together with Transport for London we are looking urgently into how and why this happened. It is too early at this stage to say whether the switch to two-way traffic played a part. Since the switch, we have had street marshals on the roads who have been advising pedestrians to look both ways. As a precautionary measure we increased the number of marshals and are implementing other safety measures in and around Baker Street and Gloucester Place. We would continue to ask everyone using the area to take great care as everyone gets used to the new layout.”

    Marshals will be on hand to help pedestrians between 07:00 and 20:00, at every junction along the scheme until Monday next week. Additionally we have installed new signage and road markings at pedestrian crossings to provide a visual warning to users. 

    (2) York Street

    WCC are aware of reports of traffic congestion along York Street. Please be assured that we are monitoring the situation and will implement appropriate mitigation measures if the problem persists. Members of the project team have been holding discussions with Transport for London about the possibility to provide additional green time to help alleviate the problem. 

    The current issues largely stem from the fact that drivers are still getting used to the new road layout and are not aware of the restrictions on Baker Street for northbound traffic after the junction with York Street. 

    Only Buses, Taxis and Cyclists are permitted to head northbound along Baker Street between York Street and Marylebone Road. These restrictions apply Monday to Friday 07:00 to 19:00. General traffic heading northbound is advised to use Gloucester Place instead of Baker Street.

    It is expected that as drivers become familiar with the new layout, the current issue should ease. 


    (3) Permitted Movements for Vehicles

    Drivers can familiarise themselves with the permitted traffic movements at every junction along the scheme by visiting the following page on our website: http://www.bakerstreettwoway.co.uk/pdfs/Proposed-Turns_v18.pdf 

    (4) Bus Routes

    Information regarding changes to bus routes is available via:
    Additionally, the diagram below shows where you can catch your bus.


    What Happens Next 

    Phase 4 - 24th February to end of June 2019

    There will now be a period of 6 weeks, when construction activity will be paused to allow traffic, residents and businesses to get used to the new layout.  Please note our team will be on site during this period undertaking regular maintenance. 

    Although the scheme is 90% complete, our team needs to finalise some areas that can only be completed with the roads operating as two-way. 

    From early April to June, our team will return to site to complete the remaining works in the following areas:

    Gloucester Place / Ivor Place 
    • A temporary traffic island has been installed at Gloucester Place at the zebra crossing north of Ivor Place. There will be a road closure to remove the temporary island and install a permanent island.
    Portman Mews South 
    • There will be a road closure on Portman Mews South between Granville Place and Portman Street for approximately 6 weeks to reconstruct the carriageway and the loading area outside the pub with new paving, near the Portman Street junction.
    Baker Street (between Dorset Street and Blandford Street) 
    • There will be a partial closure on Baker Street between Blandford Street and Dorset Street to install the new central island and complete carriageway resurfacing outside 55 Baker Street.
    Baker Street (outside Sherlock Holmes Museum)
    • There will be a partial closure north of the Marylebone Road to install a central island south of the Park Road junction, outside the Sherlock Holmes Museum. 
    Baker Street / Marylebone Road junction  
    • A temporary traffic island has been installed on Baker Street just south of the Marylebone Road junction. There will be a partial closure between Marylebone Road and Bickenhall Street/Porter Street to replace the temporary island with a permanent island. 
    Portman Street / Wigmore Street / Seymour Street
    • There will be partial closures at Portman Street to complete footway paving on the eastern side of Portman Street (between Granville Street and Portman Mews South) and carriageway resurfacing from Oxford Street to Portman Square. There will also be road closures in Wigmore Street and Seymour Street to complete resurfacing on their approaches to Portman Square.  
    High-friction material and signal loops
    • Once all the above elements are completed, our team will apply buff-coloured anti-skid material at the junctions (as specified in our consultation drawings). This will be completed via road closures.
    • Our Traffic Signals team will also install the final traffic detectors for signal loops in the approaches to the new signal controlled junctions.
    Additional Trees for Baker Street 
    • Since Christmas 2017, 17 trees have been removed and 26 planted. Planting has been unsuccessful in 8 locations due to the presence of shallow building basements. Our team is working on alternative locations for additional trees. If you have any question regarding tree planting locations, please contact us via our email address.
    All of the road closures will be advertised locally before they take place.


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