London’s major roads will need to be buried underground in the future to keep traffic flowing and create space for sustainable transport options on the surface, Transport for London’s Roads Task Force is expected to say very shortly. It will also call for major new investment in road transport to cater for for the 10M predicted to be living in the capital by 2030.

The task force report which is due to be unveiled on 10 July will follow publication last week of Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s  report ‘2020 Vision - The Greatest City on Earth; Ambitions for London’. The Mayor’s Vision also called for roads to be put in tunnel, potentially with tolls.

“Original predictions for London’s population by 2030 were for 8.5M people but that number has now risen to 10M,” said TfL managing director for planning Michele Dix. “That is 6M more trips on the network including 80% more on the road network; a 25% increase on today.” Eighty percent of all passenger trips in London are made by road.

“The balancing act between walking, cycling, public and private road transport is difficult now. Going forward it will be even harder. But the key to London remaining a world city is to make sure the place functions and that will require the road network to be enhanced,” she said.

The 1.5M increase in population expectations emerged following analysis of the 2010 census which revealed a spike in births and that people were living longer.

The task force review will recognise that all roads in London do not perform the same function, Ms Dix said. “Some are for movement, like the A40 and some like those in Covent Garden are part of an urban space. But there is also recognition in the report that for those living near the A40 there has to be some quality of life along it. The potential is for some roads to be buried like the Peripherique in Paris creating space on top for new urban realm.

“Population growth is going to be so big that there will also be competition on the streets for sustainable modes,” she said, citing Tooley Street near London Bridge which is already packed with buses, cyclists and pedestrians. The wheeled traffic, she suggested, could be taken into flyunders.

“What is not acceptable,” Ms Dix said, “is new road growth at ground level.”

(Photo: Christine Matthews)

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