Boris backs roundabouts

Think of all the worst bits of town planning and the chances are that they have a roundabout in the middle.

Brockley Cross and Lewisham town centre are good examples of how to blight an area with the introduction of a traffic roundabout. Elephant & Castle's regeneration was heavily dependent on the removal of its southern roundabout.

Now, only weeks after scrapping plans to replace the roundabout by the Houses of Parliament with a major new square, Mayor Boris has blocked funding for the E&C project. According to Estates Gazette, Kulveer Ranger, Johnson’s director for transport policy, "called for more details of the effect the removal would have on car travel before funding could be committed," throwing the scheme in to turmoil. The money would have been used to replace the roundabout with a T-junction with wide pedestrian crossings.

Estates Gazette quotes an unnamed source as saying:

“The two most fundamental planks of the regeneration are removing the pink shopping centre and replacing the southern roundabout with more sustainable transport modes.”

Both of these decisions signal that the era of reconfiguring London to suit pedestrians rather than cars is over.