A long standing campaign by residents to persuade TFL and the Mayor to install pedestrian traffic lights at a dangerous junction between Farringdon Road and Charterhouse Street has finally succeeded thanks to a 500 strong petition presented by Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM. 

The news about plans to improve the crossing was sent to Murad Qureshi in a letter from the Mayor which confirmed that  “as part of the his proposed north-south cycle superhighway route, this junction is currently being studied by [the Mayor’s] engineers who intend to provide signalled crossings as part of the design”

The junction between Charterhouse Street and the A201 Farringdon Road/Farringdon Street is on the boundary of three boroughs – Camden, Islington and the City of London and in a letter to the Chair of the Assembly, the City of London confirmed its support for calls by the petitioners for pedestrian facilities stating that it had “lobbied for pedestrian facilities to be included at this junction for many years”

Rosey Taylor who championed the petition has said “This is fantastic news for this neglected corner of Smithfield. A proper crossing here will improve things greatly for the thousands of people who use the area. It is very encouraging to know that a campaign like this can be successful in bringing about change. At a time when pedestrian safety is hardly a fashionable topic I am very grateful to Murad Qureshi for championing my cause”

Murad Qureshi AM who presented the petition to the Mayor at the Plenary meeting on the 15^th of January said:

“I’m delighted that the Mayor has decided to finally listen to local residents and improve this dangerous crossing. I want to say a big thank you to local residents for signing and to Rosey Taylor for organising this petition, and I was honoured to present it to the Mayor.  This crossing has been neglected because it straddles three different boroughs and so it was clear to me that this was a junction which required action by the Mayor. This is a horrendous junction to negotiate and is an accident waiting to happen.   I just hope that TFL can now get the design details right.” 

Ends 

Notes 

1. Murad Qureshi AM is a Labour London wide Assembly Member
2. A copy of the petition with 540 signatories is attached
3. A copy of the letter referred to from  the City of London and the Mayor are also attached.
4. Minutes of the meeting on the 15^th of January 2014 can be found here: http://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s32362/petitions.pdf
5. Photo of Murad Qureshi with resident Rosey Taylor who championed the petition.