Call Sign December 2009 - Page 12 - Aldgate Tower: Have we been lied to?

*Call Sign* would like to take readers back to October 2008 and the article Aldgate: DaC drivers call it the mess! Following up on information passed to us by a surveyor involved with the rebuilding project at Aldgate, we were told at the time by a Transport for London spokesperson: "A new public open space will be created by closing off the western half of Braham Street between Mansell Street and Leman Street. This will play an important role in regenerating Aldgate for the whole community." They ended with the almost nondescript single sentence: "Braham Street will also be closed off at the eastern end for a private development." This all began some three years earlier when members of the London Cycling Campaign claimed that the Aldgate gyratory system as it was then, made life very difficult for them and indeed, in 2008 their wishes were fulfilled when Aldgate became two-way again – the first time since before the long-departed Gardiners store burnt down. It was the part regarding the private development that Call Sign managed to get details about, after being concerned as to what it meant. The surveyor asked that we give no details about him because he claimed he would be sacked if word got out, but he told this mag: "The western end of Braham Street will be redeveloped into a pedestrian zone, but it will also include huge two tower blocks while creating an island from the back of the Bank of Scotland building to the junctions of Mansell Street and Leman Street." TfL's Interim Director of Road Network Management responded by saying: "The changes we are making to the Aldgate gyratory system have been welcomed by all of the road users we've spoken to, particularly cyclists." They hadn’t spoken to any taxi drivers that we knew of. We followed up on the original article in our December 2008 issue. Dial-a-Cab driver Mike Leo (Z09) asked TfL about the new traffic system, having explained that he had lived and worked around Aldgate for over 35 years and the old system had always run well, but added that Mansell Street was constantly gridlocked - often tailing back to Tower Hill. He ended by asking what was happening to the then-empty Braham Street? Yet another TfL spokesperson – there a multitude of them - responded to Mike and said: "The works will provide improved pedestrian crossing facilities, removing the fast one-way traffic streams which will deliver many safety benefits. Furthermore, the consolidation of the bus	Aldgate Tower: Have we been lied to?
	*There’s going to be an open space there – somewhere! The question is whether anyone will be able to see it...*
	routes, so that east and west bound services are situated on the one road, opposite each other and closer to the nearest underground station will be achieved through the upgrade, providing a more coherent public transport service. "The proposal allows for the creation of a new public space, which is one of the Mayor’s 100 spaces to be established in London. This will be in Braham Street, between Leman Street and Mansell Street, which will be permanently closed to traffic after the gyratory is switched over to a two-way operation. This will give many benefits to the public including a new green space for local residents and people working in the area. Features expected to be included in the park are a fountain, kiosk, feature lighting, green areas and trees." She added that the area would be significantly improved with benefits to the public realm as well as improvements for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users and also claimed that the new traffic system had been modelled to cope with the new layout and would operate within capacity and ended by saying: "I trust that once the works on the Aldgate gyratory have been completed and the system has been fully switched to a two way service, traffic will flow smoothly and efficiently and the area will benefit from the improvements." Mike was hardly thrilled by the response, but sounded rather resigned when he originally contacted Call Sign. Dealing regularly with TfL, we can understand that. And, as our loyal readers may well have already picked up, there was very little mention about the "private development." But that’s hardly surprising because a few trees, benches and even a fountain are hardly much consolation if they include two gigantic office blocks! And what about the	"improved" traffic system? We asked Mike Leo if he had grown to like the new scheme? He told Call Sign: "The problem with the new 2-way system is the bottleneck at Mansell St and Whitechapel High St and Commercial Rd with the High St; even at midnight you will sit in at the lights in Mansell St. The timings are totally wrong; the lights go green turning left into Aldgate while the right hand lane stays red - where most of the traffic is. The 3-lanes with a bus stop cannot work with buses using Commercial Rd pulling over to the right blocking the whole road, while the 25 bendy bus blocks all lanes because it comes up Mansell St and cuts across to turn right, after which it blocks the High St! I suggest the bus stop is moved further along by Burger King and the traffic light phasing is changed." Moving onto the new open space, Mike said: "A small part of Braham Street is now green - just for RBS by the looks of it, with more tax money helping them out! The other part of it... yep, a lovely big tower that will stay empty for a while. After all, who would want to live or work next a road that is always gridlocked!" Well, it looks as though Call Sign’s informant was correct all along. A project using the name of a cycling group wanting more space for themselves, has been used to pretend that this is all for the benefit of those living and working in the area. The two tower blocks are now unstoppable facts – we just wish that those in charge would occasionally tell the truth and in this case, admit that the main reason for the development – sorry, private development – wasn’t to improve the quality of life in the area, but to put up more tower blocks. Aldgate House will be completed in two years, but at least from its top floor you will get a great view of the RBS benches... Alan Fisher

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