The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced that proposals for a £18 million scheme to part-pedestrianise Parliament Square will not proceed, due to serious concerns about increased traffic congestion, loss of green space, and cost.

The Mayor acknowledged that a lot of good work had been carried out around the potential scheme but, having reviewed the proposals in detail, he had serious concerns.

Transport for London advised the Mayor that the required pedestrianisation would have a significant negative impact on traffic flow, not only in Westminster but also in the wider local area and around central London.

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Over the coming months and years, essential projects such as the redevelopments at Victoria station and Elephant and Castle, and the work associated with Crossrail, will add pressure to the road network. It was felt adding further pressure through the Parliament Square scheme could cause serious traffic problems in the event of a major incident or unplanned works, and compound the problem of congestion, which Transport for London have just revealed has now returned to pre-charging levels.

The Mayor also felt strongly that the proposal to pave over much of the Square would mean the unacceptable loss of green space in central London.

Mr Johnson said: "There is absolutely no sense in Londoners paying £18m from their already stretched transport budget in order to reduce capacity on London's roads. This scheme would have turned a green glade of heroes into a vast, blasted, chewing-gummed piazza.

"The last Mayor was famed for his love of blocking the traffic but this scheme was a step too far. We will now look at other, more imaginative ways of improving the square, without affecting traffic flow. We are committed to ambitious urban realm projects, but not this one."

(CD/JM)