§ MR. LAMBERTsaid, he would beg to ask the honourable Member for the City of London, Whether it is the intention of the authorities to remove the 1519 obstruction "Temple Bar," which contracts one of the principal thoroughfares in the Metropolis to such an extent that only two carriages can pass abreast, and has been the annoyance and loss of time to the community for ages past?
MR. ALDERMAN W. LAWRENCE, in reply, said, it was true that at Temple Bar there was only room for two lines of carriages, as it was situated at the narrowest part of Fleet Street. There was at the present moment a large amount of traffic passing under Temple Bar, which would be much increased during the building of the new Courts of Justice, and still further increased when they were opened. The traffic was also impeded by the cross traffic to and from Chancery Lane. Mr. Street, the architect of the new Courts of Justice, in accordance with instructions from the Royal Commissioners, sanctioned by the Treasury, provided in his original design for the removal of Temple Bar, the widening of Fleet Street at that point, and the erection of a new Temple Bar bridge, with a wide archway, which should form a communication between the Temple and the now Law Courts. This scheme the City of London was, he believed, prepared to accept. The present Temple Bar was erected by Sir Christopher Wren, and its removal without at the same time widening Fleet Street would not facilitate the passage of traffic, as there would still only be room for two lines of carriages.