§ 51. Sir W. Wakefieldasked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to the proposal to make Bridge Street a one-way street, in order to give an uninterrupted flow of traffic down Whitehall and around Parliament Square, thereby reducing congestion and 1395 traffic delays in that area; what action he proposes to take in the matter; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayI have recently seen a report of one such proposal. The complementary one-way workings which it would involve, particularly on part of the Victoria Embankment, would appreciably increase the volume of traffic circulating round Parliament Square and would add lengthy detours to two traffic streams. I am not at all convinced that it would have the beneficial effect suggested by my hon. Friend.
§ Sir W. WakefieldWould the Parliamentary Secretary consider trying this as an experiment? If there is a doubt, or if it is a matter of opinion, surely it is a good thing to try out the proposal in practice to see if there is not some advantage to be obtained from it.
§ Mr. HayI do not think that the proposal is susceptible even of that kind of treatment. One of the points of the proposal is that there should be a small underpass opposite Horse Guards Avenue, and that could hardly be done as an experiment. Secondly, we calculated that at least a thousand aditional vehicles an hour would be added to those circulating around Parliament Square, and I frankly do not think that it would work.