QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS. (Hansard, 2 July 1875)

§ LORD REDESDALE
asked the Lord President, Whether it is intended to make the road from Piccadilly to Grosvenor Place (the model of which has been deposited in the House of Commons) during the present year? The subject was one, he said, of considerable importance to the inhabitants of the metropolis generally, and nobody, he thought, could have witnessed the stoppages which were constantly occurring at Hyde Park Corner without feeling that something ought to be done to remedy the daily inconvenience which they created. The road which was proposed in accordance with the plan which had been laid before the House of Commons was one which would run from Piccadilly at the end of Hamilton Place under Constitution Hill to Grosvenor Place; and that road, if carried out, would take away from the block at Hyde Park corner the whole of the traffic coming down Hamilton Place and that along Piccadilly, proceeding to Belgravia. He could not, he might add, understand why the plan should have for so long a time been placed before the House of Commons without any steps having been taken by those by whom it had been suggested to carry it into execution. The expense of doing so had, he believed, been estimated at £12,000, which, as the distance could not be more than about a furlong, would be at the rate of £96,000 per mile; but he could not think it would cost so much, as there would be nothing to be done beyond the work of excavation and the building of a bridge, and placing iron railings on both sides of the road—for the land which would be given up by the Crown would cost nothing. He hoped that the road, if constructed, would be a public road without gates. He was aware that another plan had been suggested by the Duke of Westminster, who, of course, was deeply interested in the approaches to a part of the town where he held such valuable property. The gist of that plan was to carry another road to Piccadilly on the other side of the arch on which the statue of the Duke of Wellington was placed, widening Grosvenor Place below the arch. Now, the objection to that plan was that it would not remove the traffic from Hyde Park Corner. 870 He therefore thought the plan proposed by the Government was the preferable one. It offered great advantages for the public convenience; it had now been before the public a sufficient time for opinion upon it to have matured; and it would be much to be regretted if steps were not taken to carry out the improvement before they came together again next year.

§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND
believed that the model which had been placed in a Committee-room of the other House had been very generally approved. It was thought that the execution of the plan would afford the relief to the traffic which was no doubt required. As to the question of expense, he was not prepared to enter into that. The noble Lord had said the cost would be about £12,000.

§ LORD REDESDALE
said, he understood that was the estimate at the Board of Works.

§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND
As soon as the model had been finally approved and adopted as the mode of meeting the difficulty of the enormous amount of traffic in that quarter, it was the intention of the Government, before the end of the Session, to take a Vote this year for the purpose of making the road, which would be commenced in the autumn, and he hoped that at an early period next year it would be opened to the public. Of course, it would be unwise to commence such a work as that until there were fewer people in London, which would be the case in the autumn.