Could Ludgate Circus be next on the list for a safety upgrade?

Concerns have been raised by The City of London Corporation over the safety of the junction at Ludgate Circus.

CoL are urging Transport for London to take action, stating that the junction, which has seen several fatalities over a number of years, poses a significant safety risk to the public.

The latest calls for its' redesign have come on the back of a survey which highlighted that many pedestrians are simply ignoring the dangers of crossing the busy junction and staring at their phones, as a result those pedestrians are stepping outside of what are considered designated safety areas and putting themselves at risk.

It was agreed by TfL that the junction is a problem which needs addressing, but also pointed out that CoL were in fact complicit in its' current design.

A number of cycle and pedestrian deaths involving lorries, buses and vans have occurred at the junction, which has around 40,000 pedestrians, 18,000 vehicles and 8,500 cyclists passing through it each day.

In a report by MyLondon it was revealed that nearly 50% pedestrians crossing at that junction did so  outside of the designated crossing areas, whilst around 20% of cyclists passing through the junction did so when the traffic lights were against them.

CoL are looking toward changing the publics behaviour by undertaking educational campaigns as well as working with TfL on survey findings.

The authority’s concerns regarding Ludgate Circus come on the back of a drive to reduce the rising number of road accidents and fatalities in the area

The Corporation has already closed Bank Junction to all traffic except buses and cycles during prescribed hours, despite those two forms of transport being responsible for a number of serious accidents, whilst taxis have been excluded, despite there being almost no major  accidents involving cabs for a number of years.