Westminster, don’t give way on Warwick Way!

Good news! Cabinet member Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg has approved a popular traffic reduction scheme on Warwick Way, Pimlico, and is expected to make a decision in its favour on 12 August at a council meeting. But it’s being contested – like any scheme anywhere that challenges the car-dominated status quo. So we are urging Westminster City Council not to give way on its proposal to reduce motor traffic on Warwick Way.

Warwick Way is a popular local shopping street in Pimlico, with a number of cafés and restaurants. It is also a useful through route for traffic, including cycles, between Chelsea and Westminster, avoiding Victoria. It currently has a strange arrangement: the centre line zigzags to allow parking and delivery bays on alternating sides of the street.

The current proposal is to make it one-way for motor traffic along the section with shops, diverting NE-bound traffic. Two-way cycling would still be allowed. At the same time, it is proposed to widen the footways to allow use by the cafés and restaurants as well as incorporate delivery bays.

In a consultation in November 2023, we showed our support for the scheme as Westminster Cycling Campaign. Diverting half the motor traffic from the busy section of Warwick Way is expected to make it a more attractive place to shop or eat, improve conditions for cycling and simply make it easier to cross the road. Removing parking and delivery bays from the main carriageway should give cyclists a clearer path.

Although the scheme attracted a high level of support from local residents, there has been some opposition. The medical centre on the corner of Upper Tachbrook Street allegedly urged its patients to object to the scheme. And we understand that an individual has threatened the council with judicial review. As we have seen all over London – and the rest of the world - measures to reduce motor traffic often attract opposition, and multiple judicial reviews are common against councils who make progress on healthy streets. But they are greatly appreciated by local residents, businesses and workers once they are in place.

Are Westminster City Council committed to reducing the dominance of the motor vehicle in their streets? Let’s hope they demonstrate it by implementing this scheme. We urge them to go ahead for a safer, healthier Pimlico where more people can choose to walk and cycle.