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Anti-tram fight wins backing
CITY Hall transport experts have thrown their weight behind campaigners fighting to keep a proposed new tram route out of Somers Town.
The London Assembly’s transport committee said on Monday it approved the overall scheme for a tram link between Brixton and Camden Town via Waterloo and Euston, but added that proposals for a spur line through Somers Town were not “feasible, given the narrow roads and the opposition of residents”.
Instead, the committee favoured linking Euston with the St Pancras channel tunnel terminus by a tram route through Crowndale Road and Pancras Road. Committee member Murad Qureshi said: “There is no doubt there is strong local opposition. Hundreds of people in Somers Town have signed a petition against the tram, and we reflected that.”
He favoured a tram link between Euston and St Pancras along Euston Road, but had been told “that is not achievable”.
Camden Council’s environment policy-makers approved the scheme in principle on Thursday, despite Tory environment chief Councillor Mike Greene acknowledging that, for Camden, “the disadvantages of the tram outweigh the benefits”.
Councillors voiced concern over traffic displacement in Camden High Street and about safety along largely pedestrianised areas such as Brill Place. If completed to schedule, the Cross River Tram link will be built between 2012 and 2016 and cost £400 million. |
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