It seems Ken Livingstone isn't content with the new, faster Eurostar, but wants to make London actually resemble Paris. He is proposing pedestrianised, tree-lined streets a la the French capital and even wants to get us our own version of the famous Paris Plage, the artificial beach that takes over the Right Bank of the Seine. For this, the Mayor wants to shut a section of the Victoria Embankment's four lanes from traffic.
Other streets planned to be pedestrianised include the South side of Parliament Square in 2009 and, later, Portland Place near Regent Street. Unsurprisingly, the RAC Foundation is complaining. According to them, the measures would force drivers to take less suitable routes which would cause bottlenecks and increase congestion.
Surely even the RAC folks would enjoy a nice day on a beach over sitting in a car? London is so congested anyway that shutting a few streets probably won't make much of a difference. And if Ken manages to import the Parisian bicycle hire scheme too then they can all get on their bikes.
By Kai
Image courtesy of Leek's Flickrstream.
