FAQ

The Strand Aldwych Scheme is transforming this location from a polluted, traffic dominated gyratory to a pedestrian focused destination with strong links to the surrounding districts. The new public realm will balance the needs of the everyday for the local community with a world-class scheme.

The vision is for the area to become a global creative and cultural quarter which will be an international beacon for creativity, enterprise and learning. Issues with pedestrian congestion and safety, poor air quality and noise, especially as more and more people are returning to our city post-Covid, needed to be urgently addressed. The new plans for Strand Aldwych gave the Council an opportunity to build back better and create a new green oasis in central London for people to relax and come together to enjoy. 

The scheme aims to:  

• Provide better movement of traffic – Improved journey times and safety for many routes by removing the gyratory, having two-way traffic in Aldwych and removing it from part of Strand
• Improve the public realm – Creating an attractive public space on the Strand and a better pedestrian experience on Aldwych
• Improve links for walking and cycling – Providing better connections to the surrounding areas and improving safety for 14 million people who visit each year
• Improve air quality – Addressing air quality across the whole project area, reducing traffic in some areas, mitigating the effects of traffic in other areas and working with partners to influence, lobby and explore opportunities for positive change
• Support culture, education and innovation – Creating opportunities to showcase the area’s wealth of cultural and educational talent and encouraging opportunities for collaboration
• Support the area’s economy – Enhancing its vibrancy, productivity and creativity by celebrating its unique character

Westminster City Council are also delivering public realm improvement works around the Arundel Court development (between Arundel St, Surrey St and Temple Place). Both schemes will be built in a coordinated approach. The Arundel Court scheme will include lighting and footway enhancements, relocated pedestrian crossing facilities, flow of traffic in the area will be improved by reversing the one way system on Surrey Street and introduction of drop-off bays at the new hotel frontage on Temple Place. The scheme will incorporate natural stone throughout the footways and additional trees will be planted.

Arundel Court website

Works began on the 4th of January 2021. 

Works will last approximately 24 months, with estimated completion in late 2022. 

Westminster City Council’s Service Provider, FM Conway, will follow working practices that are safe and efficient and in line with COVID-19 guidelines. Standard working hours are 8:00am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday, and 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturday. Sunday works or works outside of these hours will only take place in exceptional circumstances. Noise will be minimised where possible.

Please read carefully if your property is within the works area. The basement / vault to your property is a separate structure from the public highway and keeping it in a watertight condition is the responsibility of the owner or freeholder. If the vault / basement has not been properly damp proofed and / or tanked it is not secure from water ingress. Please be advised that neither the Service Provider or the City Council will be responsible for any damage resulting from water ingress in such circumstances.

Pedestrian access to all businesses and buildings will be maintained at all times.

Taxis will operate in the area and movement for taxis is maintained along Aldwych, but some journeys, especially those from the north that want to cross the river via Waterloo Bridge are reduced. Kerbside space on Aldwych, particularly the northern side, is at a premium given the number of demands it has to accommodate with heavy pedestrian traffic from nearby hotels and theatres. The design of the taxi ranks and bus stops on the north side of Aldwych (between Catherine Street and Drury Lane) went through a number of iterations following conversations with the taxi group to ensure an appropriate balance between bus stop operation and location of taxi bays in relation to the hotels and theatres. 

Some local parking and loading suspensions will be required to facilitate the works. These will be kept to a minimum and clearly signed. If you usually park in the vicinity of Savoy St, taxi bay on the south western end of Aldwych, parking on Aldwych just east of Kingsway, around Strand/Arundel junction (arms to the south and west), please look out for suspension notices and then move your vehicle to help ensure the works can be completed as quickly as possible. The Traffic Management Order Consultation showed what will be affected by the scheme. Please subscribe for updates via this link http://eepurl.com/hlZLuf. 

Yes. Road closures will be notified by email and by on-street signage. Please subscribe for updates via this link http://eepurl.com/hlZLuf. 

It is a Pedestrian and Cycle Zone, and cycling is permitted. Cycle parking has been provided.

The scheme will reduce lane widths and will create a new pedestrian and cycle zone in the Strand between Surrey Street and the Waterloo Bridge. The scheme maintains cycle parking in the area. The public space has been designed to minimise conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists, with areas dedicated to pedestrians only and protected from occasional access, keeping a direct route for cyclists that would wish to cross the space as part of their journey. Cycling parking will be relocated to the perimeter of the space to encourage sustainable travel to the new space as destination. 

This has been explored and would require traffic reduction to implement without resulting in increases to bus journey times and/or general traffic reassignment to non-strategic roads. It has always been WCC’s intention to review the cycle facilities provided if traffic flows were to change in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that other measures can be implemented with lower traffic flows. If traffic flows remain lower than pre-COVID levels, the opportunity to install cycle facilities will be explored at the earliest appropriate opportunity.

The highway scheme has been designed to be “capacity neutral”, meaning that the change in layout can accommodate the same level of traffic as the previous situation once works are complete.  It is designed to enable traffic to move in a more consistent flow around Aldwych than previously, with more pedestrian crossing points.  This, together with wider footways (up to 3m wider in some places) will enable a much improved, safer, pedestrian experience through the area.

The Strand Aldwych project aims to create a safer, people-focused environment, replacing traffic dominated public realm with traffic-free garden spaces. In addressing air quality issues in the area, the project is developing an Air Quality Mitigation Action Plan which aligns with the Council’s wider plans to tackle the Climate Emergency. 

London Plane Trees - The scheme will maintain the line of London Planes at either side of Aldwych and in Strand, however some trees need to be removed to make room for new signalised junction crossings and other elements of the scheme. Our tree removal contractor removed these trees in January 2021.

Following advice from Westminster City Council's own Arboriculturalists, those trees will be replaced with a higher number of new trees that will be planted in the Autumn. Overall 10 trees will be removed and 32 will be re-planted. 

We work closely with the emergency services to ensure they are not affected.

The Place Shaping team at Westminster City Council.

The Council appointed a project team led by term contractors FM Conway with traffic advice from Norman Rourke Pryme (NRP) and engineering input from WSP. The project team built upon the work set out by Northbank BID through its vision for Aldwych by Publica.

Please subscribe to our weekly email updates. Emails will be sent weekly. 

Subscribe via this link http://eepurl.com/hlZLuf 

If your question hasn’t been answered, you can email StrandAldwych@wsp.com 

Consultation report for the 2nd Public consultation “2020 Consultation Statutory Traffic Management Order Consultation Full Report”

Consultation report for the 1st Public consultation “Strand Aldwych Consultation: Consultation Response Report May 2019”

Strand is now permanently closed to vehicular traffic between Waterloo Bridge and Surrey Street. This new pedestrian/ cycle zone will be protected by static physical measures preventing vehicular access. 

There will be an access point by way of an automatic gate (comprising sliding bollards), located at the eastern end of the zone, west of Surrey Street. 

The automatic gate will be operational as follows: 

• Between 10am and midnight, the gate will be secured. It will only open for registered vehicles and users. 
• Between midnight and 10am, the gate will be unsecured. It will open for any vehicles wishing to access the pedestrian zone for deliveries. The pedestrian zone rules will still apply and parking enforcement will be in operation. 

Vehicular access will be maintained 24/7 for residents, businesses and institutions within the pedestrian zone with access to off-street parking facilities. Those specific buildings have been contacted separately with further information. 

Residents, businesses and institutions are encouraged to arrange servicing and deliveries between midnight and 10am when the gate is unsecured. Within the pedestrian and cycle zone, drivers are expected to proceed with care, keeping to the designated routes, and only park on-street within the designated loading bays at the allowed time.  

Outside of the pedestrianised zone, there will a loading bay each side of the zone: 

• One in Aldwych outside the ME Hotel 

• One in Strand just east of the Melbourne Place junction (after the Australian diplomatic bays) which will be shared with taxis 

• Residents, business and institutions with access to off-street parking facilities 24/7. 
• Delivery vehicles using the signed on-street loading bays only, from midnight to 10am.
• Emergency services will have access 24/7.

There will be exceptions for specific dates to facilitate special circumstances (such as a resident moving to a property within the space). A dispensation process through WCC Parking Services will allow access for house moves. This process will also be used to facilitate planned contractor access where heavy tools and equipment are required. Further details on how to apply for a dispensation with WCC Parking Services will be communicated prior to the gate becoming fully operational in March 2022.

Residents, businesses and institutions are encouraged to arrange deliveries between midnight and 10am when the automatic gate is unsecured.

If you have off-street parking facilities, you can receive deliveries at any time, however you are encouraged to arrange deliveries between midnight and 10am when the automatic gate is unsecured.

When the gate is secured, you will have to arrange access with your concierge or reception team. If you do not have off-street parking facilities, you are encouraged to schedule your deliveries between midnight and 10am. There will be two loading bays - one outside 147 Strand and one in Montreal Place, operating at these times.

Alternatively, when the automatic gate is secured, delivery vehicles should use loading bays outside the protected zone. There will be several loading bays dotted around the protected zone:

• One in Aldwych outside the ME Hotel 
• One in Strand just east of the Melbourne Place junction (after the Australian diplomatic bays) which will be shared with taxis 

If using a different vehicle than your registered vehicle, you will be able to register this temporary vehicle with the control room. Further details on how to contact the control centre will be communicated prior to the gate becoming fully operational in March 2022.

Waste and recycling collections will be rescheduled to accommodate the access restrictions. Collections will take place between midnight to and 10am. Communal waste and recycling bins will be provided in Montreal Place.

The morning collection, currently between 9:30am and 10:30am, will be moved forward to be between 8:30am and 9:30am. The evening collection between 6pm and 7pm will be removed. The night collection, currently between 2am and 3am will be moved forward to be between midnight and 1am.

If you have off-street parking facilities, your visitors will be allowed to access. You will either be able to register their vehicle with the control room, or gain access through your concierge/building management.

If you have off-street parking facilities, your employees will be allowed to register their vehicle to access your premises.

If your employees are using a different vehicle than your registered vehicle, for example a hire car, they will be able to contact the control centre to register their temporary vehicle. Further details on how to contact the control centre will be communicated prior to the gate becoming fully operational in March 2022.

If you have off-street parking facilities, you can receive deliveries at any time, however you are encouraged to arrange deliveries between midnight and 10am when the automatic gate is unsecured. When the gate is secured, you will have to arrange with your security or building management team the opening of the gate, using the contact card they will be provided with. If you do not have off-street parking facilities, you must schedule your deliveries between midnight and 10am.

There will be two loading bays: 

• One in Aldwych outside the ME Hotel 
• One in Strand just east of the Melbourne Place junction (after the Australian diplomatic bays) which will be shared with taxis 

If you have off-street parking facilities, your visitors will be allowed to access. You will either be able to register their vehicle with the control room, or gain access through your security / building management team.

Further details on how to contact the control centre will be communicated prior to the gate becoming fully operational in March 2022.

Alternative collection arrangements will be made for those businesses who use the services of the City Council ‘s Commercial Waste Service. These business customers have been contacted separately to implement the alternative collection arrangements.

Commercial properties that are not serviced by the City Council’s Commercial Waste Service can either switch to the service or make the necessary arrangements with their private commercial waste collectors to meet the new access restrictions. There will be no access for these collectors between 10am and midnight.