Closed
Unfinished,Dormant & Dangerous Road Works Outside 8 D’Arblay Street, Soho, London, W1F 8DP
Reported in the Street works and obstructions category anonymously at 16:04, Thu 16 July 2020
Sent to Westminster City Council less than a minute later. FixMyStreet ref: 2203535.
Re: Road Works Outside 8 D’Arblay Street, Soho, London, W1F 8DP
These have been in existence from at least September 2018.A Councillor would not tell me the date they started.
I was informed by the council that there was a court case about these road works in connection with gaining access to Number 8 to enable the collapsed vault to be repaired. The council provided me with no details of the court case and stated only that they had been adjourned.The Road Works should have been completed by 4th July 2020 to enable the road outside and the entire road to be fully pedestrianised.
The council themselves had designated D'Arblay Street for Pedestrianisation.
They have failed to achieve this because they have not resolved the issue of the road works being completed.
Someone at the council provided me with material that states: "The Main issue is that once you cross the boundary from No: 10 D'Arblay Street into the frontage of 8 D'Arblay Street you are effectively in the Danger Zone" where the collapse has occurred,...."
As a visitor to D'Arblay Street this is very distressing to me,given Public Safety of the residents of 8 and others who visit the street,reside in or conduct business from it.
The Delay of Pedestrianisation has a deterimental financial impact on the hospitality business that seeks to increase its seating capacity by placing tables & chairs in the road,in line with the council initiative to pedestrianise certain Soho Roads to possibly assist businesses to recover from the UK Lockdown order that has or will cause many businesses to go bust.
From what I know of these road works,there has been a protracted stale mate and no related party has sought to reverse ineffectiveness and failure,fix and repair the collapsed vault to enable the road works to be cleared and the road re-opened so it can be fully pedestrianised by those who seek to gain benefit that they may result from pedestrianisation.
Currently,the risk to businesses is much higher than the risk to Public Safety,because the unsafe area has been cordoned off,That does not mean there is no public safety issue and it increases with each passing day as the road works are allowed to continue.
There seems to be a mistaken acceptance by the council that these specific road works may take years to complete.
The Window of opportunity for a specific business to benefit from full pedestrianisation of D'Arblay Street will be lost because those responsible for the completion of the road works never gave them the priority that should have been attached to them.
The Road Works should have been finished on 3rd July 2020 to enable pedestrianisation of the road up until 30th September 2020
They need to be completed immediately without delay by the contractor who is appointed by the Local Council
Updates
This report is now closed to updates from the public. You can make a new report in the same location.