Piccadilly Circus to become two-way after 40 years

A £10Million plan to ease traffic congestion in the heart of the West End was unveiled today.

The proposals involve reintroducing two-way traffic around Piccadilly Circus for the first time in more than 40 years.

Westminster council chiefs hope the scheme will end the jams which blight Piccadilly, Haymarket, Lower Regent Street, Pall Mall and St James's Street.

A complex one-way system was introduced in the early Sixties to tackle growing traffic problems. But the council believes turning them into two-way streets will tackle the increase in vehicles which causes congestion and creates rat runs through narrow roads nearby.

The revamp will also include new footpaths and lighting. Street clutter, including out-of-date signs and railings, will be removed.

Shaftesbury Avenue will remain one way while Piccadilly will stay one way for cars - from west to east - but a bus lane is being proposed which will effectively make it a two-way street.

Glasshouse Street will be closed to traffic at its east-side junction with Sherwood Street.

The scheme forms part of Westminster's seven major regeneration projects to transform central London in time for the 2012 Games.

The total cost of the works will be £40million and the council has already raised half of the money from its own coffers, Transport for London and funders including The Portman Estate, one of the West End's biggest landowners. Colin Barrow, leader of Westminster council, today called on Mayor Boris Johnson for financial help.

He said: "These seven projects will help transform the centre of our capital ahead of 2012 when the eyes of the world will be upon us. Visitors will rightly expect to be equally impressed with London's streets, hotels, restaurants, shops and transport as they are with the world's top sporting talent.

"The Mayor has been extremely supportive and has invested tens of millions of pounds in West End projects.

"However, we cannot rest on our laurels and the task of enhancing this economically vital area of London, which attracts more visitors than any other part of the country, needs as much vision, drive and funding as we can muster. Westminster is a world city of strategic economic importance to the whole of the UK so investment in the West End is not just a local issue."

A spokeswoman for Westminster said a date had not been set to start the Piccadilly Circus works as the funding had not been fully secured - but said the council was committed to completing all seven projects by 2012.

Last month, Westminster officially reopened Marble Arch after a £2.1million revamp which included the restoration of its fountains which had not been used for more than a decade. Work is also under way to create £5million Japanese-inspired diagonal crossings at Oxford Circus.