Examination of Witnesses (Questions 1620
- 1639)
1620. Is that closer?
(Mr Berryman) That is closer, yes.
1621. I would not have thought that Moulton
Street was so far as to be unmanageable and it does have a very
broad area which is not—
(Mr Berryman) It does, you are right. It is kind of outside
what we would normally consider our area of influence but you
are right, yes.
1622. I just offer it as a thought. I was trying
to think about that whole area. The next area is Wigmore Street
on the other side of Oxford Street.
(Mr Berryman) That, I think, would be too far away.
1623. MS LIEVEN: Taking South Moulton
Street as an example, Mr Berryman, is there any reason why Crossrail,
or you in particular, would have any problem with bicycle parking
in South Moulton Street? It is really a matter for Westminster.
(Mr Berryman) Not at all. On the contrary, we would welcome
it.
1624. It may be that store owners in South Moulton
Street would feel aggrieved about it, but that is a matter for
Westminster.
(Mr Berryman) As the Lord Chairman said, that is a matter
for local authorities to deal with and it is part of the planning
process.
1625. Thank you. Can we move on to the final
topic then, which is construction traffic. I think we can give
some assistance on this subject and I am going to lead on this
if that is all right. First of all, we are quite happy to give
an assurance to the Cyclists' Touring Club, the Petitioners, that
when we carry out site induction procedure for lorry drivers,
and I think we will carry out site induction procedure for all
staff on site—
(Mr Berryman) That is correct.
1626. --- we will include within that a module
on cycle awareness. Is that right?
(Mr Berryman) That is correct.
1627. So we are quite happy for that assurance
to be given to the CTC, and we give it expressly to the CTC as
Petitioner, and that assurance should be on the record. I think
we can also assure the CTC that when we responded to their House
of Commons' Petition we said we would maintain a dialogue with
them about the carriage of cycles on Crossrail, do you remember
that?
(Mr Berryman) I do remember that.
1628. I think we would also be happy to include
within that assurance to the CTC that we will have a dialogue
with them about appropriate training for lorry drivers, so if
they want to tell us things that ought to go into the module we
will talk about that with them.
(Mr Berryman) That is right.
1629. Are you happy to do that?
(Mr Berryman) Happy to do that.
1630. Following the ODA's example, we are happy
to encourage all contractors to provide further cycle awareness
training for lorry drivers as a matter of encouragement, is that
right?
(Mr Berryman) That is correct, yes.
1631. Just a couple of other points. I think
the position is that lorries serving Crossrail will be identified
as being for that purpose wherever practical. That is our current
policy, is it not?
(Mr Berryman) Yes, that is generally the
case, although there may be some instances, such as suppliers
perhaps of concrete or something like that, where a vehicle is
identified prominently by the firm which provides the vehicle.
Generally speaking, all the vehicles which are on hire to our
contractors or subcontractors will be identified as Crossrail
vehicles.
1632. Another aspect of concern on this subject
which the CTC have raised, which we touch on in our Petition Response
document, is that of lorry routes and their interaction with cyclists.
Can you just explain how lorry routes will be dealt with?
(Mr Berryman) It is set out in the Bill
that lorry routes need to be approved by the local authority.
They will take into account issues of pedestrian safety and bicycle
safety when they make such approvals.
1633. Is that a matter that the local authority
will have full control over?
(Mr Berryman) It is.
1634. LORD YOUNG OF NORWOOD GREEN: The
point made about size of lorries, can any amelioration be made
on that? There is a sort of trade-off, I guess, size over frequency?
(Mr Berryman) There is indeed.
1635. So what consideration have you given to
that aspect?
(Mr Berryman) Normally, as the Petition said, we use four
axle lorries. That is the size which seems to be the optimum in
terms of balancing between the size of the vehicle and the number
of movements that take place. If you go smaller than that it becomes
very difficult to manage them. There are actually a few places
on the job where we will have to use smaller lorries simply because
bigger ones would be inappropriate, but for general use it will
be four axle lorries. I should say we are making strenuous efforts
to avoid as far as possible moving spoil out of London by lorry.
We cannot avoid it completely, I am afraid, but what we are trying
to do is make as much use as possible of the tunnels themselves,
to make as much use of railway freight as possible, and to make
use of barges where possible. So the intention is that the starting
point is the fewer lorry movements there are the better. Where
it is unavoidable—and it is sometimes unavoidable—then
it needs to be controlled.
1636. BARONESS FOOKES: I am not sure
what the position is or will be in relation to congestion charging,
but is there likely to be a greater input the larger the vehicle
or the number of vehicles? Is it possible to look forward?
(Mr Berryman) It is very much a matter for the Mayor as regards
congestion charging. We will have to pay the congestion charge,
of course, but what the Mayor's policy will be—and indeed
who will be the Mayor—from time to time, we do not know.
The congestion charge has gone up significantly already, as you
know, and is likely to go up further. It is a very long way ahead
as far as that is concerned.
1637. CHAIRMAN: It is only the local
highway authorities who can change the layout, for instance the
street junctions, is it not?
(Mr Berryman) Yes.
1638. If we cast our minds back to Spitalfields
and if they are going to improve the traffic system there, the
road system, it is only Tower Hamlets that can do that?
(Mr Berryman) It is only Tower Hamlets who can approve it
and design it; I expect they would want us to pay for it.
1639. I am sure they would, but it is in their
hands?
(Mr Berryman) It is in their hands, indeed.
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