PROJECT FOCUS LONDON TRANSPORT
EAST TO WEST
LONDON’S JOURNEY
In just a few years, the experience of travelling through London will be completely transformed by major projects at Stratford City, London Bridge and Earls Court. And at all three schemes, WSP’s transportation experts are central to the action.
London is changing. Not only will its skyline be dramatically different in just a few years, but the experience of travelling through large swaths of the capital is undergoing significant improvements.
The renaissance of east London is well underway, with Europe’s largest shopping centre due to open later this year and the vast ground for the Olympic Games in 2012 rapidly taking shape. At London Bridge too, as the Shard climbs higher and higher, the station below will not be forgotten, with a dramatic redesign of the interchange for bus, train and underground services. Meanwhile, the west is determined that it won’t be left behind: a new masterplan launched in March envisages the complete transformation of a 32ha site around Earls Court into a sustainable urban landscape with easy access to public transport at its heart.
WSP’s engineers have been playing an important role in all of these projects, using their specialist knowledge of transportation services to ensure that the developers’ visions are realised in full. As Ian Liddell, WSP’s head of development planning points out: “Good transport planning is essential to make sure that any development is accessible for as many people as possible – places need to
12 SOLUTIONS
be easy to get to, especially as developments are often complementary but can also be in competition with each other sometimes. There are also a lot of transport-related planning considerations, and so being able to satisfy the various requirements in an efficient and cost- effective way can smooth the process of achieving planning approval.”
Transport planning is key to achieving sustainable growth in the short term, but it also has longer term benefits for an area. “Transport and new development can often be a catalyst for wider regeneration – there’s a ripple effect that benefits the wider area. It's really important for regeneration that projects are linked into the surrounding area with good-quality pedestrian and cycling connections and public transport. No two locations are identical in their travel demands, so it helps that we have a particularly wide range of expertise. WSP has long experience of designing many types of development right across London, and the fact that we’ve got a wide range of technical specialisms means we can provide the right support for all aspects of a project.”
ian.liddell@
wspgroup.com
EAST: STRATFORD CITY
If you wanted a quiet life, you probably wouldn't get involved in opening Europe’s largest shopping centre, next door to the world’s greatest sporting event. And you almost certainly wouldn’t volunteer to sort out the parking.
Fortunately, WSP has specialist expertise in traffic management, and while its engineers have worked on many projects around the world, they are conveniently based in WSP’s London office. Darren Pullen is part of the WSP team that has spent the last five years ensuring that every aspect of the transport strategy for Westfield Stratford City will function perfectly when it opens later this year, throughout the Olympic Games in 2012 and during the legacy period
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