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We’ve already seen streets across London ban cars, including Seven Dials, Stoke Newington Church Street and parts of Oxford Street. Now, one of east London’s hubs of curry and cool has followed suit.
Brick Lane is now a traffic-free spot on weekends, bank holidays and Thursday and Friday evenings. Last year, the street was pedestrianised from August to November, allowing its many restaurants to offer al fresco dining options amid the pandemic.
The new scheme has been put in place by Tower Hamlets council in a bid to improve safety, lower pollution levels and boost local businesses. As well as Brick Lane, the rules will also apply to school streets in neighbouring roads.
‘It’s about promoting local business by allowing pavement dining,’ Mayor John Biggs said. ‘It’s about some evening and weekend road closures to allow people to mill around in one of the busiest shopping streets and leisure streets in the borough. But it’s about talking to local people and doing things that work […] It’s been a hard year for people in the East End, including our local businesses and we want the area to lift itself up and what we can do to help that is what we will do.’
Tower Hamlets Councillor Dan Tomlinson added that businesses had been consulted on the timings of the road closures and side streets would remain ‘open seven days a week to allow deliveries and parking for disabled visitors’.
Brick Lane will be closed to traffic between 5.30pm-11pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and 11am-11pm on weekends and bank holidays.