London ban surprise
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by CM reporter AN ANNOUNCEMENT by the Greater London Council that it will ban lorries over 40ft long from the city at night by the end of next year has surprised some council members who thought they had agreed to ban trucks over 16 tons.
A GLC spokesman said this week : "In the general confusion and hubub at the meeting it appeared that the 16-ton ban was the decision—only later they learned that they had decided to ban the 40ft truck."
The ban will hit about 1,400 vehicles a night which will be allowed to go into London only if they have a destination in the city or they are using an east-west route that will be left open to trucks, The ban will apply from 7pm to 7am and will affect 125 square miles of London within the North and South Circular Roads.
The scheme was the brainchild of the GLC's transport committee, but it met heavy opposition from some of the London boroughs when it was presented to the council last week.
The ban has met with strong protests from the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association. The FTA called the scheme "Expensive window dressing."
A spokesman for the FTA condemned the scheme as likely to increase operators' costs and being expensive to the ratepayer who will be providing road signs for the banned area.
He criticised the proposed route from east to west : "The Blackwall Tunnel! and low bridges mean that high vehicles will have to be diverted. The route provides no river crossing at its eastern end," he said.
An RHA spokesman also condemned the plan : " 7pm is too early to operate such a ban, it will add to a driver's hours and the costs involved."
The route proposed by the GLC is along A13, City Road, Marylebone Road, Westway and A40. It is intended to relieve the South Circular.