Goldman Sachs pays £130,000 to prevent road traffic accidents

Published: 25/04/2013

Goldman Sachs is funding a proposal to close a London Street after it was deemed to be ‘dangerous to staff’.

Described as an “accident blackspot” and “rat run”, Stonecutter Street has been the location for a number of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists. As a result the banking giant has agreed to subsidise the project and has already provided “£100,000 of advance funding”.

“We support the City of London’s initiative to prioritise pedestrian safety,” comments a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman,

“and to strike a better balance among the interests of pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles making local trips, and through traffic.”

The plans however have been met with some criticism by taxi drivers and some residents who regularly use the road as a cut-through.

Grant Davis is the Chairman of the London Cab Drivers Club:

“It’s an atrocious situation that a major bank can just do a deal with the Corporation of London and cut main roads in the city, causing traffic jams, increased congestion, increased emissions and increase our cab fares just for the benefit of their staff.”

Over 19,000 cyclists and 25,000 pedestrians were injured in road traffic accidents in 2011, according to the Department of Transport’s Reported Road Casualties Annual Report. In addition to this there were over 500 fatalities.

Content correct at time of publication