Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposal by HS2 Ltd to use the Zoological Society of London's car park on the safety of schoolchildren and others visiting London zoo.

The High Speed Rail (London to West Midland) Act 2017, as approved by Parliament, includes the provision of a lorry holding area (LHA) on the southern part of London Zoo’s cark park. An off-street lorry holding area (LHA) is required to manage the impacts of HS2 construction traffic on the central London highways. The provision of an LHA is recommended by Transport for London and considered essential to enable effective traffic management in a built up area such as Euston.

In considering locations for an LHA, HS2 Ltd undertook a sift process where alternative locations were examined for the LHA. None of the alternatives were deemed preferable to the London Zoo car park, as they were either further away from Euston or would have had greater environmental or local community impacts, including in relation to school children and other pedestrians.

The safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other road users is integral to the HS2 traffic management plans that will be implemented upon the establishment of such sites. The LHA at ZSL is designed so that will be segregated from the remaining car park with secure hoarding. In addition, a new access will be provided for construction traffic, to prevent the interaction of construction vehicles and vehicles transporting visitors to the zoo via the existing car park entrance. A new pedestrian crossing will also be provided.