A leading hospital has called for immediate safety works at a notoriously dangerous junction in central London where one of its doctors was killed last month while cycling to work, saying it was unacceptable for more lives to be put at risk.
In a highly unusual intervention, the chair and chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust, and the heads of the children’s allergy service where Dr Marta Krawiec worked, have written to the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, saying the moment had come “for action rather than words”.
Krawiec, 41, was cycling to work at Evelina children’s hospital in Westminster when she was struck and fatally injured by a lorry at the junction of Southampton Row and Theobalds Road, near Holborn underground station.
In their letter to Khan, Dr Helen Brough, who heads the allergy service, and Prof Adam Fox, a consultant allergist at Guy’s, said four cyclists had been killed at that junction since 2008, among eight in total killed on the wider Holborn one-way system.
“You must ensure that she is the last to die here,” the pair told the mayor, saying Krawiec’s death had left a “huge hole” in their work. Khan had promised three years ago that work would take place to improve the junction, they said, but nothing had happened.
If it had been done, they wrote, “Dr Krawiec may still be alive and continuing with her important work to improve the lives of children”.
The letter said: “After the terrorist atrocities on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, safety barriers were erected overnight. Yet no such precautionary action has been taken when eight people have been killed over a period of time at one traffic system.”
In a separate letter, Sir Hugh Taylor and Prof Ian Abbs, the chair and chief executive of the Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust, said Krawiec had taken up cycling to work during the first Covid lockdown, in part to ease pressure on public transport.
“Marta was killed on her morning commute, just one of the countless members of NHS staff across London who cycle to work on any given day, including many who will pass through this very busy area,” they wrote.
“While we cannot change what happened to Marta, the tragic circumstances of her death should act as an impetus to make an urgent and positive impact on the lives of other cyclists, and ensure that she did not die in vain.”
Both letters urged immediate interim steps to improve cyclist safety at the junction, before a wider redesign.
In a letter in response, Khan said the liveable neighbourhoods scheme, under which the junction was to be improved, had been paused due to Covid but interim measures would now be taken.
