The London County Council on Tuesday practically decided on an
improvement which will not only greatly facilitate the traffic of the Strand, but which is another step towards making London the stateliest as well as the most picturesque city in the world. The south side of Holywell Street is to be pulled down, with the result that from the Strand façade of Somerset House, to the site of Temple Bar, will stretch a thoroughfare of magnificent proportions, out of which the two churches of St. Mary-le-Strand and St. Clement Dane's will rise like islands dividing the stream of cabs and omnibuses. And not only will the public be able to get a fine view of that very interesting example of English Renaissance architecture, the church of St. Mary-le-Strand, but Street's beautiful facade at the Law Courts will be visible from an entirely new standpoint. The remainder of the scheme, which will cost in all nearly a million and a half, consists in running a street from Holborn to strike the Strand somewhere opposite Waterloo Bridge, with a spur running from a circus in Drury Lane to the western corner of the Law Courts. If this scheme, which also includes the widening of the approaches to Waterloo Bridge, is arranged so as not to injure the delightful oasis of New Inn, the Council will deserve nothing but credit for their gigantic undertaking.
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