We are very pleased to hear that Camden has been awarded substantial founding for work on a Liveable Neighbourhood in Holborn.
The scheme proposes the following:
- remove the road-traffic gyratory (which runs clockwise round Bloomsbury Way, Procter Street, High Holborn and New Oxford Street)
- two-way traffic with segregated cycle tracks in both directions Theobalds Road connecting to the future Clerkenwell Boulevard scheme
- two-way traffic with segregated cycle tracks in both directions in High Holborn (all the way down to Shaftesbury Avenue)
- Bloomsbury Way bus and cycle traffic only in both directions
- Great Russell Street closed to motor vehicles in front of the British Museum
- a set of modal filters (i.e. no way through for motor vehicles) on the side junctions with Bloomsbury Way, adding to the recently installed filters at Bloomsbury Square
- a motor-traffic free section of New Oxford Street between Museum Street and High Holborn
- two new pedestrian crossings over Kingsway / Southampton Row
- close Procter Street at the junction with High Holborn in preparation for the new entrance to Holborn Station in Proctor Street.
These are shown on the map below (via Camden Council)
A freight reduction scheme will be delivered in partnership with the local Business Improvement District, BeeMidtown, who will also be closely involved, along with other partners in the development of the project.
TfL Press Release 5th March 2019
Further information and a visualisation of Museum Street come from the TfL Press Release 5th March 2019. New projects to receive £50 million to create healthy streets across London
Holborn, Camden
The Holborn area is currently dominated by a highly traffic-congested and polluted gyratory and main road network, and suffers from high numbers of collisions, inadequate footway space and poor cycling facilities. This ambitious project will seek to remove the gyratory, reduce severance, significantly improve the public realm and introduce protected cycle lanes along High Holborn and Theobalds Road. Sections of New Oxford Street and Great Russell Street are proposed to be closed to motor vehicles and a section of Bloomsbury Way is proposed for buses and cycles only. Plans to pedestrianise Great Russell Street would dramatically improve the setting for the British Museum, and an enhanced pedestrian environment around Holborn station will deliver a much improved gateway to the area. A freight reduction scheme will be delivered in partnership with the local Business Improvement District, BeeMidtown, who will also be closely involved, along with other partners in the development of the project
Camden’s Press Release 12th March 2019
Camden council has successfully bid to Transport for London’s (TfL) Liveable Neighbourhoods programme for up to £9.48m funding to improve the environment for pedestrians and cyclists in the Holborn area, as well as creating an enhanced public realm and access to public transport.
Together with other match-funding sources, the total package of works will amount to at least £12.5m.
See Camden’s press release with statement from Adam Harrison
Evening Standard 5th March 2019
Extracts from Roads near Holborn to be transformed in bid to improve safety
A £12.5m scheme that will include the removal of the Holborn gyratory and the pedestrianisation of part of New Oxford Street and a street in front of the British Museum was announced by City Hall today.
The project is one of 11 “livable neighbourhood” schemes to share in £53.4 million from Mayor Sadiq Khan to reduce car use and improve air quality and the environment.
