The council is planning to implement a with-flow (ie westbound) 24 hour bus/taxi/cycle lane in Bloomsbury St between the Montague Place and Great Russell Street junctions.
A bus pre-signal will also be constructed; 40 metres back from the existing Bloomsbury St traffic lights a new set will be built, with the bus lane having an advance green phase (ie it goes green before the other traffic lanes). A new traffic island will be placed here between the bus lane and remaining traffic lanes. The bus lane width will be 3 metres for most of its length; it will be marginally wider – 3.1 metres – at the new traffic island. The are 2 options:
OPTION 1:
- hour bus lane between Montague Place to Great Russell Street
2 loading bays (Monday-Friday, 8pm- 11am)
relocation of bus shelter to outside 40 Bloomsbury Street
OPTION 2:
- hour bus lane from outside the boundary wall of 42/44 Bloomsbury Street to Great Russell Street
1 loading bay (Monday-Friday, 8pm- 11am)
relocation of bus shelter to outside 42/44 Bloomsbury Street
24 hour bus stop clearway
CCC’s response:
We favoured the cleaner option 1 (but also supported option 2). Concerned about the new traffic island between the bus lane and remaining traffic lanes. This island could cause cyclists in the bus lane to get pinched by buses or taxis; problem particularly acute from taxis as they are significantly narrower than a bus so more likely to try to squeeze past. Note that Corporation of London have in the last week decided to ban taxis from the bus lanes on Fleet St and St Paul’s Churchyard due to this squeezing danger. Should cyclists use the other lanes (particularly the middle one) then the risk of pinching seems even higher due to the lane/island positioning shown on diagram.
