The consultants have provided the following
Route 38 Consultation Documents
Outline
The Route 38 Bus route goes from Victoria to Clapton and has buses every 2-4 minutes. The improvements are intended to help bus flow. This consultation deals with the section along New Oxford Street west of the junction of Bloomsbury Way. We have already responded to the consultation on Theobalds Road and Bloomsbury Way.
For details concerning the New Oxford Street section, please look at the following information (unfortunately it has been removed – Jan 2013):
- Outline bus proposals
- Additional drawings with Technical details
The main proposal is as follows:
- New Oxford Street is to be accessible only to buses, service vehicles and cycles in **both directions**
related proposals
- the existing westbound contraflow bus (and cycle) lane will be replaced by a normal bus lane
- a new section of eastbound bus (and cycle)lane will be added by the junction of Bloomsbury Way
- loading will be permitted in only two locations
CCC’s response
The Camden section of the 38 bus route follows the same roads as the proposed LCN+ Link 50. There is therefore great concern from cyclists that the conflicting interests of buses and cyclists should be considered very carefully and that the London Cycling Design Standards should be followed throughout.
Camden Cycling Campaign (CCC) understands that the Route 38 scheme is seen as a pilot for intensified bus routes. CCC believes that it should be used as a pilot for the integration of cyclists in an intensified bus route. The ideas developed could then be used on other bus routes. CCC believes that the following road user hierarchy should be followed in this design:
buses > pedestrians > cyclists > delivery > taxis > all other motorised vehicles;
with the understanding that this may lead to some forms of transport being disadvantaged.
Cycle Audit should be deployed on all bus schemes. The TRL report “Review of Procedures Associated with the Development and Delivery of Measures Designed to Improve safety and Convenience for Cyclists”, (TRL Limited, 17 December 2004) states that CCE is preparing a checklist for considering the interests of cyclists in the light of bus priority measures.
New Oxford Street
We are very pleased to see that New Oxford Street is being returned to two-way working and that access is restricted to buses, cyclists and service vehicles. This does indeed reflect the road user hierarchy we mention above. This could also provide an excellent exemplar of the integration of cyclists in an intensified bus route.
The proposed westbound bus and cycle lane appears to be about 3m wide. LCDS 4.3.9 states that for bus flows up to 20 buses per hour, bus lanes up to 3.2 m may be satisfactory. Unfortunately, bus numbers are much greater than this and the narrow lane, although safe, will be a cause of great frustration for both cyclists and bus drivers at busy times. We note that the hatching between the bus lane and the eastbound vehicle lane is to be removed for most of this section of route. We therefore suggest that the combined space should be used to provide a 4.5m combined bus/cycle lane.
We would like to emphasise that the current proposal that eastbound cyclists can use the bus lanes, including the new section on the approach to the junction of Bloomsbury Way is very important.
The reduction of loading to only two locations is also beneficial.
However, we have some detailed concerns regarding the junctions which are listed below.
St Giles Circus
Unfortunately the design for the junction at St. Giles Circus is poor in comparison with LB Camden’s consultation in Oct 2004.
See.
In particular, there should be ASLs/feeders on both the Oxford Street arm and on the Charing Cross Road arm. Camden also proposed a pedestrian crossing over New Oxford Street.
New Oxford Street/Shaftesbury Avenue/Bloomsbury Way/Coptic Street
In our response to the consultation on Route 38 in Bloomsbury Way, we stressed the importance of allowing westbound cyclists to use the contraflow bus lane in Bloomsbury Way. Assuming that this is granted, careful consideration will be required to make sure that cyclists can cross safely into the bus lane in New Oxford Street.
The existing ASL and feeder for eastbound cyclists on New Oxford Street should be retained. An ASL and feeder should be added in Coptic Street.
New Oxford Street/Bloomsbury Street
The existing ASL and feeder for eastbound cyclists on New Oxford Street should be retained. An ASL and feeder should be added in Bloomsbury Street.