COUNCIL TEXT
As part of Camden Council’s policy to reduce casualties and encourage children to walk and cycle to and from schooi, the Council is proposing to introduce a Safer Routes to School scheme in your area, the funding for which will hopefully be secured from Transport for London (TIL) for implementation in 2007/08.
The Phoenix School is a mixed school for children aged 2 to 7, iocated in a predominantly residential area of College Crescent, NW3, which also caters for pupils with physical disabilities. It is situated near the busy Finchley Road close to both Swiss Cottage and Finchley Road underground stations.
As part of the Safer Routes to School initiative, Transport for London now require schools to submit a school travel plan, which identifies and set targets to reduce traffic for journeys to and from school, before they will provide funding for engineering measures.
Pre-consultation with the pupils has already been undertaken to find out their safety concerns regarding their journey to and from school. Council officers studied the results of this and undertook their own investigation in order to arrive at a series of proposals. These proposals, explained below and shown on the plan overleaf have since been discussed and agreed with the school.
Proposals for College Crescent
Proposals A and E: Provide raised entry treatment with pavement widening at the junctions of College Crescent with Fitzjohn’s Avenue and with Finchley Road. This would improve intervisibility between drivers and pedestrians and encourage vehicles to slow down.
Proposal B: Make the road one way from Fitzjohn’s Avenue to Finchley Road. This will reduce the through traffic on this road as vehicles use College Crescent as a cut through from Finchley Road.
Proposal C: To widen the pavement outside the school entrance. This will increase pavement space for parents/carers, whilst allowing other pedestrians to pass through and stop parking outside the school.
Proposal D: Provide pay and display parking bays on College Crescent.
Proposal for Belsize Lane/Fitzjohns Avenue
Option 1 or Option 2: To provide a pedestrian refuge island or widen the pavement on both sides of Belsize Lane. Either measure will encourage drivers to slow down and provide a safer crossing for pedestrians especially children.
Double yellow lines to restrict parking and loading will be provided on the corners of all junctions, outside the school where the pavement widening is proposed and along the whole length of the north side of College Crescent except where the loading bays are retained outside the public house. Where possible single yellow lines will be retained on the south side of College Crescent.
CCC’s response
Questions
Q1. Do you agree with the raised entry treatment with pavement widening on College Crescent at its junction with Finchley Road? YES
Q2. Do you agree with the one-way system on College Crescent from Fitzjohns Avenue to Finchley Road? NO
Q3. Do you agree with the pavement widening outside the school entrance? YES
Q4. Do you agree with the additional pay and display parking bays in College Crescent? YES
Q5. Do you agree with the raised entry treatment with pavement widening on College Crescent at its junction with Fitzjohns Avenue? YES
Q6. Do you agree with the pedestrian refuge island on Belsize Lane at its junction with Fitzjohns Avenue? NO
Q7. Do you agree with the pavement widening on Belsize Lane at its junction with Fitzjohns Avenue? NO
Comments:
The raised entry treatments into College Crescent are a welcome improvement. The Camden Cycling Campaign strongly rejects changing College Crescent into a one-way street. If a reduction of flow is desired this can be simply achieved by forbidding the entry from Finchley Road with exception for cyclists. College Crescent is an important route for cyclists going towards Belsize Park. We would also recommend that speed humps are installed because driving speed will increase once drivers know that there aren’t cars coming from the opposite direction. Crossing of Belsize Lane should be aided by a pedestrian crossing.
