This is an early pre-funding consultation on proposals for the following:
• Improving the Euston Road/Tottenham Court Road/Hampstead Road junction
• Introducing two-way traffic on parts of Tottenham Court Road and Grafton Way
• And, the principle of introducing two-way traffic on the whole of Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street, as a second stage of the project.
Click here to see the consultation leaflet
An exhibition of a model for the scheme is at Argyle Street side of the Town Hall until 28th April.
The current design has two way traffic only north of Grafton Street, but we have an opportunity to support the introduction of two-way traffic in the southern part of Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street.
CCC’s response
Euston Road/Tottenham Court Road/Hampstead Road junction
The proposed new design is clearly superior to that of the existing junction. The benefits of compressing the junction are clear. In particular, pedestrians will have less far to walk to achieve most crossings. For cyclists, the simplification of the junction should be helpful.
However, it is absolutely essential that westbound cyclists on Euston Road do not need to use the underpass. This requires that some replacement for the existing cycle bypass be provided.
Slow cyclists coming down from Hampstead Road who just get through as the lights are changing will have a long way to go before they reach Tottenham Court Road – I hope the light sequences give them sufficient time to get there! Also, there are two southbound lanes shown on Hamptead Road, but only one on Tottenham Court Road, so it might be tricky for cyclists to get into lane safely. Currently Hampstead Road flares out as it approaches Euston Road – shouldn’t this be cut back?
Two way working between Euston Road and Grafton Way and in the latter
This is clearly an essential first phase that allows the Euston Road junction to be designed to fit a two-way Tottenham Court Road. We are concerned that northbound cyclists on Tottenham Court Road may get trapped by vehicles rushing into the bottleneck north of Grafton Way. We request that the detailed design should address this issue.
Two way working on Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street/Bloomsbury Street
Camden Cycling Campaign is very excited at the prospect of a return to two-way working in Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street/Bloomsbury Street. We hope that this will be able to be achieved without too much delay.
We understand from the LCN+ team that Link 27 will be eventually be routed along Tottenham Court Road. They advise us that LCN+ resources will be available for use in the planning and implementation of cycling in both directions on Tottenham Court Road. Therefore the needs of cycling should be considered very seriously from the outset. To be sure of this, something equivalent to a CRISP process should be applied at the design stage.
The availability of two-way working on Gower Street will have obvious advantages to all cyclists going to University College and the hospital. It will form a really useful two-way link between the SSL and the front of University College and the hospital. Buses will no longer be present in Gower Street. Although the return to two-way working should help to reduce speeds, we believe that strong measures should be taken to calm Gower Street south of Grafton Way to cater for its population of student pedestrians and cyclists.
