Local Safety Scheme – Woburn Place, WC1
COUNCIL TEXT
Woburn Place located in Bloomsbury Ward forms part of an important north-south link through the south of the borough. It carries a high volume of traffic and there are also many pedestrians in the area due to the presence of local shops and commercial premises.
During the 36 months up to August 2005, there were in total 14 recorded collisions, which resulted in 1 serious injury and 13 slight injuries. 54% of these collisions involved turning movements of which 15% involved motorcyclists. 31% of the total collisions involved pedestrians and 15% involved cyclists. The majority of the collisions are concentrated at the Coram Street junction, reflected by the high volume of traffic using Coram Street travelling to and from Marchmont Street.
The Council is therefore informing you of its proposals for improvements at the junction of Woburn Place and Coram Street as shown on the drawing. The proposals include the following:
• Replacing two traffic islands with new and improved pedestrian refuge islands with buff tactile paving on Coram Street and on Woburn Place south of junction with Coram Street
• Reconstructing existing traffic island on Woburn Place north of junction with Coram Street
• Introducing a right turn lane on Woburn Place northbound at its junction with Coram Street
• Reducing the length of bus lane on Woburn Place southbound and replace with double yellow lines (no parking or loading at any time) and extend them to the southern kerb line of Coram Street as shown on drawing
• Introducing double yellow lines (no parking or loading at any time) on the northern kerb line of Coram Street and the western kerb line of Woburn Place as shown on the drawing
CCC’s response
We think that these changes look useful and in general support them. Some detailed comments follow.
We welcome the introduction of double yellow lines on the two corners of Coram Street as well as opposite its entrance. This should be beneficial to cyclists as it provides an increase in visibility, enabling drivers emerging from Coram Street to get a better view of approaching cyclists on Woburn Place and also a better view of pedestrians crossing the road.
We also believe that the introduction of the dedicated right turn lane will allow turning vehicles to enter the lane and turn with more care, instead of just waiting in the middle of the junction for a gap in the traffic.
The removal of the bus lane from the corner of the junction would appear to be useful in that it allows vehicles emerging from Coram Street to clear the junction before pulling out.
