TfL have posted details of a consultation on their proposals for Euston Circus (closed from 20th Febraury). They are here:
https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/streets/euston-circus/
This page contained a form for the public to send feedback and also links to the consultation leaflet. The proposed scheme appears to do nothing at all for cyclists. TfL claim that it provides simpler and safer journey options for cyclists – meaning? and that they have enhanced the contraflow cycle lane for cyclists travelling from East to West on Euston Road (it is a bit less complicated…) I was concerned that it doesn’t show anything to indicate that LB Camden will soon have southbound buses and cycles on TCR (Tottenham Court Road). I asked a Camden officer about this and he replied:
We have been working closely with TfL on the Euston Circus scheme and I can confirm that Euston Circus has been designed to be compatible with the TCR 2-way scheme and the wider West End improvements – the consultation only relates to the Euston Circus scheme as the projects are on different timescales and Euston Circus will be built prior to the TCR scheme.
All the same, that aspect worries me. In a subsequent email, he said:
Traffic modelling has been completed to check that the TCR 2-way scheme works with the current Euston Circus scheme and the results of that modelling indicated that the junction would operate satisfactorily with that layout. That has clearly been one of our key considerations for the project as we would not want to produce a scheme that would then restrict potential for the TCR scheme to go ahead. There is no clear time line for TCR going ahead yet but we are working hard to ensure that it continues to progress – there is still a lot of work and consultation to be done before the scheme could potentially start on site.
The other point to understand is although LB Camden intends to make TCR two-way, they have been unable to unpick the gyratory north of Grafton Way. This is because TfL have failed to make the road between TCR and Gower Street two-way (they claim that it’s not wide enough, since the underpass is going to stay in place…not sure if it’s worth challenging them there). After being shown a preview of the plans a few weeks ago, Camden Cyclists have worked with people in the LCC cycle planning and engineering group to propose a safe way for cyclists to cross north-south across the junction. A copy of this proposal can be seen on our website at: Cycling Requirements Euston Circus I hope that everyone did go on TfL’s website and say something to make an impression that this proposal has absolutely nothing to do with cyclists safety. We presented our proposals to TfL at a meeting on 10th February. We don’t yet know whether they will take it on to the junction review process. Jean
What happened after
For the junction review process, TfL did take three versions of our proposal together with their own original proposal and some variants to the junction review process. However, they were told to ‘go back to the drawing board’ to make the scheme more urban realm.
