This post is the third in a regular series of updates about Camden’s progress with building cycle infrastructure.
Click on any image to see an enlargement
Progress on major projects under construction
Procter Street
As shown in the extract from Camden’s drawing (on the right), the plan is to build a southbound cycle lane down the east side of Drake Street and Procter Street. This lane will be protected by a wide island accommodating bus stop bypasses and planting areas. Progress includes:
- The 2m wide cycle lane has been built but still needs a finishing surface.
- The continuous footway junctions with Dutch kerbs are in place.
- The island has also been constructed and the bus stop bypasses are ready.
- The cycle lane on High Holborn is ready.
The next stage is crucial: signals will be installed at the junction with High Holborn to create a cycle gate in which cycles can enter a reservoir while motor traffic is held behind them. Camden already has two cycle gates in place (at Southampton Row/Theobalds Road and at Oakley Square / Eversholt Street).
Tavistock Place
In our March ‘News from the Streets’, we reported on the completion of the improvements at the junction with Bedford Way, noting in particular that cyclists on Tavistock Place are provided with a dedicated signal stage and can safely make all manoeuvres (turn left or right or go straight ahead).
Woburn Place junction
The improvements at the junction with Woburn Place are now complete:
- On Tavistock Place: cyclists share a signal stage with the eastbound motor vehicles which, as before, are restricted to straight-ahead movements. Cyclists can now turn left but not right (which would be unsafe while moving in the same stage as the motor vehicles). It would be better for cyclists to have a dedicated stage in the signals, but we were told that the junction doesn’t have the capacity for this. Another possibility would be to provide two-stage right turns but we were told that there is insufficient space in front of the pedestrian crossings.
- On Woburn Place cyclists are now provided with early release and the ability to turn right in two stages.
- Pedestrians are now provided with an all-green signal at this junction and at Bedford Way and Tottenham Court Road.
.
Other major projects
Progress with the replacement of wand-protected cycle lanes on York Way and Chalk Farm Road with stepped tracks continues apace. We will report in detail in the next installment of News from the Streets.
Finishing touches and smaller projects
Camden Road Toucan crossing
TfL has recently finished installing a Toucan crossing between Cantelowes Gardens and Cantelowes Road (close to Camden Square).
As shown in the photo on the left, Cantelowes Road is closed to motor traffic at the junction with Camden Road with access for pedestrians and cyclists beside a large planted area (known locally as the ‘billiard table’). The Toucan crossing enables pedestrians and cyclists to cross directly over Camden Road. Cyclists are allowed to use the footway outside Cantelowes Gardens between the crossing and the entrance to the Gardens. The photo on the right (above) includes a sign instructing cyclists to turn left (on the footway) to access the Toucan crossing.
We strongly object to the vast array of barriers on the Cantelowes Road side of the crossing (one of which was added recently).
As shown on the map below, this crossing (T Cantelowes) is an essential connection in a handy new cycle link across east Kentish Town via Gaisford Road between the C50 cycle route in Camden Square and the routes on Prince of Wales Road (PoW on the map) and the C6 route. Note that the other essential connection on this alignment was the introduction of two-way cycling through the newly closed Anglers Lane about 2 years ago (see our post).
The one drawback of the new link is that Cantelowes Gardens is closed at dusk each evening. People may choose to walk up to Pandian Way (a pedestrian link to Gaisford Road outside the east side of Cantelowes Gardens).
We reported on the crossing between Rochester Square and Rochester Road in February News from the Streets. It provides another useful link between the C50 and C6 cycle routes via Wilmot Place.
Somerstown – another traffic filter!
The Somerstown cycle route runs along the blue line on the map via Ossulston Street (at the southern end), then through the short closed section of Polygon Road, Purchese Street and Goldington Crescent.
The old point closures (purple) have been in place for many years and were effective in preventing motor vehicles from traveling right through along the blue line.
More recently (in 2020), the turn into Ossulston Street from Euston Road was banned for motor vehicles, cutting out the northbound motor traffic.
The two new point closures (red) have appeared this year. The one on Ossulston Street is the most recent, closely following the one on Phoenix Road (constructed from planters – see last month’s report here under Greening of Phoenix Road). Together they have radically reduced the amount of motor traffic in Ossulston Street.
New rain gardens seen in Hammond Street, Kentish Town
The school street for Kentish Town C of E primary school in Islip Street has been in place for about four years and was made permanent in 2021.
The scheme included the restriction to southbound only for motor vehicles on Hammond Street, which was initially narrowed by planters. These have been replaced recently by a pair of rain gardens.
