Camden are proposing changes to Torriano Avenue between Busby Place and Torriano Cottages. This would build on the changes made in 2021 and 2022 which introduced a dedicated 24/7 bus lane, traffic calming and wider footways but did not address the issues at the Camden Road crossing nor the left hook risk at Busby Place.
The new plans would include:
- Additional tree and other planting including rain gardens on both sides of the road
- Removal of a total of 56m of residents’ parking (about 11 cars-worth)
- Add 2 cycle hangars and an e-scooter and cycle hire parking bay on the eastern side
- Additional footway widening and benches
- Continuous pavements across the vehicle entrances to the schools and to the Torriano Estate
You can see the plans here: Torriano Avenue Drawings.
Although the changes look good from the point of view of the streetscape and reducing the dominance of motor traffic we are concerned that the changes on the east side would prevent the future introduction of two-way cycling. So pupils and visitors to the school would not be able to safely cycle there from the north nor return to the south, in contradiction of Camden’s aspiration to “enable more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school”.
This would also apply to access to the Torriano Estate. We think that the space available should be used for a southbound cycle lane or, at least, safeguarded for future use.
Consultation on Camden’s website
https://consultations.wearecamden.org/supporting-communities/torriano-avenue/
CCC’s response
CCC Response to Consultation on Torriano Avenue
Decision
https://democracy.camden.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=4740
“Although the changes look good from the point of view of the streetscape and reducing the dominance of motor traffic we are concerned that the changes on the east side would prevent the future introduction of two-way cycling. So pupils and visitors to the school would not be able to safely cycle there from the north nor return to the south, in contradiction of Camden’s aspiration to “enable more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school”.
A future southbound cycle lane should reach at least as far as Busby Place, from where people canreach the Camden Square area via the new crossing of Camden Road at Cantelowes. This would alsogreatly improve access to Cantelowes Gardens and the Kentish Town Community Center. A new parallelcrossing of Torriano Avenue would be needed at Busby Place.
Camden takes a network approach to cycle provision to ensure continuous onward route connections and links across the whole borough and also into neighbouring boroughs. In line with our network approach, a cycle contra-flow on Torriano Avenue would require extensive investigation, feasibility and modelling across a much wider area to ensure onward connectivity. For example at the southern end of Torriano Avenue there is a signalised junction with Camden Road. Measures to enable cyclists to safely enter and exit this junction in all directions would be required. Southbound cycle access onto Torriano Avenue from the north would also require significant changes. As a result a southbound contra-flow cycle lane is beyond the scope of this proposal.
However subject to feasibility, officers will consider other alterations to support cyclists travelling southbound. This could potentially include alterations to the access points forthe Torriano Estate to support cyclists using this route, including adding a dropped curb in front of the entrance to the estate on Hampshire Street and converting the existing zebra crossing in front of Torriano Primary School to a parallel crossing (pedestrian and cycle crossing). These measures will be considered as part of the detailed design and would be subject to a Traffic Management Order (TMO) consultation.