Alfred Mews Area Safe and Healthy Streets Scheme Consultation

Overview

We want our streets to have more safe space for everyone to walk and cycle, for children to get to and from school safely and healthily, for businesses to be able to flourish, to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles and for you to be breathing cleaner air.

We want our communities to be prepared for the changing climate and provide a lasting legacy of greener, safer, and healthier travel with streets resilient against the impacts of climate change.

In line with our Camden Transport Strategy, Climate Action Plan, and Clean Air Strategy and Clean Air Action Plan, and to continue supporting safe, healthy, and active travel following the pandemic, we have been making changes across Camden as part of our Safe and Healthy Streets Programme.

Part of the Heal’s Building at 196 Tottenham Court Road is currently being refurbished (planning reference 2022/2084/P). The works involve ‘alterations to the Alfred Mews facade, including removal and replacement of roller shutters and installation of new entrance doors and retractable awnings on the ground floor’. The Council has secured funding via a legal agreement relating to the planning permission towards public realm improvements including the construction of a widened pavement on the north side of Alfred Mews.

We are now consulting on the following proposed permanent changes on Alfred Mews:

Pedestrian improvements:

• Pavement widening on the north side of Alfred Mews. This would make it easier and safer for pedestrians to access the new entrances to the Heal’s Building on the north side of Alfred Mews.
• Introducing a continuous pavement on Tottenham Court Road at the junction with Alfred Mews to slow traffic and make it easier, safer, and more enjoyable for pedestrians to cross the road at this location. You can see an example of a continuous pavement in our photo guide in the Related section at the bottom of this page and in the information below.

Cycling improvements:

• Introduction of additional cycle parking facilities on Alfred Mews.

Loading, Parking and Road Marking changes:

• Permanently relocating the business permit holder parking bay (2 spaces) on Alfred Mews to a new location on Chenies Street to facilitate the proposed pavement widening. This would involve the permanent removal of 2 pay by phone parking spaces on Chenies Street.
• Permanently removing the motorcycle parking bay from Alfred Mews to facilitate the proposed pavement widening.
• Adding permanent double yellow lines throughout Alfred Mews to facilitate the proposed pavement widening.

You can view drawings of the scheme proposals in the Related section at the bottom of this page. Further details on continuous pavements are also provided below.

About continuous pavements at junctions

The proposals include the introduction of a continuous pavement on Tottenham Court Road at the junction with Alfred Mews. Continuous pavements are uninterrupted pavements that extend across a side road. They aim to give the visual impression of priority to pedestrians over motor traffic and help to improve the pedestrian environment by reducing traffic speeds and conflicts between road users, so improving safety for pedestrians and people who cycle. You can see an example of what a continuous pavement looks like in the photo below.

Photo of a continuous pavement on Prince of Wales Road at the junction with Craddock Street

Why your views matter

Your views are important in providing feedback both on the proposed scheme as a whole, and specific elements of it, and we would therefore welcome your responses to the consultation questionnaire.

As 69% of households in Camden (82% in the Bloomsbury Ward) do not own a car we know that providing infrastructure and improvements that enable safe and easy walking, wheeling, cycling, and scooting on our streets are more important than ever. Supporting and encouraging those who can walk and cycle, by creating safer streets, will ensure that there is more space available on public transport and on our roads for those who need it the most.

To view the plans and find out more about what each proposal would achieve, click on the links in the Related Section at the bottom of this page.

For information on how we will use data collected from this consultation read our privacy statement: Data protection, privacy and cookies - Camden Council

What happens next

After the consultation, a decision report will be produced and published online, via our website. Local residents and stakeholders will be notified of the outcome. The report will consider a broad range of information including consultation responses, relevant policies and other data/information including surveys and any relevant monitoring information.

All of this information will be considered in making a recommendation in the report about whether or not to implement the scheme. Should a decision be made to proceed, we would implement the changes under a permanent Traffic Management Order (TMO) in Summer 2024. We would then carefully monitor the changes following construction to make sure they operate effectively.