Camden Street - Safe and healthy Streets Consultation

Overview

The Covid-19 pandemic changed how people in Camden live, travel and work. 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 to ensure that our streets support a strong recovery from the pandemic and provide a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel.

As two thirds of households in Camden do not own a car and public transport use remains much lower than before the pandemic, we know that safe and easy walking (including wheelchairs), cycling and scooting routes are more important than ever. Supporting and encouraging those who are able to 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.

Camden Street

The current road layout of Camden Street, near the junction of Bonny Street, is one way southbound and four lanes wide. There are no crossing facilities, in the vicinity of Bonny Street, for those on foot or for those on bikes to cross.

There is a high demand for a pedestrian crossing facility at this location due to the close proximity of Camden Overground Station. Camden Road Overground stations yearly passenger numbers have increased by 1.9 million since 2009. Since 2020 the new Hawley Wharf development has begun to open up with increased pedestrian footfall on Water Lane, the new pedestrian route through the site that enables quiet walking routes between Camden High Street/Chalk Farm Road and Kentish Town Road.  

A recent survey on Camden Street showed a daily average of 1,450 people crossing Camden Street between Bonny Street and Camden Gardens. This highlights demand for a signalised pedestrian crossing across Camden Street.

Image of Camden Street with person crossing on foot between traffic

Those on bikes exiting Bonny Street are currently unable to head west towards Camden Gardens (and Hawley Wharf) due to Camden Street being a one-way road.

The lack of a crossing facility is a barrier for people to safely cross Camden Street to travel between Camden Road Overground Station and Hawley Wharf/Camden Stables Market/Chalk Farm Road.

Why your views matter

We are proposing to make changes at the junction of Camden Street, Bonny Street and Camden Gardens to improve walking and cycling access across Camden Street.

The proposed changes would provide a safe crossing point for pedestrians, with continuous footway crossing at the junctions, more space on the pavement and allow the movement of cyclists from Bonny Street to Camden Gardens.

We are also proposing a bus lane on Camden Street from the junction with Kentish Town Road to the proposed crossing and a cycle lane south of Bonny Street to the junction with Camden Road.

This proposed scheme is the first stage of an improved walking connection between Camden Road Overground Station and Hawley Wharf, Camden Town and beyond. the second stage will consider providing a pedestrian crossing on Kentish Town Road. This separate scheme is in early stages of feasibility and will consulted on separately in due course.

What are we consulting on?

• Installing a pedestrian crossing at the junction of Camden Street and Bonny Street. This will provide a high-quality pedestrian crossing facility across Camden Street, creating the first stage of a safe route from Camden Road Overground Station to key local destinations near Chalk Farm Road, via Camden Street to Kentish Town Road.
• Widening and realigning the pavement on the northern side of Bonny Street at the junction of Camden Street to provide a larger area for waiting at the proposed crossing. The carriageway will also be raised to provide a continuous footway across Bonny Street (Please see related documents below for example image)
• Creating a 24-hour bus lane on Camden Street between Kentish Town Road and the bus stop just north of Bonny Street to improve the bus journey time reliability. The proposed bus lane would end just before Bonny Street as most bus routes merge on the right to turn onto Camden Road towards Camden Town.
• Creating a 2m wide cycle lane on Camden Street from Bonny Street to link with existing cycling measures at the junction of Camden Road and Camden Street heading south.
• Reducing the road width from four lanes down to three lanes between Camden Gardens and Bonny Street as well as widening the pavement on the west side of Camden Street. This will reduce the crossing distance making it safer, create more pedestrian space and allow space for an additional cycle lane. The proposed cycle lane would allow cyclists to ride west from Bonny Street to Camden Gardens.             
• Making Camden Gardens exit only (except for cycles) at the junction of Camden Street, this proposal will allow space to protect cyclist turning into Camden Gardens and provide a shortened crossing point that highlights pedestrian priority by providing a continuous footway across Camden Gardens.
• If approved we would also explore opportunities for urban greening such as adding trees and planting where possible.

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 officer observations, consultation responses, feedback received during the consultation period, relevant policies, and other data/information.