Fitzrovia Area Safe and Healthy Streets- Phase 1 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.

As 69% 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, 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.

We want our streets to support a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel.

In line with our Camden Transport Strategy, Climate Action Plan, 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.

Currently, new buildings are under construction at 100 Tottenham Court Road (with frontages on Howland Street, Whitfield Street, and Tottenham Court Road, and on Tottenham Mews. The Council has secured funding from the developer of both sites via a legal agreement (S106) for the provision of public realm improvements near both sites.

We want to make it safer and easier for people who cycle and pedestrians to get around, so we have developed proposals for improvements in the Fitzrovia area. This includes rain gardens (which help store water in heavy rainfall) and pavement widening, junction improvements, the introduction of cycle parking stands for visitors, two new parking bays for electric vehicles, the planting of twenty trees, as well as cycle access improvements.

FITZROVIA AREA SAFE AND HEALTHY STREETS SCHEME:

Image: Proposed public realm improvements on Howland Street, (Image courtesy- Derwent London)

The Fitzrovia Area Safe and Healthy Streets scheme consists of two phases and we are now consulting on phase 1 of the project. We will be consulting on Phase 2 of the scheme in future to include improvements to the look and feel of various other streets in Fitzrovia to help create a safer and healthier place for walking, cycling and wheeling.

We are proposing the following permanent changes in the Fitzrovia area under phase 1:

Changes for pedestrians

We are proposing the following changes to improve getting around in the area. We have carried out a walking accessibility audit in 2024 and it has identified some of the following proposed changes.

• Junction improvements on Whitfield Street at Howland Street, Howland Street at Howland Mews East, and Tottenham Mews at Tottenham Street to slow traffic and make it easier, safer, and more enjoyable for pedestrians to cross the road at these locations. This would include the introduction of “continuous pavements” (which emphasise pedestrian priority). There is an example of a continuous pavement in the photo guide.
• Pavement widening on Whitfield Street, Howland Street, and Tottenham Mews to provide more space for people to move and to provide space for the rain gardens (see planting and greening changes below).
• Road resurfacing on Tottenham Mews replacing the tarmac with granite setts to introduce a traditional Mews feel, to improve the character and appearance of the mews, while also emphasising priority of pedestrians over vehicles.

Cycling changes:

• Changing the existing advisory northbound cycle lane on Whitfield Street, making it mandatory (introducing a continuous white line) and widening it to 1.5 metres wide in line with London Cycling Design Standards and National guidance.
• Installing new cycle parking stands on Whitfield Street and Tottenham Mews to provide bike parking for people visiting the area.

Planting and greening changes:

• Widening the pavement and creating rain gardens on Whitfield Street and Howland Street, including low-level planting and trees (subject to ground condition surveys). This would support a key objective of Camden’s Climate Action Plan by helping to provide shade and shelter on our streets, and removing some CO2 out of the atmosphere, helping to tackle the climate crisis. Adding new plants and trees would create more areas which could soak up water during heavy rainfall. They would also contribute to improvements in air quality, improve local biodiversity by adding new habitats for nature and improve how the area looks and feels. Rain gardens and trees also help to soften hard landscapes and help to make walking more enjoyable.

Loading, parking, and road marking changes:

• Converting 42 metres of resident permit holder parking space (circa 8 spaces) on Whitfield Street to double yellow lines to facilitate the widened pavement and rain gardens.
• Relocating the electric vehicle charging point and bay on Whitfield Street towards Maple Street and extending it to 2 bays (where the existing cycle parking bay is located). 
• Relocating the cycle parking bay on Whitfield Street towards Howland Street (where the motorcycle parking bay and the existing electric vehicle charging point and bay are located).
• Reducing the length of the motorcycle parking bay on Whitfield Street by 5.8 m to accommodate the new cycle parking and electric vehicles charging bay.  The other nearest motorcycle parking bays are situated on Howland Street (west of Whitfield Street) and on Whitfield Street (south of Chitty Street) and on Chitty Street.
• Converting 16 metres of resident permit holder parking space (circa 3 spaces) on Howland Street to double yellow lines to facilitate the widened pavement and rain gardens.
• Introducing double yellow lines on Whitfield Street and Howland Street.
• Converting all sections of single yellow line on Tottenham Mews to double yellow lines.
• Introducing double yellow lines on Tottenham Street and Goodge Place (at the junction).

An independent Road Safety Audit (RSA) Stage 1/2 have been carried out on the proposed design. The auditors have not identified any significant road safety related problems with the design and the report has recommend minor changes relating to detailed design of the scheme, which will be accommodated at detail design stage. A Stage 3 RSA would be carried out approximately 3-6 months after the scheme is implemented. Again, any issues identified at this stage would be considered and further changes developed if required.

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

The following images show the 3D illustrations of the proposed scheme.

Proposed public realm imrovements at the junction of Howland Street and Whitfield Street. (Image courtesy- Derwent London)

Public realm improvements on Howland Street, viewing from Tottenham Court Road (Image courtesy- Derwent London)

About continuous pavements at junctions

The proposals include the introduction of continuous pavements at the junctions on Whitfield Street, Howland Street and Tottenham 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, thereby 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

About the proposed rain gardens on Howland Street and Whitfield Street

We are adding more plants and trees across our streets to help minimise water runoff. One way to do this is to increase the amount of on street water storage to soak up water when severe rains arrive, which the climate crisis makes more likely. To reduce risk in the Fitzrovia area, we have identified an opportunity to install new rain gardens including some additional trees at the above locations on Howland Street and Whitfield Street.

Rain gardens capture and store rainwater, function as great local habitats for wildlife, and improve the look and feel of an area. They can also have a positive effect in reducing public exposure to air pollution in some environments, as well as bringing additional benefits through increased biodiversity, improved mental health and wellbeing, and absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at pavement level.

The proposed rain gardens including plants and trees would be constructed on widened sections of pavement and would be similar in design to the photo below.

Photo of a rain garden on Westbere Road

Why your views matter

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. 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.

You can view drawings of the scheme proposals 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

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,  relevant policies, and other data/information.

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/Autumn 2025 subject to practical completion of the 2 developments currently under construction at 100 Tottenham Court Road and Tottenham Mews. We would then carefully monitor the changes following construction to make sure they operate effectively.