Grafton Road (North) Safe and Healthy Streets 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 streets to provide a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel. 

As 71% 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. 

In in the Gospel Oak Ward 61.3% of households do not have access to a car. Around 87% of all trips by Camden residents are made on foot, by bike or on public transport. Supporting and encouraging those who can walk and cycle, by creating safer, greener, healthier streets, will also help ensure that there is more space available on public transport and on our roads for those who need it the most. 

Why your views matter

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

What we are proposing 

We want to improve the safety and accessibility of walking, wheeling and cycling at the northern end of Grafton Road (between Vicar's Road and Queens Crescent).

Our proposals would also deliver additional benefits for the local area including improved climate resilience and biodiversity through improvements to the look and feel with planting and opportunities for local community collaboration. Our proposals would improve walking and wheeling access to Kentish Town City Farm, Rhyl Primary School (Grafton Road site) and Queen’s Cresent high street. These changes are also designed to support the no-through road restriction near Cressfield Close.

We developed these proposals after speaking to key stakeholders in the area including Rhyl Community Primary School, Kentish Town City Farm and Queens Crescent Community Association. 

Proposals for walking and wheeling 

• Improve the crossing points to show pedestrian priority and improve accessibility by improving the informal crossing near Cressfield Close. Although there is an existing raised place to cross, trees in the pavement restrict accessibility, and people still find it difficult to cross, as some people cycling and driving do not always stop. The proposed new crossing would be wider, improving accessibility and visibility, benefitting those walking and wheeling to Kentish Town City Farm.  

• Adding a bollard to ensure vehicles adhere to the “no-through” road restrictions which were introduced in 2024. 

• Improving the area around the crossing outside Rhyl Community Primary School (site on Grafton Road), making it safer and easier for children, parents/carers and staff travelling to the school to cross the road and improving the guardrails. We also would like to make the school more visible through child friendly features, which would be designed with the school community 

• Repaving uneven areas, especially around tree roots and at side road crossings, making it easier for everyone to walk and wheel. 

Proposals for cycling 

• Installing one cycle hangar following resident requests (which provide residents with secure cycle parking). This would meet local demand for more space for safe cycle parking on the street. 

• Installing two cycle stands near Kentish Town City Farm for visitors which could also be used by adapted bikes or cargo bikes. 

• Installing a new dockless e-scooter and e-bike hire bay (7.2m) south of the Cressfield Close junction, as the nearby bays are well used by those who live, work and travel to and from the area.  

Improving the look and feel of the area 

• Adding new pockets of planting throughout this section of Grafton Road.  This could include rain gardens, which are areas of planting which soak up water during heavy rainfall helping to reduce local flooding (example image below), as well as making it feel cooler in the hotter summer months. Grafton Road is an area of high surface water flood water and climate risk. 

• Creating small opportunities for children to play (like stepping stones) and farm animal themed features, which we would co-design with Rhyl Community Primary School children and visitors to the farm.  

• Replacing sections of guard railing with colour bollards 

• Adding a significant number of new trees, which support in lowering temperatures and providing shade. The area south of Rhyl Community Primary School is a priority area tree planting in the borough. The trees will also help to support nature recovery, providing links between existing larger green spaces.

• Providing opportunities for community planting and gardening, with resident groups and Rhyl Community Primary School’s ‘Eco Warriors’ student group.  

• Adding wayfinding/direction signs to Kentish Town City Farm, which we would co-design with Rhyl Community Primary School and the farm to make the farm easier to find.

• Working alongside Camden Nature Corridor for community-led input on the planting on Grafton Road (North). 

Proposed traffic management and parking changes 

• Introducing a traffic bollard at the existing “No motor vehicles” traffic sign to ensure vehicles do not travel through Grafton Road. This is a removable bollard, to allow for emergency services access. 

• Add additional signage at the northern end of Grafton Road, near to the junction with Vicar’s Road, to inform drivers earlier of the traffic restrictions.

• Remove three residential parking spaces on Grafton Road (North) to create space for a pedestrian crossing and planting improvements.

• Converting two residential parking spaces, south of the Cressfield Close junction, to electric vehicle charging points, to meet resident demand for charging points and reduce the impact of transport-based emissions. 

• Converting three residential parking spaces, between Dale Road and Vicar’s Road to a shared residential and ‘pay by phone’ parking space. This would allow some visitors to Kentish Town City Farm, who may be unable to travel through alternative means of transport, to visit the farm. This would be a mixed-use bay between Monday to Friday, 8.30am and 6.30pm, this could also be used by CA-L residents at all times.

To view the plans click on the links in the Related Section at the bottom of this page.

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.

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

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