Kentish Town Road / Fortess Road / Highgate Road junction improvement

Overview

We are seeking your views on the Council’s proposal to improve the junction of Kentish Town Road with Fortess Road and Highgate Road.

The consultation document can be found HERE and proposed layout plan can be found HERE.

As part of a wider scheme to improve Kentish Town Road, officers have identified a number of road safety and public realm improvement measures to make the junction of Kentish Town Road / Fortess Road / Highgate Road safer and more attractive for residents, shoppers and visitors.

In order to identify the areas of road safety improvements, the Council analysed the existing road traffic collision (accident) data along Kentish Town Road. This analysis showed that over a three year period from December 2013 to December 2016 there were twelve road traffic collisions on Kentish Town Road, in the area around the junction. Out of the twelve collisions, two were classified as serious and the remaining ten as slight. Overall seven out of twelve collisions involved a pedestrian

In addition to analysing collision data, officers have engaged with stakeholders at a local Kentish Town Stakeholder Workshop and visited Kentish Town Road to identify problems such as narrow footways and lack of cycle infrastructure at key junctions.

For the above reasons, the Council is proposing a series of road safety and public realm improvements that should improve facilities for pedestrians and cyclists at key junctions and help to reduce the current collision rate. These proposed measures are outlined below and illustrated in detail on the drawing overleaf. There will be no overall loss in marked parking bays as result of the proposed amendments and the scheme is being fully funded by Transport for London. 

PROPOSALS

Kentish Town Road / Fortess Road / Highgate Road junction

1. Remove and modify traffic islands in order to provide straight across crossings. This would de-clutter the junction and reduce the time it takes for pedestrians to cross the road.
2. Introduce cycle lanes and cycle advanced stop lines on Fortess Road and Kentish Town Road; this allows cyclists to stop in front of vehicles, allowing them to move ahead of the vehicles when the signal lights change to green. Introduce an advisory cycle lane on Highgate Road to improve safety for cyclists.
3. Remove railings on the Highgate Road approach to give better visibility across the junction.
4. Remove short section of bus lane on Fortess Road, between Falkland Road and the junction, and replace with a cycle lane.  This would enable cyclists to move safely into the advanced stop line and the cycle lanes towards the next junction. Traffic modelling undertaken for the proposed changes at the traffic signals shows that buses would not incur delay due to the removal of the short bus lane.  This is because of changes to the signal timings which will allow for better progression of motor traffic including buses through the junction.
5. Widen the footway along eastern side of the junction from Fortess Road to Kentish Town Road to offer shorter crossing distances and more footway space for pedestrians waiting to cross.
6. Modifications to the existing yellow box junction.
7. Install a mandatory cycle lane through the junction (east side)
8. Install countdown facilities to show pedestrians how much time is left to cross the road before traffic starts moving. 
9. Introduce dedicated pedestrian stage at the signals, allowing pedestrians to cross all roads whilst traffic is stopped.