King Henry's Road Area Safe and Healthy Streets Consultation - Permanent Proposals

Overview

Proposals to make the trial 7.5 tonne weight restriction in the King Henry's Road area permanent, alongside new road safety and public space improvements

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 support a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel.

69% of households in Camden do not own a car, and around 85% 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, healthier streets, will help ensure that there is more space available on public transport and on our roads for those who need it the most.

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.

Background

In January 2023 we launched a trial area-wide weight restriction ‘except for access’ in the King Henry's Road area, which prohibits vehicles weighing 7.5 tonnes or more from using the network of residential streets between Avenue Road, Adelaide Road and Primrose Hill Road as a cut-through.

View the extent of the trial area-wide weight restriction. 

Following a decision being taken to proceed, the scheme was delivered under an Experimental Traffic Order (ETO), which came into force on 19 January 2023. The decision report noted that a further consultation, after approximately 12 months of the trial scheme, would take place. During the trial period, the scheme has been monitored and comments from local residents and stakeholders have been reviewed. 

Monitoring

Traffic data was collected before the trial between 21 February 2022 and 6 March 2022 and during the trial between 8 June 2023 and 21 June 2023. Traffic data was also collected in December 2023, however, due to emergency utilities works a section of Avenue Road was closed to traffic and several diversion routes were introduced. This impacted the traffic data collected during this period and it was therefore ommited from the data analysis. As a result, the data collected during the trial and presented in the monitoring factsheet comes soley from the data collected between 8 June 2023 and 21 June 2023. The before trial data presented was collected between 21 February 2022 and 6 March 2022.

Across all sites within the weight restriction area, average daily motor vehicle traffic volumes fell by 7.9% when comparing the before scheme (11,051 vehicles) and during scheme (10,180 vehicles) data. The traffic data highlights that there was an increase in average daily Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) traffic volumes across the same sites within the weight restriction area. Total HGV traffic volumes within the weight restriction area increased by 7.5%, when comparing the before scheme (313 HGVs) and during scheme (337 HGVs vehicles) data.

Whilst HGV traffic volumes increased on streets within the weight restriction area, the increase (7.5%) was significantly lower than the average increase recorded on boundary roads (34.3%). This data shows that HGV traffic volumes on streets in the wider area in general, were significantly higher in the during trial scenario when compared to the before trial scenario data.

It is important to note that there are several external factors such as temporary traffic lights, utilities or streetworks related diversions, which can have an impact on Heavy Goods Vehicle traffic volumes. There have also been ongoing construction works on Adelaide Road, to the east of the junction with Primrose Hill Road, associated with the construction of a ventilation shaft above a HS2 related tunnel. These works, including HGV movements and associated temporary traffic restrictions are likely to have had an impact on local traffic and HGV traffic volumes.

While the data shows that there was an increase in total HGV volumes in the ‘during scheme’ counts from June 2023, making the trial HGV restriction scheme permanent will enable Camden to undertake additional monitoring and continue to assess the impact of the weight restriction. 

Camden will recommission and assess traffic counts over the coming months which will be included in the Decision Report. If our proposals go ahead, additional changes such as width restrictions will be considered, subject to statutory consultation processes.

More information on the monitoring data collected during the trial is contained in the Monitoring Factsheet, available to view in the 'Related' section at the bottom of this page.

Resident feedback and new proposed Safe & Healthy Streets changes

During the trial period, comments were posted on the Council’s Commonplace platform in relation to the trial 7.5-tonne weight restriction, with several people making suggestions for improvements in the wider area. The key comments that were made are summerised below:

• More should be done to reduce traffic on King Henry’s Road, particularly during rush hour.
• More should be done to reduce traffic speeds on King Henry’s Road.
• The weight restriction has helped to reduce HGV volumes in the area.
• Some HGVs, including Veolia refuse vehicles ignore the weight restriction signage.
• A width restriction would be more effective in preventing HGVs from driving along King Henry’s Road.
• The width of the Wadham Gardens / Elsworthy Road junction should be reduced to help pedestrians cross the road.

More information on the feedback collected during the trial is contained in the Monitoring Factsheet, available to view in the 'Related' section at the bottom of this page.

Based on the monitoring data and the feedback received, and in line with the policies and objectives set out in our Camden Transport Strategy, Climate Action Plan, and Clean Air Action Plan, we are now consulting on making the trial area-wide 7.5 tonne weight restriction permanent.

In addition to the above, we are proposing several new pedestrian, road safety, public space and environmental improvements in the King Henry’s Road area, including:

• Widening pavements on Elsworthy Road outside St Paul's CE Primary School to provide additional space for anyone walking and/or people visiting the school. As part of this proposal, the existing guardrail at the entrance to the school would be removed and replaced with a rain garden, enhancing the look and feel of the street, improving air quality, providing localised climate resilience, and promoting biodiversity. New cycle parking stands would also be introduced at this location, to increase local on street cycle parking capacity. You can see an example of a rain garden in the photo guide at the bottom of this page.
• Making pedestrian crossing improvements on Elsworthy Road to make it easier and safer to cross the road. Two “raised tables” would be constructed to improve pedestrian accessibility and help reduce motor vehicle speeds. You can see an example of a raised table in the photo guide at the bottom of this page.
• Adding a new zebra crossing on King Henry’s Road to the east of the junction with Elsworthy Rise which would be built on a “raised table” to make it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross the road and to help reduce motor vehicle speeds. You can see an example of a raised table in the photo guide at the bottom of this page.
• Junction improvements along Wadham Gardens to make it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross the road at junctions. The proposed improvements would take place at the Wadham Gardens junctions, with:
  • Elsworthy Road
  • Harley Road
  • Lower Merton Rise

The proposed junction improvements include narrowing the road widths to shorten crossing distances and improve accessibility, providing “raised crossings” to help reduce motor vehicle turning speeds and adding tactile paving to make crossing the road easier and safer for visually impaired people. To view the specific proposals at each junction see the proposed scheme drawings at the end of this page. You can see an example of a raised table and a continuous crossing in the photo guide at the bottom of this page.

• Installing four new cycle hangars (two on King Henry’s Road and two on Elsworthy Rise), to help meet demand in the area for secure cycle storage. You can see an example of a cycle hangar in the photo guide at the bottom of this page.
• Extending the dockless e-scooter and cycle hire bay on King Henry’s Road.
• Adding new and extended sections of double yellow lines at several junctions as part of Camden’s Junction Protection Programme, to improve visibility at junctions and make it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross the road.

More information on the scheme, including the monitoring data collected during the trial, the proposed scheme drawings and an example photo guide is contained in the 'Related' section at the bottom of this page.

Why your views matter

The area-wide 7.5 tonne weight restriction was implemented as a trial under an Experimental Traffic Order for a period up to 18 months. We committed to undertake a public consultation after around 12 months to seek the views of local residents and stakeholders on making the scheme permanent after the 18-month trial period.

Your views are important in providing feedback on both the trial scheme and the proposed new changes, and we would therefore welcome your responses to the questions on the pages that follow. We will be pleased to hear your views on the proposals, as well as any alternative suggestions or objections you may have to any aspect of what we are proposing.

To give us your views and find out more about what each proposal would achieve, click the 'Online Survey' button below.

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

All of this information will be considered in making a recommendation in the report(s) about whether, at the end of the trial period, the experimental scheme should be made permanent with some changes, modified, or allowed to lapse and whether the proposed additional measures contained in this consultation are introduced.

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

As the consultation is now closed, your views, and those of everyone who contributed to this consultation, will be analysed and considered, alongside relevant data available on the scheme and in light of how the scheme aligns with our current policy objectives, in order to put forward recommendations on whether to proceed with the proposals. A summary of this analysis will be provided in the decision report, and will be made available on the Camden Council website in due course.

If you have any other ideas for improvements to make travel safer and healthier in this area, please go to Safe Travel Camden Map  to make some suggestions.