King Henry's Road area Safe and Healthy Streets consultation

Overview

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed how people in Camden live, travel and work. Since the start of the pandemic many of us have been spending more time closer to home, making our neighbourhoods more important than ever. We want our streets to be safe spaces for you to walk and cycle, for children to get to and from school safely and healthily, for businesses to be able to flourish and for you to be breathing cleaner air.

As 69% of households in Camden do not own a car and public transport capacity 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.

Why your views matter

The King Henry’s Road area currently experiences significant volumes of through traffic, with vehicles using the area to travel between Primrose Hill Road, Adelaide Road and Avenue Road. Traffic data shows that both King Henry’s Road and Elsworthy Road can each experience approximately 2000 daily vehicle movements in each direction. Combined daily total traffic volumes for both King Henry’s Road and Elsworthy Road can therefore exceed 8000 vehicle movements. Traffic analysis indicates that 74% of this is through traffic - i.e. it is not accessing a property or business within the scheme area.

Traffic analysis also shows that the average speeds on King Henry’s Road and Elsworthy Road is in excess of the 20mph speed limit, and that speeds through this area are some of the highest in the borough. These traffic conditions therefore present a safety risk to some of our most vulnerable road users, such as children attending St Paul’s Primary School, as well as having a detrimental impact on the east – west cycle route that passes through the area, connecting South Hampstead with Camden Town.

We are proposing to make a number of changes in the King Henry's Road area on an experimental basis to make the streets quieter, safer and healthier. These proposed changes include:

• Widening the pavement on Primrose Hill Road adjacent to St Paul’s School, introducing School Keep Clear markings, and introducing an additional zebra crossing near the junction with Oppidans Road.
• Creating a Healthy School Street for St Paul’s Primary School on Elsworthy Road. This would restrict motor vehicle access into this section of Elsworthy Road between Primrose Hill Road and Elsworthy Rise between 08.00 and 09.00 in the mornings and 3.00 and 4.00 in the afternoons between Monday and Friday during term time. Residents with a vehicle register to an address in this section of Elsworthy Road would be exempt at the restricted times.
• Preventing motor vehicles using residential roads such as King Henry’s Road and Elsworthy Road as a cut through between Primrose Hill Road, Adelaide Road and Avenue Road through the introduction of motor vehicle restrictions on:

            - Elsworthy Road east of the junction with Elsworthy Rise

            - Elsworthy Road at the junction with Avenue Road

            - King Henry’s Road east of the junction with Elsworthy Rise

Access to all properties will still be possible by motor vehicle except for the times of restriction on the Healthy School Street section of Elsworthy Road.

Motor vehicle access routes to some properties in the scheme area may differ as a result of the above restrictions. Please refer to the access routes map which shows these routes from the surrounding roads.

To view the plans and find out more about what each proposal would achieve, click on the links in the Related Section at the bottom of this page.

In line with new Department for Transport guidance, we are now consulting on all new and amended Safe and Healthy Street schemes so that we can engage our local residents, businesses and stakeholders in changes happening on their streets. We want to know what you think about these additional proposals.

What happens next

 As the consultation is now closed,your views, and those of everyone who contributes 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.