Mansfield Road and Estelle Road 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

We are proposing to make changes at the junction of Mansfield Road and Estelle Road in order to improve walking and cycling access across Mansfield Road. The changes would provide an improved crossing location for those on bikes as part of the Transport for London Cycleway 6 Extension, connecting Hampstead Heath with Kentish Town, central London and beyond.

The proposed changes include:

• Upgrading the existing zebra crossing at the junction of Mansfield Road and Estelle Road to a parallel crossing, to improve cycle access across Mansfield Road
• Converting the junction of Estelle Road with Mansfield Road to exit-only from Estelle Road
• Reducing the crossing distance for pedestrians on Estelle Road
• Introducing small sections of shared space areas around the proposed crossing that safely allows both pedestrian and cycle use.
• Conversion of 9m of resident parking spaces at the southern end of Estelle Road to double yellow lines, to ensure that there is adequate space for vehicles to access the junction and those on bikes to access the parallel crossing.

How would these changes be made?

After the consultation, we will carefully consider the responses, alongside other information, to help us in deciding on whether or not to progress the scheme. Should a decision be made to proceed, we would implement the changes on a “trial” basis, for a maximum 18-month period, under an Experimental Traffic Order (ETO). This allow us to test these changes as an experiment so that we can see how they work before any decision on whether to make them permanent is made. Once the changes have been up and running for a little while we will check in with all local residents in to remind them how to comment. We will also contact all residents and stakeholders with more information ahead of a full public consultation on the scheme after the trial has been in place for around 12 months. Any changes to our plans, for example due to the impact of Covid-19, will be updated on our website along with all the latest developments

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 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.