Healthy School Streets Consultation - Maria Fidelis Proposals

Overview

Healthy School Street Consultation – Maria Fidelis Catholic School (Doric Way and Drummond Crescent) Scheme Proposals

Overview

We are seeking your views on proposals to introduce Healthy School Street traffic restrictions and two way cycling on Doric Way and Drummond Crescent, and to install two cycle hangars on Drummond Crescent.

Somers Town has received funding from the Mayor of London to become a more sustainable neighbourhood, through the Future Neighbourhoods 2030 Fund. Through the implementation of 10 different projects, Somers Town Future Neighbourhoods 2030 aims to make Somers Town a more climate resilient and healthy place to live. One of these projects is focused on introducing Healthy School Streets, which restrict traffic at school drop-off and pick-up times, outside the 5 Schools within Somers Town.

We are currently carrying out separate consultations on introducing Healthy School Street measures outside St Mary and St Pancras Primary School, Blossom House School, Regent High School and Edith Neville Primary School. This consultation is open until the 26^th October and you can take part on our website.

We will also be consulting on wider proposals for reducing through-traffic and enhancing green space in the Somers Town area through the Greening Phoenix Road project, which we will bring forward in a separate consultation later in the year. The information below outlines our proposals to implement these measures on Doric Way and Drummond Crescent outside Maria Fidelis Catholic School.

Healthy School Streets create a safer and healthier environment by temporarily closing roads to motor traffic outside schools during drop-off and pick-up times. This enables more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school, with less air pollution, road danger, congestion, and more space for people to interact. The schemes help to discourage car trips, particularly amongst parents and carers, by providing a safe and inviting space for more walking, cycling, and scooting.

Seventeen Healthy School Street schemes have been rolled out across Camden since March 2020. This brings the total number of Healthy School Street schemes in the borough to 20, with 27 schools within those areas having timed or permanent road closures. The monitoring data that we have collected on these schemes, which can be accessed on our website, has shown that they largely have had a significant impact on reducing traffic levels outside schools, contributed to improved air quality and are strongly supported by pupils who want us to do more to improve their journey to school.

About the proposed Maria Fidelis Catholic School Healthy School Street scheme

We have collected traffic count data across an average week during school term time (week commencing 27^th April 2022) which shows us that Drummond Crescent and Doric Way have some of the highest peaks in motor traffic levels recorded during school pick up and drop off times with averages of over 30 vehicles recorded during both the 8am - 9am and 3pm - 4pm school run periods.

To create a safer and more welcoming environment around the school, we are proposing to implement timed motor vehicle Healthy School Street restrictions on Drummond Crescent and Doric Way. By restricting all non-exempt motor vehicles during the Healthy School Street times, the proposals would make the last leg of pupils’ journeys to school safer, whether from a train or underground station, or a bus stop.

The proposed measures are outlined below and would be introduced on a permanent basis, if approved, after consultation. A scheme drawing for the proposed measures can be found in the Related section at the bottom of this page. We are proposing the following changes:

• To create a timed Healthy School Street motor vehicle restriction on Mondays to Fridays during school term time only from 8am - 9am and 2.45pm - 4pm, by preventing non-exempt motor vehicles from accessing Doric Way and Drummond Crescent.
• To install signage to alert people driving to the restrictions and an Automatic Number Plate Recognition enforcement camera on Eversholt Street at the junctions with Doric Way. The signage would state the times when the road closures would be in place to motor vehicle traffic and would be closed during school holidays.
• To install signage which would allow people cycling to travel both ways on these one-way streets and increase their accessibility across the area. This proposal also aligns with our Cycling Action Plan commitment to convert all feasible one-way roads in the Borough to two-way for cycling.
• To install two cycle hangars on Drummond Crescent outside Maria Fidelis School for local residents.
• To install visitor cycle parking on the pavement outside the school.

The following vehicles would be exempt from the timed Healthy School Street restrictions:

• Cycles including standard and electric powered bicycles
• Vehicles registered to properties and businesses on Doric Way and Drummond Street (exemptions would need to be agreed with the Council)
• Any vehicle being used for ambulance, fire brigade or policing purposes
• Refuse collection vehicles
• Door to door services such as Plus Bus and Dial A Ride
• Blue Disabled Badge holders that require access (exemptions would need to be agreed with the Council)
• Vehicles belonging to parents or carers of pupils of Maria Fidelis Catholic School that have a disability that prevents them from walking, cycling, or scooting to school (exemptions would need to be agreed with the Council)

Maria Fidelis Catholic School staff and visitors to the school would not be exempt. Taxis and delivery vehicles would also not be exempt, and such trips would need to be scheduled outside of the restricted times or the vehicles would need to be parked outside of the restricted area. However, exemptions could be applied for in exceptional circumstances, such as when elderly or disabled people may need essential taxis during the restricted hours. 

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras would only issue fines to non-exempt vehicles being driven into the restricted area during the restriction times, so any vehicle already parked within the restricted area could be driven out at any time without receiving a fine.                

If the scheme goes ahead, details of how to apply for an exemption would be posted to residents and businesses in the consultation area.

The following photos show existing schemes within Camden which demonstrate how the Healthy School Street and two way cycling elements of the proposed scheme could look.

Photo of Healthy School Street Signage on Croftdown Road; similar signage is proposed to be installed on Eversholt Street at the junction with Doric Way

About the proposed cycle hangar installation on Drummond Crescent

Residents in Camden have told us that they would like to have more lockable cycle parking, for hire, close to where they live. We know that a lack of somewhere to keep a bike safely can put people off taking up cycling. As a result, we are rolling out a programme of installing cycle hangars across the borough.

Cycle hangars also help to deliver our own Transport Strategy priorities, which were strongly supported when we consulted on them, including increasing cycling, improving air quality, and making our streets and transport networks safe, accessible, and inclusive for all.

Therefore, we are also consulting on introducing the following proposal on a permanent basis:

• To install two cycle hangars on Drummond Crescent on the road outside the school opposite St Joseph’s Flats, which would require the removal of 5.2 metres of permit holder parking space and provide secure cycle parking for up to 12 cycles for local residents.

The above proposal would help us to provide new secure cycle parking space for local residents. There are currently 60 residents on the waiting list for the existing cycle hangars in the St Pancras and Somers Town Ward.  

Cycle hangars are installed and maintained by Cyclehoop, the Council’s approved supplier. Further details are available on their website: https://www.cyclehoop.com/product/shelters-canopies/bikehangar/

Each hangar is 1.33m high with a curved profile roof (see image below). Maintenance is covered by the annual membership fee which is currently £36 per year.

Photo of cycle hangars, which are proposed to be installed on Drummond Crescent

Why your views matter

Your views are important in providing feedback both on the proposed scheme as a whole and elements of it, and we would therefore welcome your responses on the pages that follow. To view the plans and find out more about the proposals, click on the links in the Related section at the bottom of this page.

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 consultation responses, relevant policies, officer observations, and other data/information including monitoring information collected to date.

All of this information will be considered in making recommendations in the report about whether the proposed changes should be implemented.

We would collect a range of pre and post scheme monitoring data: traffic counts on the streets proposed to have restrictions and those nearby to ascertain the impact of the scheme, monitoring of traffic speeds, levels of cycling, and air quality as well as working with the school to learn about pupil’s thoughts on the scheme and its impact on travel behaviour. Camden officers would be available to answer any questions or concerns via our dedicated Healthy School Streets email inbox and phone line on 020 7974 8796.

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.