Overview

We have an easy read guide to this survey - you can find it by clicking here.

To talk to us in person visit:  Sharing space, Doreen Bazell Hall, Goldington Street, NW1 1UG (on the corner of Goldington Street and Chenies Place). Pop in any time between 12pm - 3pm on Thursday 16 March or Thursday 23 March.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed how people in Camden live, travel and work. 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 to ensure that our streets support a strong recovery from the pandemic and provide a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel.

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

HS2 assurance

Camden has secured an assurance and funding from HS2 to mitigate for the loss of open space caused by construction. This includes funding for the ‘Greening Phoenix Road’ project, which will provide new open space in Somers Town and a greener link between Euston and St Pancras Stations. This consultation provides details on the traffic changes proposed to meet that assurance and create those green spaces.
 

Link with Somers Town Future Neighbourhood 2030

A joint Camden and Greater London Authority (GLA) project is being developed in Somers Town to make it a more sustainable neighbourhood that is more resilient to climate change, through 10 projects as part of the Somers Town Future Neighbourhood 2030 This includes three transport projects; 1) Healthy and Climate Safe Streets, 2) Green Mobility Hubs and 3) a Freight Action Plan. More details about these projects are available on the STFN 2030 Commonplace page.

This Greening Phoenix Road project contributes towards delivering the aims of the STFN 2030 Healthy and Climate Safe Streets project, which seeks “To deliver a network of safe, green streets across the neighbourhood, reducing local traffic and pollution as well as encouraging and enabling residents who would like to, to walk and cycle more.”

The map provided right, in Figure 1, illustrates the locations of all the transport and greening proposals proposed in Somers Town through both the Somers Town Future Neighbourhoods 2030 project and Greening Phoenix Road project. A larger version of this map can be found at the bottom of this page.

Link with Euston Area Plan

The Council recently consulted on revisions to the Euston Area Plan, which provides a long-term strategic planning framework to guide transformational change in the Euston area, including west Somers Town. The traffic proposals currently being consulted on for Phoenix Road align with the policy vision set out in the Euston Area Plan.

Greening Phoenix Road engagement undertaken so far

In developing the Greening Phoenix Road design, we have undertaken a number of engagement and feasibility activities. These are summarised below:

• 2017/18 – feasibility study commissioned to determine the level of greening that was possible.
• 2019 - engagement with circa 700 participants who provided their feedback and ideas for the project which fed into the design principles. 
• Early 2021 - co-design activities with the Somers Town community, culminating in the delivery of two stakeholder group sessions and co-design sessions with local schools. 
• August to October 2021 - consultation on the emerging plan for the longer term greening improvements.

We also set up a Commonplace page for the project and have been using this to gather further comments, ideas and feedback. The reports from these respective stages of engagement can be found on our commonplace website.

Development of Ideas and Principles

The Council is proposing to carry out an 18 month trial of the road closures that would be required to enable space to be provided on Phoenix Road for greening and public realm improvements. This would provide an opportunity for the Council and community to test how these road closures change vehicle, pedestrian and cycle access through Somers Town and whether any additional traffic changes would be needed as part of the final design for the Phoenix Road scheme.

Trialling the road closures also provides an opportunity for the Council and community to work together to test the types of greening that could be provided in the sections of Phoenix Road that are closed off to motor vehicles.

From the feedback we have received from the community and consideration of key Council policies (Camden’s Transport Strategy and Climate Action Plan), the following objectives have been developed for the trial scheme:

• No increase in through traffic (the trial should ideally reduce the volume of traffic in the area) 
• Ensure local access is maintained (eg max 50 m walk to any dwelling, service or business)  
• Increase green space and greening  
• Improve road safety for pedestrians and opportunities for travelling by foot and bike

The proposals should contribute towards achieving wider strategic objectives for transport in Camden and Somers Town, such as reducing traffic volumes and improving road safety.

What is being proposed?

We are proposing to trial some traffic changes on Phoenix Road in order to test the traffic restrictions that would be required as part of the Greening Phoenix Road scheme, which would introduce substantial public realm and greening improvements along Phoenix Road. In total, these proposals would create circa 670 sqm of new public realm/traffic free space. The proposals include:

Following the above prior engagement and feasibility work, the proposals being consulted on would:

• Reduce through traffic on Phoenix Road
• Enable the creation of space for new public realm and urban greening on Phoenix Road
• Support safer, healthier streets in the area especially for pedestrians and cyclists

This would be done through the following proposed traffic interventions:

Proposal A: Widening the pavement in two locations to create new space for new planting on Phoenix Road, between the junctions with Eversholt Street and Werrington Street. Two-way vehicle access retained along this section of Phoenix Road but road width to be reduced. Where the road is narrowed, approaching vehicles will need to give way to one another. The exact size and location of where the footway would be built out is subject to detailed design and may change slightly.

Proposal B: Through-traffic restriction on Phoenix Road, between Werrington Street and Chalton Street to enable improved public space and urban greening. The closure would be implemented using bollards, planters and signage. As illustrated in Figure 2, the location of the closure has been designed to ensure that motor vehicle entry points into properties in this section of Phoenix Road are still accessible. Emergency vehicles and cyclists would continue to have access through the closure.

Proposal C: Widening the pavement in two locations to create new space for new planting on Phoenix Road, between the junctions with Chalton Street and Ossulston Street. Two-way vehicle access retained along this section of Phoenix Road but road width to be reduced. Where the road is narrowed, approaching vehicles will need to give way to one another. The exact size and location of where the footway would be built out is subject to detailed design and may change slightly.

Proposal D: Through-traffic restriction on Ossulston Street (north) at the junction with Phoenix Road., to reduce traffic and improve road safety. With exemption for cyclists, emergency vehicles and waste collection vehicles. 

The following, existing banned turns, previously implemented by TfL on Euston Road, would remain: 

• No left turn from Euston Road into Ossulston Street 
• No right turn from Euston Road into Chalton Street 

In addition, the existing traffic restrictions on Chalton Street linked to the market would remain in place between 10:30 – 15:00 on Fridays.

More information on these changes and an illustration of these changes are provided in the Information Sheet and Scheme Drawing attached to 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.