The Covid-19 pandemic has 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 are we proposing changes?
Since 2008 four cyclists have tragically been killed at the junction of Southampton Row with Theobalds Road with eight further tragic cyclist deaths in the Holborn Gyratory area. The most recent fatality was in August 2021.
Camden Councils Transport Strategy 2019-2041 has an objective “to substantially reduce all road traffic casualties in Camden and progress towards zero Killed and Seriously Injured casualties.” With the latest tragic death of a cyclist in Holborn it is imperative that we further help to reduce the risk of injury or death at Southampton Row junction with Theobald’s Road.
What have we already done?
In October 2021 we installed a number of temporary changes to the junction to reduce the risk for cycles.
The immediate road safety improvements included:
We are now consulting on a new set of proposals to replace these temporary changes with a permanent scheme to futher reduce the safety risk to road users.
We are proposing to make changes around Southampton Row & Theobalds Road junction to help people, to walk, cycle or scoot safely by improving the attractiveness of the local area, tackling air pollution, road danger and traffic congestion.
The proposed changes include:
Other public realm improvements are being considered such as improved lighting, seating, landscaping and cycle parking.
Further details of the proposed changes including a drawing of the changes we are proposing and example images of some of the proposed measures can be found in the Related section below.
Please note: the designs are still subject to approval with Transport for London based on the outcome of traffic modelling.
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 the consultation responses, relevant policies, and other data/information.
Should a decision be made to proceed, we would implement the proposed changes on under a Traffic Management Order (TMO). We would also monitor the changes to make sure it operates effectively.
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
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.
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