Warren Street Safe and Healthy Streets Consultation - Permanent Proposals

Overview

Proposals to make trial Cycle Permeability changes to Warren Street permanent

Photo of Warren Street cycle contraflow looking west from Fitzroy Street

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed how communities in Camden live, travel and work. We want to transform our streets, so they have more safe space for everyone to walk and cycle, for children to get to and from school safely, for you to be breathing cleaner air, to reduce carbon emissions from road transport and for businesses to flourish. We want to ensure that our streets support recovery from the pandemic and provide a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel helping us to deliver our wide Transport Strategy objectives. Transport strategies and plans - Camden Council

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

To help respond to the transport challenges on our streets caused by the pandemic, and in line with our Camden Transport Strategy and Climate Action Plan, we have been making changes across Camden as part of our Safe and Healthy Streets Programme. This included making trial changes on Warren Street in March 2021 as part of our cycle permeability programme, when we introduced measures to help cyclists travel more easily and safely in both directions on a section of street which is one-way for motor vehicles, helping make the street safer and healthier.

The rest of the information below sets out our proposals to make the current, trial scheme on Warren Street permanent.

About the Warren Street Cycle Permeability Scheme

The overarching aim of the cycle permeability programme is to help overcome barriers to cycling. Many streets in the borough are one-way and links between streets on desired routes and Camden’s cycle network are often severed by infrastructure, traffic restrictions or highly trafficked major roads. The cycle permeability programme aims to make more Camden streets more accessible to cyclists and provide better connections and links through measures such as adding two-way cycling on one-way streets and cut-throughs at physical road closures. A number of such permeability improvements for cyclists have been made in recent years at various locations across the borough.

Warren Street is a street running parallel to Euston Road, linking Tottenham Court Road in the east with Cleveland Street in the west. Prior to the trial scheme being implemented, Warren Street was mainly one-way, westbound, except for a short section between Whitfield Street and Grafton Mews which was two-way. The section of Warren Street between Grafton Mews and Fitzroy Street was restricted to cyclists and pedestrians only. Removable bollards at each end of this section prevent through traffic, except for cyclists, with the two-way section allowing vehicles, particularly delivery vehicles, to turn around and exit Warren Street by turning southward onto Whitfield Street.

The Council has implemented a ‘Streatery’ on the section of Warren Street between Grafton Mews and Fitzroy Street as part of its COVID-19 programme, to support hospitality businesses there. A Streatery is where space on the road is used for outside eating and drinking so the pavement is left clear for people to pass by. Planters and bollards have been installed at the junction with Fitzroy Street, closing the street to through traffic, between Fitzroy Street and Whitfield Street, to enable restaurants to extend seating onto the public highway and offer outdoor dining.

The scheme provides a continuous and direct eastbound cycle link on Warren Street, from Cleveland Street to Whitfield Street. The Streatery scheme permits cyclists to travel in both directions through the traffic restricted section of the street. A cycle contra-flow (two-way cycling) will make more streets in this part of the West End accessible to cyclists, so they can reach multiple destinations in the area, including the new Streatery.

We implemented the scheme as a trial in March 2021, under an Experimental Traffic Order which came into force on 23^rd November 2020, as part of Phase 2 of our Cycle Permeability programme. The decision report related to this Experimental Traffic Order (and others) was approved on 13^th November 2020 and is provided in the Related section at the bottom of this page.

This decision report noted that a further consultation, after approximately 12 months of the trial scheme being implemented, would take place relating to any proposed permanent changes. The trial scheme went live in March 2021 (once implemented) and during this period, the scheme has been monitored and comments from local residents and stakeholders have been received.

This consultation now asks local residents and stakeholders to give their views on whether or not the scheme should be made permanent after the end of the 18-month Experimental Traffic Order trial period.

Monitoring information

During the trial period of the scheme, we have been collecting monitoring data which can be viewed in detail in the Monitoring Factsheet provided in the Related section at the bottom of this consultation front page. Headlines include:

• Traffic levels overall on Warren Street have increased slightly post scheme implementation. ‘After-scheme’ traffic flows increased by 11% compared to ‘Before-scheme’ flows.
• Following scheme implementation, average speeds have decreased on Warren Street (12.6mph to 12.2mph) and observe the 20mph speed limit.
• Cycling flows have increased post scheme implementation. Cycling eastbound has increased by 9% and cycling westbound has increased by 35%. Overall cycling has increased by 28%.
• No collisions were recorded between 1 January 2017 to 26 November 2020, before the scheme was implemented. Following the scheme implementation, no collisions have been recorded.

Feedback received during the trial

During the trial, residents and local stakeholders were able to provide feedback on the scheme. The feedback is summarised in the Monitoring Factsheet in the Related section at the bottom of this consultation front page.

What are we now consulting on?

Based on the monitoring data and the feedback received from residents and stakeholders during the trial period, and in line with policies and objectives set out in our Transport Strategy, Climate Action Plan and Clean Air Action Plan, we are now consulting on making the following trial changes permanent:

• Keeping two way cycling (contraflow cycling where the traffic only flows one-way)  on Warren Street between Cleveland Street and Fitzroy Street.
• Keeping signage, on street cycle symbols and other markings to show permitted cycle route.
• Keeping waiting and loading prohibitions (double yellow lines with double kerb blips) on Warren Street, including at the junctions with Cleveland Street, Conway Street and Fitzroy Street.
• Permanent changes to parking including removal of 16 metres of resident permit holders parking bay and 1.9 metres of pay by phone parking bay.

You can view drawings of the changes in the Related section at the bottom of this consultation front page.

Why your views matter

As 63% of households in the area do not have access to a car and public transport usage remain 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.

The previous changes were implemented as a trial under an Experimental Traffic Order for 18 months. We committed to undertaking a public consultation after around 12 months of the trial scheme to seek the views of local residents and stakeholders on making the trial scheme permanent after the 18-month trial period.

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 consultation front page.

We would be pleased to hear your views on the proposals as well as any alternative suggestions or objections you may have to any aspect of what we are proposing.

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 officer observations, consultation responses, feedback received during the trial period, relevant policies, and other data/information.

The report will then outline if at the end of the trial period, the experimental scheme should be made permanent, modified, or allowed to lapse. Subject to the decision to make the scheme permanent, officers will continue to monitor the scheme and will consider additional measures if necessary. These will be progressed and publicly consulted on as part of a separate scheme.