Just When Tou Tought It Couldn’t Get Any More Crazy, Along Come Islington Council. Islington Statement Of Intent

Statement of Intent - announcement by Cllr Claudia Webbe, executive member for environment & transport - Transforming Old Street and Clerkenwell Road

18 Mar 2019

Islington Council is committed to transforming the Old Street and Clerkenwell Road corridor into a ‘Healthy Street’, which prioritises walking, cycling and public transport. Consequently, the council is developing plans to close Old Street and Clerkenwell Road to through traffic.

This project will improve safety particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.   It will improve air quality and help make the area greener, healthier and a more attractive place to live, work, play and do business.

Background

We are developing a design to transform Old Street and Clerkenwell Road so that it meets our Healthy Streets principles, enabling walking to be enjoyable and businesses to continue to thrive and which is part of the network of cycle routes in Central London.

A key objective will be to eliminate through traffic and make the route safer for pedestrians and cyclists so that it meets our commitment to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads to zero.

In the 60 months up to February 2018, there have been 193 collisions along the corridor, resulting in 210 casualties; of which 24 were classed as serious and 186 as slight. 

Consequently, it is necessary to significantly reduce the number of vehicles driving along the corridor so that journeys along the Old Street and Clerkenwell corridor prioritise pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.

Aims and objectives

The aim of the project is to significantly reduce traffic on this route to improve conditions and rebalance the roads in favour of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. 

The objectives for the improvements of the Old Street and Clerkenwell Road corridor are to:

• enhance the pedestrian experience through improving the streetscape and public spaces;

• encourage and provide better facilities for increased levels of cycling;
• improve public transport journey time reliability and seek to maintain or improve access to public transport and interchanges;

• avoid through traffic being diverted from the corridor to local streets;
• improve air quality and health;
• eliminate fatalities and serious injuries;
• prioritise local access for cyclists and pedestrians; and
• maintain adequate local access for residents and business access for servicing and deliveries.

The proposals for the Old Street and Clerkenwell Road corridor will be coordinated with the redesign of the Old Street Roundabout.  Enabling works have begun on the roundabout, with the majority of the construction works taking place throughout 2019 and 2020.

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