• GIVEN the importance of the one-way cycle lane proposed for Prince of Wales Road to the safety of pedestrians, including the old and disabled and not least pupils who go to and from Haverstock and other schools, an update is called for.

I hope that the promoters of this scheme including Cllr Adam Harrison (the responsible Camden Council cabinet member), London and Camden Cycling Campaigns and Living Streets respond to what follows.

Some 10 per cent (46) of those responding to the consultation, came from the consultation area which didn’t even include Maitland Park Villas or Queen’s Crescent; 28 of the 46 supported the scheme; 486 supported it including 239 from outside Camden. Consider what the local response would have been if what follows was known.

Six of the eight traffic islands between Haverstock Hill and Grafton Road are to be removed. Nowhere was this mentioned in anything that was sent to those consulted. The only reference I can find in documents which informed this decision were in a feasibility study – “An additional negative aspect is that pedestrians need to cross informal crossings in one go as all existing refuge islands (two in total) will be removed to accommodate the cycle track.

However, the footway will be built out and the crossing distance will not increase. “For this reason, a slightly positive rating is given.” Do these people ever walk or have children at Haverstock School?

Removing the islands means vehicles can overtake, crash into vehicles going in the opposite direction and create situations which are dangerous to cyclists and pedestrians.

London Living Streets, a charity founded to champion the interests of pedestrians, is quoted as supporting the scheme, including the removal of the islands. The preamble to the decision reads: “…Living Streets made clear their support for the scheme.” And in the Single Member Decision Report: “The proposals are supported by Living Streets.”

In response to a local person who wrote to him, Cllr Harrison wrote: “Living Streets, who represent pedestrians, have studied the scheme and welcome the removal of the islands, commenting that ‘London Living Streets believes that where pedestrians cross, the distance should be as short as possible, that there should be frequent places to cross among vehicles moving at a slow speed and that they should able to cross the road in one go; […] not be stranded in the middle of the road among motor traffic fumes. The proposed measures in Prince of Wales Road support this’.”

The person making that claim is incorrect as to LLS’s policy. He is a leading Camden Cycling Campaign member. Clearly Camden and Cllr Harrison put a lot of weight on Living Streets’ support and one wonders if it didn’t make all the difference.

Shared space at the downhill junction of Haverstock Hill and Prince of Wales Road is to be changed so that what is now pavement becomes part of the highway on which pedestrians have some rights due to zebra markings.

The lunacy of making cycling legal on that downhill corner can best be appreciated by standing there and observing cycles coming down the hill and turning left.

NICK HARDING
NW5