The junction at Chalton Street and Phoenix Road

RESIDENTS and businesses say they are being sent round a very long bend by one of the council’s “trial” road closures that has “cut Somers Town in two”.

A move last week to ban traffic from passing through a junction at Chalton Street and Phoenix Road is forcing drivers on bizarre round trips to get from one side of the area to the other.

The blockage outside the Cock Tavern means that drivers from the south of the pub to get north of it have to go out to the Euston Road, along to King’s Cross and up Midland Road to Mornington Crescent, and then back through the new one-way system into Somers Town.

Euston Cabs said it was seriously disrupting their business and increasing pollution generally, while disabled residents say they are racking up higher fares and longer journeys for taxi rides – and the nuns say their convent is being affected too.

Vincent Luttman, who has lived in Walker House for almost 40 years and said he had hidden disabilities and had “too many” health conditions to list, told how he had to pay £17.50 to get his wife back from UCH in a black cab.

He said: “I’ve got a black cab with my missus back from hospital. I’m on crutches with bacterial chest infections, she’s on a zimmer after a hip op major surgery. I thought we could get into the estate but the black cab can’t get through now.

“She breaks down in tears. She has no energy to get from the drop-off to the front door. So I went down to the minicab place in Chalton Street, to get a cab for literally a few metres. But to get us home they had to go all the way round St Pancras, Midland Road, up to Crowndale Road and then down through Somers Town. It’s like a jelly worm.”

He added: “The one-way layout they had before that was done by the GLC, there was nothing wrong with that.”

Vincent Luttman is not impressed at the changes

Euston Cars cabbie Alem Ibrahim said: “It doesn’t make sense. Our drivers literally can’t get to the residents. It takes a longer time. It’s difficult to increase the fares for little old ladies going to UCH. They don’t use smart apps, they rely on us.

“You have to go down the Euston Road, up Midland Road, to Crowndale Road, and all the way round. That’s an extra 20 minutes for a two-minute journey.

“Look at the emissions it is creating. It defeats the whole argument for bringing them in. Drivers are simply going to refuse to go there. It’s not worth it.”

The New Journal spotted many cars going through the trap in a short space of time on Tuesday due the confusion.

It is unlikely their tickets will be processed due to the traffic warden strikes. Drivers’ problems are being exacerbated by a move to open the Chalton Street market five days a week – which would cut traffic completely from the area.

A resident said that a retractable road bollard in Ossulton Street had been angle-grinded away

Sister Bernadette, one of the nuns at the Faithful Companions of Jesus’s Spirituality Centre in Phoenix Road, Somers Town, said she felt like she was “forever working out whether I can turn here, turn down there, and what time it is” due to the road closures and school streets car bans.

On Ossulston Street one retractable road bollard has been angle-grinded away, a resident claimed.

A packed meeting of the Somers Town Neighbourhood Forum (STNF) on Thursday heard from lots of very angry people about the changes.

STNF chair Slaney Devlin said: “Many of the recent road changes in Somers Town have reduced rat-running and improved road safety and air quality, particularly around our many schools. But the northbound closure of this junction cuts off access from the south. It makes it harder for Chalton Street businesses to receive deliveries and harder for those reliant on cars or taxis to get about.

“There needs to be a balance between maintaining a good environment in Somers Town and maintaining access, particularly for the most vulnerable. I think this change unnecessarily unbalances our neighbourhood and risks losing much of the good work done to date.”

Councillor James Slater, Camden’s planning chief, said that 65 per cent of respondents to consultation supported trialling the scheme.

Traffic volumes were still too high, and pedestrians and cyclists wanted safety improvements.

He added: “The trial is assessing whether through-traffic can be reduced further and the benefits spread more evenly across Somers Town, while continuing to provide access to local streets. Emergency service vehicles, waste vehicles and cycles are exempt from the restriction. All properties are still accessible by car; however, we understand that some journeys may now take longer.”

He would attend a meeting this week to hear directly from residents who can also share their views on the council’s Commonplace website.