• IN 2013 Royal College Street in Camden Town, part of the A5202, was completely redesigned, with new one-way cycle lanes each side of the road, residents’ vehicle parking spaces placed near the middle of the road and, for a significant stretch, this important through route became a one-way, single carriageway road and bus route in the direction of Camden Road.

Camden Council’s draft transport strategy (November 2018) reported that this “light segregation” cycle scheme was the first in London and had, by 2015, seen a 75 per cent weekly increase in cycle volumes.

It’s a pity that some cyclists ignore the street’s one-way routes and a fair number clearly have no regard for this expensive scheme and prefer to cycle on the footpaths and pavements!

Whether this road design works for vehicles is another matter. At busy times the street’s traffic flow grinds to a halt, idling vehicle engines doubtless increasing pollution.

The progress of the 46 bus becomes so slow that it greatly impairs the route’s reliability. Emergency vehicles are stuck too, of course, and police vehicles have been seen to drive along the cycle path and footpath in order to pass other vehicles.

Let’s hope there’s no major incident in the area, as the resultant longer traffic jam would likely affect much of Camden Town’s one-way street system very quickly.

Now, after six years, Royal College Street is again subject to major works. Both cycle lanes are currently not in use. I don’t know what’s going on as I have found no information online – after all, wasting public money is best kept a secret.

Hardly an issue of the now-quarterly Camden magazine is published without council leader, Georgia Gould mentioning “government cuts” (she never puts her comments in context, never mentions the £1.8 trillion national debt), implying all the blame for any service reduction locally is Whitehall’s fault.

It makes me recall this joke. “It’s public money”, we might say, but “no it isn’t”, replies the bureaucracy, “for the public has given the money to the us so it’s the council’s money, not the public’s, and the council will waste it as it pleases”.

In 2013 Camden spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on Royal College Street and has often talked up the new road scheme.

Six years on and a large sum is again being spent on, presumably, further “improvements” to that very scheme. Getting things right first time would surely be more cost-effective.

In the light of these street works it’s hard to think that the money from our council tax, recently increased, is safe in the hands of Camden.

Remember the cost of this, and other wasteful and extravagant schemes, when you are next told there is no money because of Whitehall cuts. Not all is as it may seem.

LESTER MAY
Reachview Close, NW1