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In the March
Call Sign, this magazine revealed that the no left
turn from Tavistock Place into Marchmont Street was actually
paid for by the Olympic Delivery Authority ("Cyclists are
more important than taxis"). The left turn was one of our most important cut-throughs and with St Pancras set to become a hub with its’ bullet train taking passengers to Stratford for the 2012 London Olympics, we could foresee huge problems. So we decided to ask Camden why they had removed the turn. And just as last month’s headline said in those six words, the response showed that so far as Camden Council is concerned, cyclists are more important than us! We spoke to Jacqueline Saunders, who is a Traffic Planner with the Council. At first she sent us a prepared statement that among other things, told us that collision data at the junction included 1 fatality and 2 seriously injured in the three years up to September 2010. Then to the nitty gritty. "The primary objective for the changes to the junction is to reduce the confusion for all users and to make it safer for vulnerable road users, particularly pedestrians. The proposal included merging two signal phases in the signal cycle (ie the green signal for east-west movements on the main carriageway and cycle lane) so that green time increases and waiting time reduces for all users at the junction, including motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. As a result of removing a signal phase, all vehicles moving east/west along Tavistock Place, both on the main carriageway and in the cycle lane, now move together. It is an essential safety requirement of the scheme that the left turn from the main carriageway on Tavistock Place into Marchmont Street (north) is banned to prevent collisions with cyclists who are moving at the same time and going ahead." In other words it was done for cyclists benefit. The statement went on to inform the taxi trade that there were alternative routes available for vehicles "including right turn opportunities onto Euston Road." That referred to going along to the top of Tottenham Court Road and then turning right into Euston Road! We asked Ms Saunders about all the extra Co2 that would be pumped into the air with all those extra taxis (and cars) using Tottenham Court Road and Euston Road to get to St Pancras and Kings Cross? Euston Road already provides extremely heavy traffic that continues until mid- evening. We then went on to propose that the forced-left turn only at the |
No left turn at Marchmont Street CALL SIGN SPEAKS TO CAMDEN COUNCIL |
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 junction of Judd Street with Euston Road be lifted and a right turn (even if only by taxis) be implemented. We pointed out that the road opposite was Midland Road, where vehicles exited from Eurostar and that already has a filter signal allowing traffic to turn right, which could then be equalled by a filter right turn out of Judd Street at the same time. The response was somewhat surprising. She first mentioned that she had asked the LTDA and PCO to publicise the fact that we could use Judd Street and circle back round into Marchmont Street, which would then put emissions up even further. But she then tried to justify her earlier statement by saying that Camden "…had not undertaken an emissions concentration / air quality impact assessment. However, from initial discussions with our Air Quality colleagues, this proposed new route will not impact significantly on air quality. This is because air quality and emissions on Euston Road are already very high, so any change would have to be quite high to make a difference on these existing high levels. Moreover, this is offset by the fact that the waiting time at the junction has been reduced for all users (when engines would be running and impacting on pedestrians waiting to cross) and the longer time allowed for movement which eases traffic flow and helps to reduce emissions." In other words, emissions were high anyway so what difference would a bit more make! She then reiterated and confirmed Call Sign’s March headline by saying: "We cannot allow a left turn (at Marchmont Street) because cyclists in the cycle lane are moving straight ahead. This movement would not be allowed due to cutting across cyclists as they move forward. Therefore this ban is an essential requirement of the |
proposal."
No mention of pedestrians that time! Of course, the situation could only happen because Camden changed those lights so that vehicles and bikes moved at the same time, whereas the old system seemed to work well with few hold-ups and even fewer accidents. The fatality and two serious injuries are of course extremely sad, but they occurred over a period of three years and could surely have happened anywhere? Ms Saunders then added that implementing a right turn at Judd Street onto Euston Road was outside the Council’s control as Euston Road is part of the TfL Road Network and managed by them. She did say, however, that any change to traffic lights was not a simple process and could cost up to £150K. We assume that the Marchmont Street change was done "on the cheap!" Going back to Call Sign’s Judd Street suggestion, Ms Saunders said that "…queuing and delays (particularly for buses)" would have to be taken into account. So that put us in third place behind cyclists and buses. Responding to our comments about emissions getting even worse if cabs used Euston Road from Tottenham Court Road, Ms Saunders said: "The Council is not saying that the increase in travel distance will not make any difference to emissions. We are saying that because the concentrations around Euston are very high already, the increased output from additional distance travel will not increase concentrations significantly (on a % basis – less than 1 or even .5%). Moreover, this will be offset by less waiting time (and idling) at the traffic lights and the smoothing of traffic flow." Well Ms Saunders, while we thank you sincerely for taking the time to answer questions – something not all Councils will do – in all honesty, if anything the traffic heading eastwards along Euston Road has deteriorated rather than improved. May we suggest that when planning future traffic management schemes, that perhaps Camden would like to ask the professionals for their advice – the professionals that the rest of the world consider to be the best taxi drivers of all. It’s rather a pity that Camden doesn’t agree. Call Sign has now passed on our suggestion re a right turn from Judd Street to the Mayor’s office… |
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