This evening we have been speaking to residents living between Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street about possible changes to how those two roads work. The notes from the public meeting we organised in June on this subject are below (in plain text). Area Action Group Bloomsbury Ward Final draft notes of meeting held on Thursday 6 June 2013, 6.30 to 8.30pm, Marchmont Community Centre, Marchmont Street. Attended by: Bloomsbury councillors Cllr Abdul Quadir (Chair), Cllr Milena Nuti Residents 47 residents and local people Apologies Cllr Adam Harrison, Edward Aydin, Margaret Brett 1. Welcome and introductions – Councillor Abdul Quadir (Chair) Cllr Quadir welcomed residents to the meeting and gave apologies to Cllr Harrison who was called away at short notice. Apologies were also received from Edward Aydin and Margaret Brett. Cllr Quadir then introduced John Futcher from Transport Strategy and Richard Wilson from Planning who are here to present the item on West End Project (including the Tottenham Court Road area). The West End project extends to beyond Bloomsbury. For this meeting, the officers will present what is relevant to Bloomsbury. 2a. Public realm proposals – Richard Wilson Currently, traffic is very dominant in the area and this is an issue for cyclists and pedestrians. The area is difficult to navigate around. The pavements are patchy and cluttered, and advert boards, benches and trees are badly sited. There are few trees and the landscape has a very hard feel, which means there is not a lot of space for residents and office workers to enjoy. There is a mix of residential and commercial space and often both sectors are competing for limited space. Things are quite congested at the moment but it is likely to get worse. The introduction of Crossrail to Tottenham Court Road Station will place more demand on the area. Some of the proposals include: • Tottenham Court Road: The road could be improved to make it look more uniform and the pavements could be widened with new trees and improved public spaces.. • Windmill Square/Whitfield Gardens: there is an opportunity to plant trees here and make better use of the existing spaces. • Alfred Place: potential to make a new park. • Gower Street: The scheme will build on the unique character and heritage features in this street. Questions and discussion • Consideration for children in the proposed scheme. There needs to be evidence of what children’s routes are and how they will use the space. Schools in the area need to be included in the plans, but it is worth noting that there are no schools in this part of Bloomsbury. • Consideration of the blind or visually impaired people in the area. The project team is working with accessibility groups and have looked at best practise to ensure all groups are properly considered. • Consideration of improvements to North Crescent. • Bedford Square is a very important heritage site and needs to be considered in the scheme. • Consideration of how deliveries will take place in Alfred Place. • Support for removal of phone boxes and street clutter in the area 2b. Traffic proposals – John Futcher Much of the focus in the scheme is on Tottenham Court Road (TCR) and Gower Street but side streets are also part of the scheme. Tottenham Court Road is intensively used particularly by pedestrians, cyclists and buses. However, traffic data shows a substantial decline in traffic over last 10 years. The area has a poor road safety record with large number accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists. The one-way streets and their design is likely to be a contributing factor in these accidents. There aren’t many cycle routes and the scheme aims to make it easier for people to cycle east / west and north / south. The project is a joint between Camden and Transport for London and the proposal is to remove the gyratory and make TCR and Gower Street two-way streets and open up every single side road to cyclists. The proposals would mean that buses would use TCR in both directions which would be a large benefit to bus passengers. It may mean some areas will be further away from buses. Traffic modelling is being undertaken to assess the traffic impacts of the proposals in 2021. The emerging data suggests that the proposals would lead to less traffic in the area Questions and discussion • Support for reducing traffic and for reducing through traffic. • Needs careful consideration of access for residents and achieve a good balance between reducing through traffic and maintaining local access. • Support for making all side streets two-way for cycling. • Concerns about the recent Russell Square changes to traffic and the need to ensure that proposals for TCR and Gower Street benefit pedestrians. • Consideration of bus stop distances. 2c. Feedback to date and funding – John Futcher The proposals have been presented to local groups from the Bloomsbury Ward and to major landowners in the area. The proposals are planned to go to public consultation in autumn 2013, with a potential approval at the end of 2013/14. 2. What else should we be working on as a community in Bloomsbury ward? Suggestions included: - Campaign to improve roads for cyclists; - Campaign to rid area of redundant phone kiosks. Cllr Quadir also invited residents to write in with their suggestions to Bloomsbury councillors. Cllr Quadir closed the meeting by thanking the Transport Planning team for taking the time to present the West End project draft scheme to the AAG. He also thanked Fung-yee Lee for organising the meeting. 3. Date of next meeting The next AAG meeting will be in the autumn.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 21:27:06 +0000
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