New road upgrades and traffic control measures are being implemented in north London in order to prevent collisions and cut air pollution by reducing car use in favour of promoting active travel.
A new ‘Safe and Healthy Streets’ scheme in Hampstead was approved by Camden Council in March, despite an outcry from local residents. The £1.7m project will install new segregated cycling lanes, zebra crossings, rain gardens, remove parking spaces and relocate several bus stops – as well as trialling a traffic ban during school drop-off and pick-up times.
The proposals for Fitzjohn’s Avenue - chosen based on Transport for London flagging it as a medium-priority for risks of casualties - were largely rejected by the 950 people who responded to the public consultation, with just 23% of residents backing the plans.
Respondents questioned whether the scheme was necessary, arguing that the cycle lanes and rain gardens would waste money and that trying to attract more cyclists in an area with such a steep uphill climb would encourage e-bikes to speed – putting local schoolchildren at risk.
Further fears around the loss of parking spaces, and the dangers that new ‘floating’ bus stops intersected by cycle lanes posed to the elderly and disabled, were backed by Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors representing Belsize, Frognal and Hampstead Town wards. Camden Council pushed through the scheme despite these objections, although it scrapped proposals to merge bus stops due to the backlash.
However, the debate continues with a petition urging the council to “urgently reconsider” the scheme has collected just over 1,100 signatures as of the start of September. The petition supports the need for better air quality and safer streets but argues that the current scheme “does not put pedestrians, children, older people and access to vital public transport first”. Campaigners are calling for the preservation of pavement space, retainment of bus stops, the removal of “controversial” ‘floating’ bus stops, and a justification of the scheme’s cost.