Since September 2007 CCC has been working with Camden Council and its consultants to consider a new east-west route across the borough, from Kilburn to King’s Cross. The consultants are now putting the finishing touches to the report which should then provide the basis for the Council to consider implementing the recommendations. The process has very worthwhile for CCC, as we have been able to get most of our ideas incorporated. The original proposal did not find much favour with us, for a number of reasons:

• the route frequently split, using different roads for east-bound and west-bound sections;
• the Fairhazel Gardens contraflow is unsatisfactory;
• the route by-passed Swiss Cottage, which we wanted to be easily accessible for cyclists;
• the route followed the Camden Town gyratory (i.e. Parkway/Delancey Street), which is not pleasant for cyclists.

(For full details of the original route, our criticisms of it and the general principles we wanted to be followed in designing the route, see E-W route history.)

The route as currently envisaged is much better:

• splitting has been nearly completely eliminated;
• there are more options in relation to Swiss Cottage;
• a north-bound contraflow is to be put in on Park Village East;
• a toucan crossing will enable cyclists to cross Camden High Street from Miller Street to Plender Street and vice-versa.

The new route (with a secondary link and spur) is shown in the following two maps:

Although the blue line ends at Royal College Street, the route in fact continues all the way to York Way / Copenhagen Street (the border with Islington) but it does so by following LCN+ Links 28 and 29.

We are particularly keen for the ‘secondary route’ (shown in red on the first map) to be implemented: this would enable cyclists to use the entire length of Compayne Gardens in both directions, avoiding the current one-way roads to the north and south which are used by the C11 bus. The only difficulty is that this requires a segregated contraflow along Canfield Gardens from its junctions with Compayne Gardens and Broadhurst Gardens, which would involve the loss of a dozen or so parking bays. There is also concern that the turn the C11 buses need to make to get into Canfield Gardens will be used to block this facility.

A major factor in pressing for the full Compayne Gardens route (the ‘secondary route’) is that it avoids Fairhazel Gardens. Our reasons for resisting taking the route down Fairhazel Gardens are best conveyed via the following:

Unfortunately, it is still being recommended that the main route is follow Fairhazel Gardens. We remain unhappy about this, and hope that the unsatisfactoriness of Fairhazel Gardens means that all the more effort is put into making the Compayne Gardens route work.

Not shown on the map but included in the report is a recommendation to look into having a cycle link at the top of Belsize Road (by the entrance to Swiss Cottage underground station), connecting to what will in due course be a two-way crossing of Finchley and Avenue Roads (to Eton Avenue).

Various improvements are recommended for the route between South Hampstead and Camden Town, such as (i) signalize the Queen’s Grove / Avenue Road / Elsworthy Road junction; (ii) provide road markings and traffic calming along roads which drivers tend wrongly to treat as one-way (King Henry’s Road east of Regent’s Park Road and Gloucester Avenue south of St Mark’s Crescent).