Camden Council has asked consultants to undertake a Cycle Route Implementation Stakeholder Process for a "Local Cycle Link", running east-west across the borough, from Kilburn to King's Cross. Here is the map provided with the initial questionnaire.

A-Z Style Map of proposed route

• Two-way : Netherwood Road;
• Eastbound: Sherrif Road, Broadhurst Gardens;
• Westbound: Canfield Gardens, Cleve Road,Hemstal Road, Lowfield Road;
• Two-way : Fairhazel Gardens, Loudoun Road, Boundary Road;
• then either:
  • St Johns Wood Park, Queens Grove, Elsworthy Road;
• or:
  • St Johns Wood Park, Adelaide Road, King Henrys Road;
• King Henrys Road, Gloucester Avenue, Regents Park Road;
• Westbound: St Pancras Way, Royal College Street, Pratt Street, Delancey Street;
• Eastbound either:
  • Parkway, Greenland Road, Bayham Street, Pratt Street. St Pancras Way;
• or:
  • Park Village East, Mornington Street, Miller Street, Plender Street, Royal College Street (NB), Pratt Street. St Pancras Way;
• Granary Street, Camley Street, Goods Way.

The extra link along Winchester road is intended as a link to Swiss Cottage market.

You can look at the route plotted on Google Maps, where each of the parts above is drawn separately and where appropriately labelled with an arrow indicating direction.

Google Map plot of proposed route

Camden Cycling Campaign discussed this proposal at its members meeting in September 2007 and via its e-mail newsgroup, as a result of which the following response was submitted to the consultants:

Camden Cycling Campaign: Pre-CRIM response to the proposed London Borough of Camden Local Cycle Link (East-West)

GENERAL POINTS

• as far as possible use the same roads east- and west-bound

• provide access to town centres (Swiss Cottage, Camden Town)

• enable cyclists to proceed easily through awkward junctions

• avoid one-way roads, especially narrow ones

• not involve unduly steep gradients

PROPOSED ROUTE (ignoring the "busier" alternatives)

• Netherwood Street: need to consider access to and from Kilburn High Road
• Sherriff Road: steep, awkward exit into West End Lane (congestion)
• Sherriff Road/ Hemstal Road: route bifurcates east/west – unsatisfactory - Broadhurst Gardens / Cleve Road / Canfield Gardens: again, unsatisfactory bifurcation; roads also used by buses (C 11)
• Fairhazel Gardens: one-way, with narrow contraflow lane on outside of parked vehicles – unsatisfactory
• Belsize Road / Hilgrove Road roundabout: not easy for cyclists
• Queen’s Grove / Avenue Road: awkward turn for cyclists to and from Elsworthy Road
• Elsworthy Road / King Henry’s Road: again awkward manoevre (it is easier to cross Primrose Hill Road if sticking on King Henry’s Road).
• Camden town: route bifurcates east/west – unsatisfactory
• Miller Street: unsatisfactory surface, likely conflict with motorcyclists (pedestrians)
• Miller Street / Camden High Street: currently not possible to get to Plender Street.
• Plender Street to York Way: very circuitous
• Delancey Street: congested, awkward for cyclists heading to Gloucester Avenue
• Pratt Street: crossing Bayham Street – correct positioning for the cut-through towards Camden High Street puts one at risk of being hit by traffic turning left out of Bayham Street
• Pratt Street to York Way: very circuitous

POSSIBILITIES FOR THE ROUTE

• Sherriff Road: enable west-bound cycling
• use Compayne Gardens: two-way, no buses
• enable cyclists to turn left out of Compayne Gardens to get to Finchley Road
• improve Fairhazel Gardens contraflow, by removing parking on east side.
• provide more direct route through Swiss Cottage via Belsize Road, using two-way cycle crossing of Finchley Road, then going via Eton Avenue / Winchester Road; this could be combined with works to make the Belsize Road entrance to the underground station DDA compliant and generally more pedestrian friendly
• Queen’s Grove / Avenue Road: toucan crossing to enable cyclists to get to and from Elsworthy Road
• enable two-way cycling along northern half of Park Village East, with right turns into Parkway, with a view to making the Mornington Street-Plender Street route two way
• Miller Street / Camden High Street: toucan crossing, with two-way access
• avoid Pancras Way / Granary Street etc by using Royal College Street and the Somerstown Road route (LCN+ Link 28 – currently being upgraded), then Brill Place towards King’s Cross (the road system to the north of St Pancras and King’s Cross stations is now not as shown on the A-Z maps used)

Possible sources of funding?

• LCN+ Link 26 (CRISP underway: Mark Powers, Mark.Powers@jmp.co.uk)
• Olympic Development Authority (approaches to Regent’s Park, maybe over quite a wide radius) [via London Borough of Camden]
• TfL, if planning on making the entrances to Swiss Cottage underground station DDA compliant

For some photographs of parts of the proposed route, see the following:

Netherwood Street, Sherriff Road; Miller Street

Fairhazel Gardens, Canfield Gardens