Design for crossing by Malet Street

Some cyclists using the Seven Stations Link (SSL) have commented on the awkwardness, coming from the east, of making the left turn from Torrington Place into Malet Street, where there is a new cycle gap in the no-entry plug to enable us to bypass the no-entry. This is the junction between the SSL and LCN+ Route 6. The manoeuvre is difficult because the pedestrian crossing forces cyclists to make a very sharp turn.

CCC discussed this with Camden Council officer Dave Stewart. He suggested we should propose an improvement.

StreetMap location

One solution would be to move the pedestrian crossing a little to the east, to give cyclists more space to make their turn. However, the needs (and behaviour) of the many pedestrians in the area militate against this.

A better idea, I think, would be to design in a manoeuvre which I (and quite a few other cyclists) already make, which is to use the speed table where Torrington Place meets Byng Place to cross from the cycle track at the north to the west bound traffic lane. This then positions one nicely to make the left turn into Malet

The speed table is midway between two pedestrian crossings, which help to slow motor traffic down, thereby making the crossing easy to achieve.

The problem is knowing how to design this manoeuvre in.

What would be needed is some way of indicating to cyclists coming from the east that if they want to head down towards the British Museum they should turn off the SSL at the speed table in order then to turn left into Malet Street. The device would have (a) to be clear to cyclists; (b) not encourage them to throw themselves in front of on-coming traffic, and (c) not contravene traffic regulations.

For example, a green painted cycle track across the speed table would satisfy (a) but fail (b) and presumably (c). But it would surely be possible to think up something similar which would work. Perhaps a green painted cycle lane along the south side of Torrington Place between the speed table and Malet Street, combined with a painted arrow sign by the SSL on the north side of the table?

It would be good to have some workable feature here, as this is an important junction for cyclists. Any thoughts?

Response from John Chamberlain

I had a look at the area again, and although I agree that Meade’s suggestion of a cycle crossing point further back on Byng Place would be the most convenient I cannot see how it could be legally designed. What I did notice was that if the Zebra crossing was moved eastwards, within the bounds of the existing island, there could be a short protected left-turn area for cyclists in the current position of the zebra. This would make the turn into Malet Street less abrupt and give protection from oncoming traffic, while requiring minimal engineering work (mainly moving the signage plus changing road markings). I’ll send Meade a diagram – he can put it on the website if he thinks it has merit!

Meade's comment on John's suggestion

Yes, this would be perfectly suitable for cyclists, but not for the large numbers of pedestrians (of whom I am one!) who use the crossing to get in and out of UCL via Malet Place to the north. The zebra is currently in just about the most sensible location, enabling a more or less straight line crossing of Torrington Place. Moving it eastwards will make for an awkward and inconvenient crossing. Many pedestrians will ignore it and even more than already will clog up the cycle track!

Comment from Jean Dollimore

The original consultation propsed re-aligning the crossing but that was not implemented. See the drawing here.

When we revisted that design, Meade said: However, I'm not happy with monkeying around with the pedestrian crossing - pededstrians coming south from UCL aren't going to zig-zag to cross the road - many of them already flow across the road in what ever way they feel like - pushing the crossing further to the east will only make matters worse. What about designing in the manoeuvre Stefano and I (and others) already do? That is the design proposed by Meade above.