UPDATE
So... it's decided. Or, in the language of the council 'Recommendations Approved'.
Next Wednesday, 27 June, at 6pm in Town Hall Committee Room 4 (the old town hall in Judd Street), there will be a public meeting with Council Leader Georgia Gould. The main agenda items are described as ‘proposed walking and cycling improvements’. They are explained in a Council paper here.
The plan is, first, to close the north end of Judd Street to all motor vehicles. There will be no entry or exit to or from the Euston Road. The only entry to the area from the north will be along Duke's Road. Traffic needing to go west from Judd Street will have to take a much longer route than now, taking a route east to Grays Inn Road and then onto Euston Road.
The second proposal is to remove a landscaped traffic island at the south end of Hunter Street (the continuation of Judd Street) and close off Lansdowne Terrace to ‘create new urban space’ beside Brunswick Square.
The council claims that these measures will decrease pollution and are therefore an improvement for pedestrians and cyclists. But making vehicles travel further and pushing more traffic onto Euston Road, Grays Inn Road, Woburn Place and Southampton Row can only increase the congestion and therefore add to the already high pollution levels. BRAG and others will be making deputations next Wednesday.
If you are as concerned about these proposals as we are, please consider attending next Wednesday’s meeting to show the Council that there is strong local feeling. The Council should be planning road changes to help all stakeholders – residents and businesses, not just cyclists and pedestrians.
Proposals:
- To close Judd Street to all vehicular traffic at the junction with Euston Road. North end of Judd Street.
- To close and pave over Lansdowne Terrace at South end of Hunter/Judd Street
- To remove the traffic island at the corner of Brunswick Square by the Brunswick Centre