Background
Cyclists have been involved in many accidents at Old Street roundabout: see Islington Gazette on February 25th. There are few north/south routes from the middle of Islington to the City that avoid Old Street Roundabout. One alternative is Bath Street and Bunhill Row. A steady trickle of cyclists (one per minute on Mar 8th 2011) illegally cycle south down Bunhill Row every morning in preference to cycling down the parallel and very busy City Rd. ICAG wants to make Bunhill Row two way for cyclists along its whole length.
View ICAG Hazards in a larger map
Recent News
27-Sep-2012 Bunhill Row is now two way for cyclists
20-Feb-2012 Islington Council plans out for consultation.
19-Mar-2011 Update: Cllr Claudia Webbe is on the case and has emailed all those that have contacted her.
26-Mar-2011 Update: South Area Committee has given conditional support to this proposal but funding hasn’t yet been found.
8-apr-2011 Councillor Claudia Webbe calls for cycle lane at Old Street roundabout in Islington Tribune.. Hurray!
18-May-2011 A report of a cyclist being ticketed outside of City University ’s Cass Business School on Bunhill Row for going the wrong direction.
23-Jun-2011 Bike week ‘cool down’ event held at the top of Bunhill Row. During bike week over 300 supporting signatures collected for petition. Labour party news and comment from Claudia Webbe.
5-Jul-2011 Funding for Bunhill Row approved in 2011 Ward Improvement Plans by council executive.
14-Jul-2011 Formal response from Islington Council to ICAG’s petition.
15-Jul-2011 New £176,000 cycle revamp in Finsbury
Take Action (closed now)
If you:
- live in Bunhill Ward
- work at a company is in Bunhill Ward
- cycle up Bunhill Row every weekday
- cycle around Old Street roundabout every weekday
…please use the form below to send an email to Claudia Webbe, a councillor in the Bunhill ward in Islington. If none of the criteria above apply to you, please DO NOT send an email.
Then click on the send button. ICAG will also receive a copy.
..take action removed..
History
ICAG has been asking for a southbound contraflow cycle to be added to Bunhill Row for over 10 years.
In 1998 a Section 106 Agreement with developer Helical Bar (Chiswell Street) Ltd listed £500,000 for a Traffic Management Scheme including a cycle contraflow in Bunhill Row, a popular cycle route. Subsequent spending excluded a cycle contraflow (thanks Leo for this useful history).
In May 2009, a feasibility study was undertaken.
In November 2009, ICAG reviewed several sets of drawings for Bunhill Row prepared by consultants Project Centre. We were presented with two options: one with a contraflow 1.25m cycle lane and another without cycle lane markings. After much internal discussion about whether a cycle lane was needed, ICAG insisted on a marked cycle lane with 1.5m width (as required by London Cycle Design Standards).
On November 25th 2009, council officers told us
- there was no identified funding for implementation of this scheme. Even though there was money for permeability schemes, it wasn’t prioritised very high in the council list.
- they were under pressure from senior management to maintain car parking space to maintain revenue and there was local political pressure as well, thus the need for a compromise.
After some discussion, council officers said they would come up with another scheme with a 1.5m lane but it would require more parking to be removed as well as a scheme without the cycle lane markings. On 28th Jan 2010, Project Centre sent us those new drawings.
Feb 2010 various emails indicate that consultation costs had reached £60,000.
Feb 11th 2010 council officers say scheme with 1.5m cycle lane will cost £200K and ‘light touch’ no cycle lane option will cost £50K.
Feb 12th 2010 council officers say that Bunhill Row has low priority in list of permeability schemes, total budget for all permeability schemes is £250,000 (presume slipped from 2009/10). ICAG queried why it was still low priority given that it was ICAG’s number one priority.
In spring 2010 the council officer managing the scheme left the council.
Jan 2011, another officer is working on a light touch scheme but there are no implementation plans.