The new layout planned for Holborn

FURTHER plans to make Holborn safer for cycling after eight deaths on the roads have finally been revealed.

Camden Council and Transport for London are looking to create a new protected cycle lane and a separate traffic light system at the junction of High Holborn and Procter Street, where lawyer Shatha Ali died in a collision with a lorry in March.

The number of lanes for car traffic will be reduced in Procter Street and Drake Street under the new proposals, and a cycle lane added.

Jean Dollimore, from the Camden Cycling Campaign, said: “The scheme would do a very good job of making it safe in that part of the road. I think everybody was pretty impressed actually. “Now and again I cycle through that area but I mean, I would definitely avoid those dangerous junctions.”

She added: “If I was going to cycle in the area, there’s a quiet route down Red Lion Street. That’s the way I would go.”

Alan Neve died near the tube station in High Holborn in 2013, while Peter Fisher was killed nearby 2018. In the wider network of one-way roads around Holborn, there have been eight deaths including five around the crossover at Southampton Road

“The plans are as good as they can be for now but aren’t as good as they would be if the whole gyratory was taken out,” said Ms Dollimore. “Some people are turning one way and some are turning the other and cyclists seem to get tangled up in it. I think this is why so many cyclists have been killed in this area because it’s all changing directions.”

Councillor Adam Harrison, Camden’s environment chief

Camden’s environment chief Labour councillor Adam Harrison said he welcomed the plans: “The Holborn area has long needed extensive road safety improvements. Our thoughts are with the families, friends and former colleagues of cyclists who have died on the roads here.”

But he added: “We ultimately still want to remove the 1960s-style gyratory system in Holborn, and elsewhere in Camden, such as at Swiss Cottage and King’s Cross. “The removal of the Tottenham Court Road-Gower Street gyratory as part of the West End Project is an example of the transformation possible through such change, making an area safer, greener, and more attractive to spend time in.”

Jakub Mamczak, campaigns officer at London Cycling Campaign, said the plans were “another step forward” in tackling one of London’s most dangerous junctions but added “more still needs to be done by Camden and TfL to make the area safer and better for people walking, cycling and wheeling”.

He added: “While the speed with which these improvements have come forward is welcome, it should not take a fatality each time to trigger changes.” For more information on the plans and to comment visit: https://consultations.wearecamden.org/supporting-communities/high-holborn-drake-street-proctor-street/

The consultation survey closes on November 11.