Fears bridge works will hit shops’ trade
“This will mean a disaster for the shops and traders," Kentish Town Road Action group says
Friday, 25th August 2023 — By Dan Carrier
LONG tailbacks and closed shops is the grim future facing Kentish Town, according to residents and businesses as Network Rail announced another set of major road- works.
The rail firm says a bridge at the junction of Kentish Town Road and Leighton Road is in urgent need of repair – work is set to start in the first week of September and last until the spring.
The stretch of road has been closed numerous times in recent years for gas works and road strengthening, which engineers say is caused by the weight of traffic.
There have also been long-standing water mains issues at the junction of Prince of Wales Road, while the Tube station is shut for escalator works until next summer.
The New Journal has learned that since August 2021, the council have logged 168 different “utility works” from various contractors, though the figure includes more minor pavement repairs and lighting.
In a letter to MP Keir Starmer, Kentish Town Road Action chairwoman Caroline Hill said: “This will mean a disaster for the shops and traders in Kentish Town Road. They have struggled through the pandemic and many of them have continued trading by the skin of their teeth.
“But Network Rail’s plan will be the death knell of many shops. No buses or taxis will be able to drive up or down Kentish Town Road for months and no one will be able to reach Kentish Town by Tube for a year. Basically no one will be able to shop in or travel to Kentish Town for all this time except for those who live very close by.”
KTRA wants Network Rail to delay the work until after Kentish Town Tube station reopens next summer.
Network Rail sent a letter warning residents that the six-month project will cause major disruption, with lane and pavement closures, temporary traf- fic lights and noisy, late- night works.
The project also includes tricky engineering that will be done over the festive period with works going on 24 hours a day on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and December 27.
Fone Masters shopkeeper Sameer Sardari said the traffic jams were already putting people off visiting the high street.
He said: “Since the station closed it has been very quiet. They have closed the road already a few times in recent months and it really affects our trade. They should have given us decent notice – a lot of the shops here didn’t know anything about it until the New Journal told us. It’s no good – the constant roadworks and bringing business right down.”
Sami Dasht, who has run Aladdin’s Cave hardware store on the high street for 35 years, said: “We have had constant roadworks and we know it brings business right down.
“There must be a better way to plan this so it doesn’t have such an impact. The station closure is clearly hitting trade.”
Cab driver Mohamed Mohamoud, based at a cab service at Sainsbury’s, Camden gate.
“Kentish Town Road seems to be half-closed most of the time. We leave Sainsbury’s to join a queue of cars – and then return and do the same thing.
“We charge £6 for one job – and it will now take an hour, there and back, and in the meantime, we will lose fares as we are stuck in traffic.
“It’s another six months of headaches for us. Why can’t they do the work at night? Start at 10pm, go through to 6am, and then reopen the road.
“There must be a way of minimising the disruption. In its letter to residents, Network Rail said: “The nature of our work often means some disturbance is unavoidable. The team is aware they are working close to your property and will try to minimise unnecessary disruption as much as possible.”
