Segregated cycle routes and new public space proposed in radical redesign of Archway gyratory

Plans to radically redesign Archway gyratory, transforming the area for all road users and creating a new public space for all to enjoy, have been announced by the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) as part of the £4 billion Road Modernisation Plan. TfL and Islington Council have worked together to ensure that the proposals for Archway gyratory maximise benefits for all road users, and residents.  

The new layout, which started consultation today, would see the out of date gyratory replaced with two-way traffic lanes around three sides of the central island.  The fourth side would be closed off to traffic, creating a new, open public space at the heart of the town. Segregated cycle lanes, including a two-way cycle route past the station and improved pedestrian crossings would also be introduced, creating safer and direct routes through the area.  

The new public space outside Archway Tube station would make it easier for people to access local businesses and help create an improved, more accessible town centre that would help attract further investment into the area. As part of this wider scheme, London Underground will also look to improve the ticketing hall of Archway station in the coming years to improve the customer experience within the station.   Subject to the outcome of the consultation, construction could begin as early as 2016 and fully delivered during 2017.  

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: `The Archway gyratory is a notorious, badly designed relic of the 1960s, which residents, businesses and road users have long wanted overhauled. We have worked closely with Islington Council on these plans and with segregated cycle lanes and improved pedestrian crossings this ambitious scheme is set to give Archway the facelift it deserves.`

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: `The Archway gyratory has been the bane of drivers, cyclists and bus passengers for many years. This scheme would bring the antiquated road layout into the 21st Century, creating a new public space to benefit local residents and businesses, as well as make it easier and safer for people to travel through the area.`  

Cllr Claudia Webbe, Islington Council's executive member for environment and transport, said: `We are pleased local people now have the opportunity to have their say on TfL's Archway gyratory plans.   "The council and the local community have long campaigned for improvements to be made to this busy and dangerous one-way road system.   

`We feel the latest design provides some real opportunities and benefits for the local community and will help to regenerate the area providing a new public open space and safer pedestrian routes, improving resident access to the businesses on the Archway island as well as giving cyclists a safer passage through the junction.   "We want local residents and businesses to have their say on the proposals, and will ensure that TfL listen very carefully to these views.` 

The proposed changes to Archway gyratory would form part of the wider work being carried out across London as part of TfL's Road Modernisation Plan. With a budget of over £4 billion from now until 2020/21, this overarching plan represents the biggest investment in London's roads in a generation, including hundreds of transformational projects within the existing road network. Using radical ideas and innovative designs, the plan will make London's roads greener, safer and more attractive for the benefit of all road users.   Further information and details of how to respond to the consultation are available here: www.tfl.gov.uk/archway-gyratory

For more information on TfL's Road Modernisation Plan, please visit www.tfl.gov.uk/roads

In March 2013, the Mayor launched his Vision for Cycling in London, which detailed his £913m programme to improve infrastructure and safety for cyclists in the capital - www.tfl.gov.uk/cyclingvision

Traffic impact assessment modelling by TfL has shown that as well as benefits to cyclists and pedestrians, these proposals would mean some changes to journey times for traffic, with some bus and road journeys getting shorter and some getting longer by less than a minute. The only marked increase would be to traffic heading North on the A1 in the morning, which may take up to just under five minutes longer to travel through the area

TfL is now working to mitigate the impact to journeys through the area to ensure delays are kept to a minimum, and to improve journey times where possible. A wider traffic management plan for central and inner London is currently being developed to help reduce the traffic impacts of this scheme and others. This will include investing in advanced traffic signal technology to better manage traffic depending on differing conditions at any given time.  Updated information would also be provided to satellite navigation companies so that devices can incorporate changed routes through the area, once the scheme is delivered.