Transport for London has just launched a glossy and expensive consultation on the Swiss Cottage gyratory system. Looking at the pack they have sent out you would think that they were planning to rework the whole area. But not a bit of it. The “consultation” amounts to little more than a couple of minor bus stop changes. Groups like the Camden Cycling Campaign and the Belsize Residents Association, who have suggested a host of constructive changes, appear to have been completely ignored.
Yet the Swiss Cottage gyratory is in terrible need of a rethink. It is a huge physical blockage between east and west. It was designed for vehicles not people. Cyclists take their life in their hands when they try to negotiate it. Let’s see some imagination. Look at Paris. The “peripherique” motorway running around Paris now has parkland over parts of it thereby linking inner and outer Paris. Imagine if you could walk over the Swiss Cottage gyratory system on grass!
More importantly let’s see some real consultation from TfL. Traditionally they have been concerned by traffic flow and bus lanes rather than the aspirations of local residents, pedestrians or cyclists. That has got to change.
No comments:
Post a Comment