TfL unveils plans to add space for cycling to Archway gyratory

Town planners are increasingly acknowledging that many high-speed one-way systems created in the sixties were bad designs, turning town centres into huge roundabouts hostile to people and with a negative effect on businesses. The latest to come under the spotlight is London's Archway gyratory, for which Transport for London has just published plans for a revamp.

The proposed restructure will provide segregated cycle routes and new public space in what Tfl is calling a "radical redesign".

The plans have been drawn up by TfL and Islington Council as part of TfL's £4 billion Road Modernisation Plan.

The new layout, which started consultation today, would see the out of date gyratory replaced with two-way traffic lanes around three sides of the central island.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, according to TfL.

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.”

Details of the plans are available on TfL's consultation site.