Islington - Upper Street

The consultation period for this section of Bus Route 38 ended on 31st July 2008

Executive Summary

The public consultation phase for Route 38 proposes a package of improvements along the Route 38 corridor. In total there are 13 consultation areas and this report presents the results of the recently completed consultation exercise for the Upper Street section of the route.

This consultation report specifically refers to nine proposals along Upper Street as detailed below, and can be seen in the consultation leaflet, Appendix A:

A – Relocate pedestrian crossing from the south of the junction with Liverpool Road to the north of it;
B – Relocate loading bay on the western side with extended hours of operation;
C – New 'shared surface' loading bays with extended hours of operation;
D – Footway widening by two metres on the eastern side of Upper Street;
E – Removal of one southbound traffic lane;
F – Widening of the southbound bus lane to four metres;
G – Bus lane operation extended to 24 hours a day;
H – New pedestrian crossing north of Islington Green and relocated pedestrian crossing south of Berners Road; and
I – Existing loading bay on the eastern side of Upper Street to be shortened to accommodate the new pedestrian crossing.

Of the 6,092 leaflets distributed for the Upper Street section of Route 38, a total of 604 questionnaires were returned; this is a 9.9% response rate.

Other media were also used to seek feedback including public exhibitions, a newspaper advertisement and the project website.

In addition to the leaflet questionnaires returned, a total of three letters, 14 emails and 14 website responses, 17 telephone calls and an additional 17 comments received from the public exhibitions from residents, interest groups, businesses and other organisations.

The duration of the consultation period was six weeks, commencing on Thursday 19th June and ending on Thursday 31st July, 2008. However, Atkins accepted leaflets until Wednesday 5th August 2008.

Respondents of the questionnaire were asked to indicate whether or not they supported the proposals for Upper Street. The overall questionnaire responses as shown in the figure overleaf indicate the following:

58% were in favour of the scheme proposals;
22% were not in favour; and
20% did not have any opinion.

Following consultation results, it is recommended that of the nine proposals, seven are to be taken forward without modifications. Proposal E is recommended, subject to further information being provided to the public, whilst Proposal G is under review. This is summarised in the table below.

Proposal Recommendation

Proposal	Description	Recommendation
A	Relocate pedestrian crossing facilities at Liverpool Road junction to the northern approach.	Recommended
B	Relocate existing loading bay on the west side near Liverpool Road a few metres south.	Recommended
C	New 'shared surface' loading bays with extended hours of operation – only possible with Proposal E.	Recommended - only if Proposal E is progressed
D	Widening of pedestrian footway on the east side of Upper Street between Duncan Street and Islington Green – only possible with Proposal E.	Recommended - only if Proposal E is progressed
E	Removal of one lane of traffic southbound	Recommended - Provisional Recommendation subject to further traffic analysis following completion of junction works*
F	Widening of southbound bus lane to four metres – only possible with Proposal E	Recommended - only if Proposal E is progressed
G	Bus lane operational hours extended to 24 hours a day	Under Review
H	Relocate pedestrian crossing facilities at Berners Road junction to the southern approach in order to accommodate the new pedestrian crossing north of Islington Green junction.	Recommended
I	Existing loading bay to be shortened by four metres to accommodate a new pedestrian crossing.	Recommended

* As the construction sequence will involve the junction changes being carried out first, and the footway widening last, there will be an opportunity to assess the actual traffic flows that arise following the junction changes (it is proposed junction changes that bring about the improved traffic flow). These observed flows can then be fed back into the traffic model to double check the initial assessment that the traffic lane removal will work.

Response Overview

Respondents of the questionnaire were asked to indicate whether or not they supported changes to pedestrian facilities, parking and loading, general traffic, bus lanes and public space. The overall questionnaire responses indicate the following:

Approximately 58% are in favour of the scheme proposals;
Approximately 22% are not in favour; and
The remaining 20% did not have any opinion.

The Figure below shows an overview of the responses to all questions asked.

Overview of Responses to all Proposals

From the Figure above, it was noted that:

Of the nine proposals, eight received more support than opposition;

Proposal E, regarding the removal of one general traffic lane, received 46% against compared to 39% in favour of the proposal;
Proposal A, regarding the relocation of the pedestrian crossing to the north arm, received the highest positive response with 83% in favour;
The second highest negative response was received for Proposal F, regarding widening of the bus lane, with 35% not in favour of the proposal;
Proposal B, regarding the relocation of the loading bay, received the highest number of ‘no opinion’ responses, at 44%; and
The additional pedestrian crossing and relocation of an existing pedestrian crossing at Islington Green and Berners Road received 79% in favour, with 9% against.

What Next?

The next steps in the process are as follows:

17th November 2008 - London Borough of Islington, South Area Committee, location tbc;
November 2008: TfL approval (subject to budget, technical review and consultation feedback);
December 2008 to March 2009: Detailed Design; and
March 2009 to November 2009: Construction (tbc).

If you want further details about these proposals, please download a copy of the
Street consultation leaflet.

These leaflets have been distributed to all properties in the following area and to local and statutory groups, emergency services and ward councillors.

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