TfL reveals first London junctions being reviewed - but they're not, as The Times says, "the most dangerous"

Transport for London (TfL) has issued a list of the first 39 junctions in the capital it is prioritising under the review of cycle safety ordered by Mayor Boris Johnson in November last year. Of those, 25 are on existing Barclays Cycle Superhighways, while the other 14 are elsewhere on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN). The latter have been described by The Times today as “the most dangerous junctions in London,” although that is not in fact the case.

Instead, the junctions are those that have been prioritised for review by TfL following consultation with representatives of groups including cycle campaigners, and the list is very different to that of the junctions featured on the Tour du Danger flash ride held last November.

Seven of the 14 junctions on the TLRN list published today by TfL, for example, are located in Tottenham, with a TfL spokesman confirming to road.cc that the logistics of an exercise that includes 375 Barclays Cycle Superhighway junctions and a further 150 on existing or planned TLRN roads means it made sense to review all relevant junctions in that area in one go.

The map by road.cc accompanying this article shows the 14 TLRN junctions in red, the 25 on Barclays Cycle Superhighways in green, and the ten visited in the Tour du Danger in blue, and suggests that for now at least, some of the junctions in the city centre viewed by campaigners as presenting the greatest risk to cyclists will not be assessed just yet. A list of those junctions appears at the end of this article.

Although not mentioned by TfL in today’s press release, the Bow Roundabout and King’s Cross Gyratory system, both locations where cyclists have been killed in recent months, are the subject of separate reviews.

According to TfL, the 14 junctions that are the first to be reviewed on the TLRN were “were prioritised using a range of criteria including cycle collision statistics.” They include Highbury Corner and the Stockwell Gyratory.

The 25 junctions being reviewed on the four Barclays Cycle Superhighways “have been prioritised using a combination of customer feedback, post-launch road safety audits and collision data,” and include the Stockwell Gyratory again, Cable Street, and Grove Road/Burdett Road.

Commenting on today’s update, Mr Johnson, said: “We are seeing a step-change in both the way that people choose to travel, but also in the way that cyclists are viewed on our streets.

“That is why I firmly believe that we must now start to evolve the means by which we plan and manage our extensive network of roads, and why I have asked TfL to review hundreds of key junctions across the capital to specifically examine safety and provision for cyclists.”

While any eventual improvements to junctions will have to wait until after the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, TfL has confirmed that it plans to have begun work at Bow, potentially including a cyclists-only traffic light phase, in April, and that it also intends to improve the safety of pedestrians at the junction.

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL said: “Improving safety for cyclists in London has always been a key focus for TfL whenever designing or implementing any improvements to our road network.

“By getting key stakeholders from road user groups involved as part of our junction review process, we can build on the good work and skills-base already available to ensure London becomes an even more world class city for cyclists.”

While TfL has attracted strong criticism from London politicians and cycle campaigners regarding issues such as junction design and ignoring safety recommendations in reports it had itself commissioned into the King’s Cross and Bow junctions, Sustrans has said it supports the current safety review.

“We’re very supportive of what [TfL] have done so far,” a spokesman for the sustainable transport charity told The Times, adding that local authorities elsewhere in the UK could learn lessons from it. “A nationwide review of busy junctions and accident hot spots could help prevent countless avoidable collsions,” he added.

Sustrans is one of the groups represented on TfL’s steering committee that is working with it on the review, alongside the Freight Transport Association, Living Streets, the London Cycling Campaign, Roadpeace, the Road Haulage Association, the Institute of Advanced Motorists, the Local Government Technical Advisers Group, and the Metropolitan Police.

Junctions included on November 2011’s Tour du Danger

A. St. George's Road/London Road/ Elephant & Castle Junction Southwark
B. Clapham Road/ Kennington Park Road/ Camberwell Road Junction
C. Strand/Northumberland Avenue/Whitehall Junction
D. Waterloo Road/ Stamford St/ York Road Junction
E. Mansion House St/Princes St/ Threadneedle St
F. Elephant & Castle/Newington Butts Roundabout
G. Hyde Park Corner Westminster
H. Millbank/Lambeth Bridge Junction
I. Clerkenwell Road/Farringdon Road Junction (via Kings Cross)
J. Albert Embankment/Kennington Lane/ Wandsworth Road Junction

Junctions on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) where review
work has already started: 

1. Albert Embankment (Lambeth Bridge/Lambeth Road) (Lambeth)
2. Euston Circus (Euston Road / Tottenham Court Road / Hampstead
Road) (Camden)
3. Highbury Corner (Islington)
4. Monument Way / The Hale (Haringey)
5. Queens Road / Asylum Road Southwark
6. St George’s Circus (Blackfriars Road / London Road / Borough Road) (Southwark)
7. Swiss Cottage Gyratory (Camden)
8. The Hale / Broad Lane (Haringey)
9. Tottenham High Road / Monument Way (Haringey)
10. Tottenham High Road / Philip Lane (Haringey)
11. Tottenham High Road / Seven Sisters Road (Haringey)
12. Tottenham High Road / Town Hall Approach Road (Haringey)
13. Tottenham High Road / West Green Road (Haringey)
14. Waterloo (including IMAX roundabout – York Road / Stamford Road
/ Waterloo Road / Waterloo Bridge) (Lambeth)

Junctions on Barclays Cycle Superhighways  (CS) where review work has
already started (source: TfL)

15. Aldgate Gyratory (Mansell Street) CS2
16. Balham station CS7
17. Barchard Street (east) CS8
18. Cable Street CS3
19. Cambridge Heath Road / Sidney Street CS2
20. Carriage Drive North CS8
21. Chelsea Bridge / Grosvenor Road CS8
22. Clapham Common / The Pavement CS7
23. Clapham South CS7
24. Claverton Street / Aylesford Street CS8
25. Commercial Road CS2
26. Commercial Street / Leman St CS2
27. Globe Road / White Horse Lane CS2
28. Grove Road / Burdett Road CS2
29. Grosvenor Road Petrol Station  CS8
30. Horseferry Road CS3
31. Lambeth Bridge (northern roundabout) CS8
32. Lupus Street CS8
33. Mansell Street CS3
34. Oval triangle CS7
35. Queens Circus roundabout CS8
36. Stockwell Gyratory CS7
37. Vallance Road CS2
38. Vauxhall Bridge / Grosvenor Road CS8
39. Wandsworth Gyratory (Armoury Way / Old York Road) CS8