The Planning Issues

Our aim is to try to reflect as closely as possible what the community tells us they want for Archway, so please Contact us.

Rebuilding or Regeneration

Who Should Develop the Site

Type and Scale of Redevelopment

Buildings and Open Space

Dominant Type of Accommodation

Types of Retail Units and Space

Other Types of Retail Unit (non-food)

Leisure and Community facilities

Public Transport

Road Layouts and the Roundabout

Strategic changes to improve the wider area

Road Layout (what to do about the roundabout)

The current road scheme between the Holloway Road, bottom of Highgate Hill, and the Archway Road is known as a gyratory system. These were designed at a time when the objective was to prioritise car traffic over other traffic or pedestrians.

Now that traffic levels have risen and side roads are being cut off to passing traffic, gyratory systems cannot cope with the number of vehicles they have to handle and frequently become gridlocked. This is the case at Archway, which London First found to be the fifth most congested spot in London.

The solution, broadly accepted by all parties, is to remove the round-about and route both north and southbound A1 traffic to the east (far) side. This would reduce the number of traffic junctions traffic has to cross, and get rid of the box junctions which promote gridlock.

Further variants have been suggested for roads feeding into the gyratory system (see below).

Removing the gyratory system - do it now or wait and do it as part of the redevelopment?
The council is seeking to make re-routing the road part of a major redevelopment of the Archway area, and to get the work paid for by a private developer. The basic issue of re-routing the A1 is not in fact dependent on any major building work or demolition taking place. However, rolling it all into the same project for a private developer can make the road re-routing work profitable for the council (see Who Should Develop the Site).

Redevelopment options	Pros	Cons
As part of the overall redevelopment.	The developer would pay rather than Transport for London or Islington Council, so would not use taxpayers’ money.	The cost to the developer would have to be recouped by building more on the site (e.g. higher buildings). Bundling the two issues together means it will take until around 2017 before the road problems are addressed.
	Changes to the road layout would be designed as part of the overall scheme so could fit better.	There are limited options in terms of moving roads - it is likely they will broadly remain where they are. The main differences are that they could be used differently.
Doing it now as a separate project.	It may be ten years before the redevelopment is even started. Removing the gyratory system would have immediate positive effect on the feel of the area, improving pedestrian access and crossings, and making the island more accessible. Traffic would flow more freely - fewer hold-ups, blocked boxed junctions etc. An opportunity to try out two of the options (all traffic taken around the back of the island or cars around the back and buses still going through between the island and the tower) in order to determine what works best before making a final commitment when the area is redeveloped. TfL, English Partnerships or other public funding could pay for this as Islington does not have the money.	Minor changes might be required in several years’ time as part of the any rebuilding work affecting the entire site. Public funding would be required.
Options for rerouting the main roads and ‘recapturing’ the roundabout.
Leave things as they are.	No disruption during works.	Environment dominated by motor traffic at expense of pedestrians. Reaching the middle of roundabout on foot or moving across the roundabout in any direction (St John’s Way to Junction Road, Holloway Road to Highgate Hill etc) requires multiple road crossings. It is often inconvenient when changing buses or to the tube. Residents east of the A1 (e.g. in Whitehall Park) are deterred from using Junction Road/Archway shops because they are inconvenient to reach.
Route all traffic around the back/east of the island in a two-way road. Make current road area between tower and island into public open space, ‘town square’. Bus stops currently beside the tower could move to the new road running behind the Methodist church (demolish vacant hall to make lay-by bus stop)	The entire area within the road network becomes pedestrian-friendly. The island is linked to the main site and is totally pedestrian accessible. The current mall space (by Post Office, in front of Fads) could be made available for building on. More land for building might mean lower-rise development. Owners of the unlettable hall behind Methodist Church/charity shop solve their problem!	Bus stops are further away from the tube station, and less convenient for some passengers swapping from one to the other. Buses could block the road when pulling into and out of stops. Building in the Mall area between the Post Office and the tower removes existing public open space. This is contrary to planning guidance rules (PPG17). Traffic would have to move around the edges of this pedestrian island. This could mean Macdonald and Vorley Roads becoming much busier.
Route cars and lorries around the back of the island in a two-way road. Only buses would continue to use the road between tower and island. ‘Pinch points’ at either end of bus-only section would facilitate pedestrian crossing to the island.	Bus stops would be near the tube station and each other. The area would be more pedestrian-friendly. Buses would be able to manoeuvre in and out of stops and overtake one another without blocking the road to cars. Non bus traffic would flow more freely and faster. Keeping the ‘town square’ area of public open space within the main site (i.e. more or less where it is now) would avoid a block of dense buildings covering the entire site.	This would rule out the option of using Lower Highgate Hill as a pedestrian open space - but Archway Close could be pedestrianised.
An optional addition to the above would be to move the bus stops currently in front of Post Office around the corner to beside the tower.	Moving bus stops to a dedicated area might free up road space and allow for pavement widening at key points such as outside the Co-op.	People getting off at the relocated stops would have to walk back to get to the shops along Junction Road and the Post Office.
Radical road realignment. (Option 3 in Islington Council’s consultation leaflet) ie: 1) Re-route the A1. The empty hall behind the Methodist Church would be demolished to make the A1 straighter between the bottom of the Archway Road and the top of the Holloway Road. 2) Pedestrianise Lower Highgate Hill to be used as public open space. 3) Close Junction Road to traffic from Vorley Road to the north end. Send traffic between Junction Road and Highgate Hill and St John’s Way along a new road to be built through the middle of the current Mall site.	When road changes are considered integral to a redevelopment scheme, the developer responsible has to pay for it as part of their overall redevelopment of the site. This means neither Islington Council nor Transport for London have to find the funding. Land freed up by the road changes are the council’s to sell to the developer - generating extra profit. (One likely option under this scheme would be a triangle of land, currently road, created where at the moment St Johns Way meets the gyratory system.) Pedestrianising the top of Junction Road would make it more pleasant.	Using Macdonald and Vorley Roads for two-way traffic will cause problems to the Early Years Centre and residents of the Girdlestone Estate. Closing Highgate Hill and creating an alternative route through what is currently the centre of the Mall will not in practice extend the area for pedestrians, but just shift it further east, towards the current island. If the new ‘mall’ road were built and Macdonald and Vorley Roads remained as they are now, this would leave land sandwiched between several roads. It would also reduce the amount of land available for pedestrians. Under this scheme the island is rejoined to the main site, but the back is lopped off and this, together with a road through the centre of the mall would mean the heart of Archway would actually be reduced in size. Pedestrianised public spaces can become dangerous after dark. Even in Soho a little road traffic is encouraged, partly for those reasons.
	Inhabitants at the end of St Johns Way would no longer see a constant flow of slow traffic in front of their houses as it queues to get onto the gyratory system.	These residents would probably lose the afternoon sun from the size of new buildings likely for the main site.

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