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London Cycling Campaign and Dutch engineering firm Witteveen + Bos UK are set to unveil the London Boulevard to the public and select VIPs during Clerkenwell Design Week on May 24th.
London Cycling Campaign CEO Ashok Sinha and infrastructure campaigner Simon Munk will present LCC’s vision for London Boulevard – the corridor stretching from Old Street to Tottenham Court Road – with an exhibition detailing the project and a cutting-edge virtual reality simulation of one of the key junctions on the London Boulevard.
The route consists of roads stretching from Old Street to Tottenham Court Road – Old Street, Clerkenwell Road, Theobalds Road, Bloomsbury Way and New Oxford Street. It already sees as many people cycling on it as the Cycle Superhighways, yet the walking and cycling environment is overwhelmingly hostile – polluted, noisy, narrow pavements, and some of the worst junctions for collisions in central London.
“The London Boulevard should be an exemplar of the Mayor’s new ‘Healthy Streets’ programme. Connecting with removing motor vehicles from Oxford Street, the London Boulevard will open up a corridor linking Hyde Park to Silicon Roundabout that will showcase London’s determination to be a walking and cycling city. The Mayor, Camden, Islington and TfL should grab the opportunity to make London better in a way that will set an example to capital cities everywhere,” said London Cycling Campaign CEO Ashok Sinha.
The London Boulevard has the potential to be a true “Healthy Street”, where walking and cycling are given appropriate space as the primary modes of transport, where buses are low or zero emission, where freight and deliveries are “consolidated” to reduce vehicle movements and where trees, rest stops and public realm improvements create places to linger, rather than to rush through.
