There is a new consultation on a section of the Kings Cross Gyratory running, and TFL is asking for residents’ and through-travelers’ feedback.

“There have been plans to make significant improvements to the area around Kings Cross and the gyratory for several years” we can read in the introduction of this new consultation by Transport for London (TFL) for part of Kings Cross.

Years? More like decades to many of us, and we can prove it!

But that put aside, here we are, being asked yet one more time to raise once again our expectations, by giving our critical suggestions for improvements, at least for one end of the gyratory, namely the junction Pentonville Road / Kings Cross Road / Northdown Street.

Will it be different now? We can only hope.

Whilst this particular section of the Kings Cross Gyratory is indeed a well-known trouble spot, especially for pedestrians and exposed cyclists, the proposal begs residents’ and visitors’ careful reading. This is not the least because it involves only a single section of the gyratory.

TFL are at least transparent about the fact that there was a consultation in 2017 and a plan, which came after years of lobbying and pressure on then-Mayor Boris Johnson and TFL, following cycle deaths (Min Joo “Deep” Lee, Madelaine Rosie Wright, Jerome Roussel, Emma Foa, Wendy Gay) on our roads on top of hair-rising reports on air and noise pollution.

It is to be remembered that in 2017 plans were then ready to be delivered. Whilst there was some critique, as there always would be, Evening Standard and a well-read cycling blog called it radical at the time. Even Sadiq Khan told us later, he would deliver it, subject to funding. But funding never came, nor did the changes.

TFL and the community may have to be pragmatic in times of economic budget shortfalls (note, the same problem in 2015 see this report by our own brilliant Sophie Talbot). But there are some essential questions:

Does the proposal connect to the rest of the gyratory and justify an isolated step-by-step change of the gyratory?

To what extent do the proposals as suggested in the model solve problems at this spot?

At least TFL have not forgotten the gyratory and the people who died here, nor those who have to live with the gyratory – not that it was without the community reminding stakeholders regularly and persistently of their obligations.

TFL say they will consult properly, meet people, and following any input, one can only hope that TFL will continue on that basis.

Many on this blog have argued that the gyratory as a whole needs to be addressed, and presumably, that is even more important since St Pancras became an international station, but also due to the extensive development of Kings Cross North and because of the vision of Kings Cross being part of the London Knowledge Hub, besides Kings Cross / St Pancras linking up multiple train, bus and tube networks. It means that the area is denser and more populated than ever before.

Click here for the consultation https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/kings-cross-improvements