The junction near Shoreditch High Street is among London’s most dangerous, according to the Walking and Cycling Commissioner, and the proposals are at the final report stage
Fourteen Collisions in Three Years: TfL’s Plan to Ban Left Turns at Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road
The junction near Shoreditch High Street is among London’s most dangerous, according to the Walking and Cycling Commissioner, and the proposals are at the final report stage
By Harper-Thames, Shoreditch correspondent
What TfL Proposed
Transport for London opened a consultation on 16 December 2024 on changes to the junction of Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road in Shoreditch, closing on 10 February 2025, according to the TfL newsroom and the consultation page. The proposals include a ban on left turns for motor vehicles between Curtain Road and Great Eastern Street in both directions, with cyclists still allowed to turn left; advanced stop lines up to 7.5 metres deep for cyclists; a toucan crossing on Curtain Road just north of New Inn Yard; and new pedestrian crossings where Curtain Road meets Scrutton Street and Holywell Lane.
The page also lists a signalised crossing on the western side of Holywell Lane at Great Eastern Street, a crossing widened from 3 to 4 metres, removal of the traffic island and left-turn slip road, a wider footway on Curtain Road, a general traffic lane on Curtain Road between Scrutton Street and Great Eastern Street reallocated to pedestrians, and redesigned raised entry tables at Charlotte Street, Leonard Street and Phipp Street.
The Safety Record
TfL’s newsroom statement gives collision figures for the three years to 30 June 2024 at the Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road junction: 14 collisions in total, one fatal collision involving a pedestrian in 2022, and six serious collisions, four involving cyclists and two involving pedestrians. The consultation page gives a longer injury list for the junction, including 10 cyclists hurt, four of them seriously, and three pedestrians hurt, two seriously and one killed, without stating the period, so I rely on the newsroom’s three-year figures.
For the wider junction of Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch High Street and Commercial Street, the page lists 26 collisions and 30 people hurt, again without giving a time period. TfL says it will hold a further consultation on that junction, with only early design ideas published so far.
The Officials
Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said the junctions are among the most dangerous in London and urged residents to respond before the deadline. Penny Rees, TfL’s Head of Healthy Streets Investment, said the improvements “would enable more people to safely walk and cycle in Hackney.”
Cllr Sarah Young, Hackney’s cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport, noted that “More people cycle in Hackney than any other part of London” and said the proposals support the council’s goals for greener, healthier streets.
Where It Stands
The consultation page says responses have been reviewed and a consultation report published, and the project is at the final report stage. It does not mention project costs, and I have found no construction date. That means the proposals are not yet built, and the details may have changed since the consultation.
Anyone who relies on the junction, on foot, on a bike, in a bus or a taxi, should check TfL’s page for the latest status before assuming anything.
What the Changes Would Do
A left-turn ban removes a movement that puts turning vehicles across the path of cyclists and pedestrians. Advanced stop lines give cyclists a place to wait ahead of traffic. Crossings with countdown indicators help pedestrians judge how long they have. Each of these is a recognised measure, and the consultation sets them out as a package.
The cost to drivers is a longer route or a different turn. Taxi and bus operators were among those consulted, and the page does not report their responses.
The Human Side
Behind the statistics is a person who died at the junction in 2022, and others who were seriously hurt. Planners rely on numbers, but the numbers are people. That is the reason these consultations are held, and the reason the officials quoted use strong language.
If you use the junction, the best advice is the old one: assume you have not been seen, and give the turning lorry room.
Reading the Evidence
The collision data comes from TfL and covers a short period at a single junction. A junction with 14 collisions in three years is dangerous by London standards, but the figure cannot be compared to other junctions without their numbers, which are not in the sources I used. The London Cycling Campaign’s response, discussed in the next piece, supplies some comparisons.
Property Nerves, Seen From Elsewhere
Fear of a market travels fast. The same jitters turn up in the comic dispatches on the Cebu condominium story: a Manila News report on a Mactan broker with three brochures, a London Prat account of the references demanded of British retirees (direct link: https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and a Bohiney piece on two-hour open houses. Read them for the human detail a market report leaves out. The wider network is at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, there is always NewsThump.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/