Proposals to make temporary traffic restrictions permanent along with new road safety improvements have been put forward.

A trial was launched in January 2023 to add weight restrictions in the King Henry’s Road area, prohibiting vehicles weighing 7.5 tonnes or more from using the residential streets between Avenue Road, Adelaide Road and Primrose Hill Road.

When the test was approved back in February 2022, it was said that a further consultation should take place after 12 months of the scheme to review what locals think of the idea and if it should be extended.

According to Camden Council’s traffic data, there was an increase of heavy goods vehicles in the area during the time of the trial – but the council said this was due to “several external factors” such as temporary traffic lights, utilities or street work diversions and HS2 construction.

“These works, including HGV movements and associated temporary traffic restrictions are likely to have had an impact on local traffic and HGV traffic volumes,” the council said.

The council continued: “While the data shows that there was an increase in total HGV volumes in the ‘during scheme’ counts from June 2023, making the trial HGV restriction scheme permanent will enable Camden to undertake additional monitoring and continue to assess the impact of the weight restriction.”

Along with making the weight restriction permanent, it is proposed that several new improvements are made such as widening the pavements on Elsworthy Road outside St Paul’s CE Primary School, improving the pedestrian crossing at Elsworthy Road, adding a new zebra crossing on King Henry’s Road to the east of the junction with Elsworthy Rise and junction improvements along Wadham Gardens to make it easier to cross.

The proposed junction improvements include narrowing the road widths to shorten crossing distances and improve accessibility, providing “raised crossings” to help reduce motor vehicle turning speeds and adding tactile paving to make crossing the road easier and safer for visually impaired people.

A consultation launched at the beginning of March this year to gather the public’s thoughts on these plans. Anyone wishing to share their views have until March 21 to respond.

To find out more information on the consultation, visit: https://consultations.wearecamden.org/supporting-communities/khrarea