Old Street Roundabout

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Looking down on Old Street Roundabout, 2012 Old Street Roundabout from above in 2012.jpg
Looking down on Old Street Roundabout, 2012

Old Street Roundabout is a road junction in Central London, England. Historically a square roundabout, it is now a three-way junction. It is among access points of the Inner Ring Road for the adjoining St Luke's south part of Islington and the City of London beyond, west and south, respectively. It is roughly on the western limit of Hoxton in the London Borough of Hackney which straddles both sides of the Ring Road, a road which after taking up a little of the eastern part of Old Street then veers south-east, taking Great Eastern Street, at Apex Junction.

Contents

It is sometimes known as St. Agnes Well after the shopping centre beneath it, while the moniker of Silicon Roundabout owes to the local prominence of technology companies. Since October 2020 the layout has been a simple junction, not gyratory. [1] [2]

Connections

View from the south-east side of Old Street Roundabout looking north-west Old St Rdbt.jpg
View from the south-east side of Old Street Roundabout looking north-west
An urban sculpture and advertising hoarding in the centre of Old Street Roundabout, pictured from the south side looking north. Old Street Landmark.jpg
An urban sculpture and advertising hoarding in the centre of Old Street Roundabout, pictured from the south side looking north.

City Road crosses the roundabout, running south towards the City of London (particularly Moorgate and Liverpool Street stations), and north-west towards Angel, Pentonville, and the two northward railway terminus districts: King's Cross/St. Pancras and Euston.

The main, namely north-east side, the north-western continuation of City Road, and Great Eastern Street are the limit the congestion charge zone (CCZ).

To the west of Old Street are Clerkenwell, Finsbury, and (further afield) the West End. To the east are Shoreditch and London's East End.

St. Agnes Well

The shopping complex serving the broad underpass at the centre of the roundabout is named St. Agnes Well, after an ancient well thought to have been about 200 metres (660 ft) to the east, at the junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street. Remnants of the well can be found within Old Street station. [3]

Old Street station

Old Street station ticket hall. Old Street ticket office.jpg
Old Street station ticket hall.

Old Street station is below Old Street Roundabout. It is served by the Bank branch of the London Underground Northern line and by National Rail Great Northern trains. With the increase in passenger numbers using the station, in 2014 Transport for London announced that it was to offer pop-up retail space at Old Street station as part of a drive to increase its revenue. [4]

Silicon Roundabout

The term Silicon Roundabout refers to the high number of web businesses near the Old Street Roundabout (also in East London), by analogy to Silicon Valley in California. [5] [6] [7]

Cycling accidents

A number of cycling accidents have occurred at Old Street roundabout. According to the London Cycling Campaign, the junction is among the top three in London for accidents involving cyclists. [8] Within a few days in February 2011 two cyclists were severely injured in collisions involving lorries on or very close to the roundabout. [9] [10] In another collision involving a lorry in 2008, a cyclist suffered severe leg injuries, which the police described as "potentially life-changing". [11] In response to this Transport for London have proposed a massive transformation of the roundabout, into a pedestrian square with segregated cycle lanes and road signals. [12] On 25 July 2018, a cyclist was severely injured on Old Street roundabout following a collision with a lorry. [13]

Reconfiguration

After extensive public consultation held in 201415, plans to broaden the non-motor vehicle area began in 2018. [14] In 2019, the work began by Transport for London (TfL) in conjunction with Morgan Sindall. [1] and the Boroughs of Islington and Hackney to create a much more pedestrian- and cycle- friendly zone. [15] Remaining motor traffic is two-way to speed up pedestrian crossings and allow segregated cycle lanes. The work created a well-lit pedestrianised space around the new station main entrance. [1]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalston</span> Area of East London, England

Dalston is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is four miles northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas including Kingsland and Shacklewell, all three of which being part of the Ancient Parish of Hackney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoreditch</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Street</span>

Old Street is a 1-mile (1.6 km) street in inner north-east Central London, England that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High Street (south), Kingsland Road (north) and Hackney Road (east) in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Street station</span> London Underground and railway station

Old Street is a National Rail and London Underground station at the junction of Old Street and City Road in central London, England. The station is on the Bank branch of the Northern line between Angel and Moorgate stations and on the Northern City Line between Moorgate and Essex Road stations. The station is in the London Borough of Islington. It is in Travelcard Zone 1.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackney Wick railway station</span> Railway station in London, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angel, London</span> Human settlement in England

The Angel is an area on the northern fringes of Central London within the London Borough of Islington. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northeast of Charing Cross on the Inner Ring Road at a busy transport intersection. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London. It is a significant commercial and retail centre, and a business improvement district. The Angel straddles the ancient boundary of the parishes of Clerkenwell and Islington that later became the metropolitan boroughs of Finsbury and Islington. It is named from the former Angel Inn which stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road. Since 1965 the whole area has formed part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London.

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Cycleway 4 is a fully segregated cycle path in London originally planned to run from Tower Bridge to Woolwich and coordinated by Transport for London. First proposed in 2008 but first consulted on as Cycle Superhighway 4 between Tower Bridge and Greenwich in 2017, the cycle lane has been in lengthy development. The section from Tower Bridge to Rotherhithe Roundabout, and the section on Evelyn Street and Creek Road, has been built as a permanent scheme.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Morgan Sindall awarded £15 million Old Street Roundabout project by TfL". Transport Britain. 2017.
  2. Bartholomew, Emma (29 October 2020). "Old Street roundabout overhaul moves to the next stage as roads change to a new layout". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  3. London's Holy Wells Archived 9 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Pop-up shops arrive at Old Street Tube station". Transport for London.
  5. Bradshaw, Tim (29 July 2008). "silicon-roundabout-is-this-the-heart-of-the-uks-new-dotcom-boom". Financial Times blog. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  6. "Silicon Roundabout". The Economist. 27 November 2010. pp. 63–64.
  7. Prigg, Mark (30 July 2008). "Roundabout is London's Answer to Silicon Valley". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 27 September 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  8. Coleman, Jasmine (4 March 2011). "Safety concerns for cyclists on Old Street roundabout following crash". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  9. Coleman, Jasmine (24 February 2011). "Old Street crash: woman cyclist critically ill". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  10. Marshall, Tom (16 February 2011). "Cyclist injured in City Road crash". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  11. "Old Street roundabout accident: "Life-changing injury"" . Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  12. "Revealed: Radical plan to transform Old Street roundabout into pedestrianised square". 12 November 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  13. "Female cyclist, in her 30s, hit by lorry at busy roundabout in east London". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  14. "Have your say on transforming Old Street roundabout - Results Updated 2 Oct 2018". Transport for London. 2019.
  15. "Old Street roundabout". Transport for London. 2019.

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