King Henry Road Area

April 2024 - consultation being reviewed

March 2024 update:

We are now consulting on our proposals to keep the trial 7.5 tonne weight restriction in the King Henry's Road area permanent plus new road safety and public space improvements.

Have your say - consultation open until 21 March 2024

February 2024 - update: 

We've now made the decision to make the trial Healthy School Street permanent. You can read the monitoring report at the end of this page. The scheme restricts motor vehicles (with exemptions) during the following times: 8:30am - 9:30am and 3pm - 4pm, Monday to Friday during term time only.

October 2023 - update: The consultation is now closed. We will post our decision here when ready.

September 2023 - update: We are now consulting on making the Healthy School Street on Elsworthy Road permanent.  We also want to hear your views on the pedestrian improvements introduced on Primrose Hill Road. The consultation is open until the 8th October 2023.

Consultation results

Thank you to everyone who responded to our consultation. Between January and March 2021, we undertook a 7-week consultation on a number of proposed changes in this area. We had over 1,700 responses and following the consultation we made the decision to amend the original proposals .

The original proposals included motor vehicle restrictions in three locations to prevent vehicular traffic travelling through the area on Elsworthy Road and King Henry’s Road. Under the revised proposals, these restrictions were replaced with width restrictions which were intended to restrict through-access to HGVs.

Following further Officer investigation and feedback from local ward councillors, the decision was made to amend the scheme again. The aforementioned width restrictions have been substituted for an area-wide 7.5t weight restriction, which was considered to be more appropriate to the area, and aligns with similar approaches used elsewhere. The proposed pedestrian improvements on Primrose Hill Road and the Healthy School Street on Elsworthy Road adjacent to St Paul’s School have been retained.

What is the challenge in the King Henry's Road Area.

The King Henry’s Road area currently experiences significant volumes of through traffic, with vehicles using the area to travel between Primrose Hill Road, Adelaide Road and Avenue Road. Traffic data shows that both King Henry’s Road and Elsworthy Road can each experience approximately 2000 daily vehicle movements in each direction. Combined daily total traffic volumes for both King Henry’s Road and Elsworthy Road can therefore exceed 8000 vehicle movements. Traffic analysis indicates that 74% of this is through traffic - i.e. it is not accessing a property or business within the scheme area (10% is HGVs).

Traffic analysis also shows that the average speeds on King Henry’s Road and Elsworthy Road is in excess of the 20mph speed limit, and that speeds through this area are some of the highest in the borough. These traffic conditions therefore present a safety risk to some of our most vulnerable road users, such as children attending St Paul’s Primary School, as well as having a detrimental impact on the east – west cycle route that passes through the area.

What’s being tested?

Following the public consultation in January-March 2021 and amendments made to the original decision report from August 2021, we have implemented an area-wide 7.5t ‘except for access’ weight restriction in the area outlined in the map you can find at the bottom of this page. We have also prohibited motor vehicles on the eastern end of Elsworthy Road at school dropoff and pick-up times, whilst making some improvements to the pedestrian infrastructure on Primrose Hill Road next to St Paul’s School.

• Create an area-wide 7.5t ‘except for access’ weight restriction. This will prevent larger HGVs using the roads within the area as a cut-through between adjoining main roads.
• Create a Healthy School Street restriction on Elsworthy Road between Mondays and Fridays from 8am - 9am and 3pm - 4pm during term time. This will prevent motor vehicles from accessing Elsworthy Road between Elsworthy Rise and Primrose Hill Road during these times.
• Install relevant signage to alert drivers of the 7.5t ‘except for access’ restriction and timed Healthy School Street restriction.
• Make improvements for pedestrians on Primrose Hill Road adjacent to St Paul’s School, including widening the pavement and adding a new zebra crossing in place of the existing informal crossing to the immediate north of the junction with Oppidans Road. This will now be placed further north than in the original proposals to allow the introduction of a continuous clearway between the two zebra crossings to discourage pick-ups/drop-offs outside the school.