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Save Our Subways Save Our Subways Campaigning to improve not destroy Elephant and Castle's safest fastest footpaths No Bigger Ring Road
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The Risk

Transport for London have unveiled a plan for the redesign of the Elephant and Castle roundabout that:

- Destroys all seven pedestrian subways.
- Shrinks public space.
- Increases journey time for all users, cycle, bus, motorists, pedestrians.
- Increase pedestrian journey times by up to 41%*.
- Increases road traffic journey times by an average of 17%*.
- Increases the length of the westbound inner ring road here X4.
- Increases air pollution and noise pollution.
- Puts more traffic closer to two large residential blocks.
- Destroys 4 mature trees.

Transport for London cite their redesign of the neighbouring southern junction in 2011 as a success and source of inspiration for The Bodge at the roundabout. On 13 May a cyclist died in a collision with an HGV at this southern junction. Discover our Alternative Proposal here.


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The Elephant and Castle deserves better junctions - safer, cleaner, more user friendly. But Council Leader Peter John and his labour party colleagues with the backing of Mayor Boris Johnson and Deputy Mayor Isabel Dedring have pushed and spun a proposal that doesn't deliver this. It's a squandered opportunity of investing in the area, a misguided piazzafication of a major transport hub.

Please Join The Campaign to stay in touch with this campaign.Transport for London Proposal March 2015

This campaign began in 2012 when it became apparent the destruction of our subways was one of the key objectives of Southwark Council and Transport for London. There is a serious misperception about crime in the subways which is partly motivating their objectives. Of all users at the roundabout pedestrians are currently the least likely to have a collision. And despite perceptions of crime ridden subways in April 2014 we obtained crime stats from the Metropolitan Police for incidents logged in the three years to May 2013 above ground within 50m of the roundabout and those in the subways: 978 incidents occurred at surface level and 19 in the subways during this time. Footpaths designed 100% for pedestrians be taken away and people will be forced to share space with up to six lanes of traffic at surface level, air pollution and noise pollution will blight the area. The plans errors go far beyond the subways destructions. The ring road will also be enlarged. TfL's proposals have these two big side effects which they believe is acceptable permanent collatoral damage.

The plans prioritise urban spectacle over urban practicality. TfL's brief for the project was based on an assumption that subways must go and that the spectacle of a peninsula must be incorporated. They have been pushed through by politicians eager to create buzz about change at the Elephant after years of inaction. It seems TfL and the politicians do not want to genuinely create a place that is pleasant and safe because if they had residents would have been involved in developing these plans. Instead everyone was given five weeks to provide feedback with only one recommendation from TfL.

(*Data obtained from Transport for London data from their modelling of their new proposal. Read all the analysis here)

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