Shoreditch - Improving road safety
We would like your views on our proposed changes at the junction of Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road.
The consultation period has now closed. You can find updates on the scheme in the 'Latest news' section.
Proposals
Please watch the video below to see a brief overview of the changes we are proposing at the Great Eastern Street junction with Curtain Road:
Here is an overview map of the proposed changes:
Overview Map
Click on image for a larger version
You can also see detailed maps of the proposals.
The key changes for road users are listed below and you can also find out more about potential impacts for traffic in our Frequently Asked Questions.
Changes for pedestrians
To help pedestrians cross more easily and safely:
- New toucan crossing proposed on Curtain Road to the north of New Inn Yard to improve pedestrian safety
- New pedestrian crossings with countdown indicators would be provided at the junctions of Curtain Road with Scrutton Street and Holywell Lane
- A new signalised pedestrian crossing with a countdown indicator would be provided on Holywell Lane at the junction with Great Eastern Street on the western side
Additionally:
- The existing ‘raised entry table’ (where the road is raised to be level with the footway, as a way to slow traffic down) would be redesigned at the side road junctions of Charlotte Street, Leonard Street and Phipp Street to further slow turning vehicles, to improve pedestrian safety
- The footway would be widened on Curtain Road north of New Inn Yard to increase the space for pedestrians
- The traffic island and the left turn slip road at the junction of Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road would both be removed to reduce the distance pedestrians would need to cross the road
- Widening of the existing pedestrian crossings at the junction Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road to increase space for pedestrians
- Widening the existing pedestrian crossing from 3m to 4m to increase space for pedestrians where Great Eastern Street turns left into Holywell Lane
- A general traffic lane on the section of Curtain Road between Scrutton Street and Great Eastern Street would be reallocated to pedestrians, giving people more space
Changes for cyclists
- New proposed toucan crossing on Curtain Road to the north of New Inn Yard to allow cyclists to move through the junction without dismounting
- Motorised traffic would no longer be able to turn left from Great Eastern Street into Curtain Road, reducing the left turn hook risk for cyclists. Cyclists will still be able to turn left at the junction (a 'left hook' involves a motor vehicle overtaking a person cycling, then turning left across the cyclist’s path)
- Motorised traffic would no longer be able to turn left from Curtain Road into Great Eastern Street, also reducing the left turn hook risk for cyclists. Cyclists will still be able to turn left at the junction.
- Advanced Stop Lines on all junctions on Great Eastern Street would become 7.5m deep to give cyclists more space
- We would provide new 5m Advanced Stop Lines at the junctions of Curtain Road with Scrutton Street and Holywell Lane to help cyclists position themselves ahead of traffic
Changes for drivers
- Motorised traffic would no longer be able to turn left from Great Eastern Street into Curtain Road to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety
- Motorised traffic would no longer be able to turn left from Curtain Road into Great Eastern Street to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety
- A general traffic lane on the section of Curtain Road between Scrutton Street and Great Eastern Street would be reallocated to pedestrians, giving people walking more space
- The existing loading/blue badge holder parking bay at 10 Great Eastern Street would remain in place, and it would be built into the pavement
Why?
In this section we explain why we think we need to make these changes.
At the junction of Great Eastern Street with Curtain Road, there have been 14 collisions, which resulted in 15 people being hurt in the three-year period up to 30 June 2024. Of these:
10 people cycling were hurt, including four people who were seriously injured
Three pedestrians were hurt: two people were seriously injured and, tragically, one person was killed
One person riding a motorcycle was slightly injured
One person driving a taxi was also slightly injured
At the junction of Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch High Street and Commercial Street there have been 26 collisions which resulted in 30 people being hurt in the same period. Of these:
13 people cycling were hurt, including two people who were seriously injured
Seven pedestrians being hurt, including one person who was seriously injured
Two people riding motorcycles were slightly injured
Six people who were driving or being driven in a motor vehicle were slightly injured
One bus passenger was slightly injured
One driver of a private hire vehicle was also slightly injured
How this may affect you
In this section we explain how these changes might impact you.
Image of what the junction of Curtain Road and Great Eastern Street would look like if proposals go aheadIf you are walking
This scheme would have a positive impact on pedestrians, particularly people with impairments. This is because our scheme would help people to move through the junction more easily by reducing some crossing distances, and there would be extra pavement space and new pedestrian crossings.
If you are cycling
Our scheme would also have a positive impact on people cycling with designs to reduce left turn hook conflicts with vehicles, and deeper Advance Stop Lines (ASLs) along Great Eastern Street.
A new proposed toucan crossing would improve cyclist safety and provide a link for cyclists to Curtain Road or New Inn Yard.
New 5m ASLs at the junctions of Curtain Road with Scrutton Street and Holywell Lane would help cyclists position themselves ahead of traffic.
If you are travelling by bus
Our traffic modelling shows the changes we propose at the junction of Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road maintains the junction operating with spare capacity for buses meaning we do not expect any noticeable impacts to bus services.
If you are travelling by car, van or a motorcycle
Changes to the left turns from Great Eastern Street into Curtain Road and Curtain Road into Great Eastern Street. At both junctions, some movements will no longer be permitted through the introduction of restricted left turns. However, all movements through the local area will still be possible, although it may be necessary to take a different route to do so. We don’t expect any significant effects, however.
Ideas
We are also looking at how to improve road safety at the junction of Shoreditch High Street and Great Eastern Street.
Junction of Shoreditch High Street & Great Eastern Street A significant number of people have been injured at this junction and we are designing proposals to keep people safe.
This is a complex and very busy junction, and we will need to ensure that any proposals we develop are effective in addressing the causes of the collisions here.
At the same time, we must ensure that our proposals won’t cause significant delays to buses, because this could cause further road safety issues if people switch from bus to private vehicles.
Amongst a range of options we’re exploring, we are considering the following:
Giving cyclists priority at junctions, by introducing new ‘Cycle Gates’ and potentially introducing new sections of cycle lane. We’re also considering deepening existing Advanced Stop Lines, to give cyclists more room
Adding a new pedestrian crossing to help people get to and from Shoreditch High Street Station
Widening existing pedestrian crossings to give pedestrians more space
Some of the improvements we’re exploring might require us to make changes that would affect motorised vehicles. For example, it might be necessary to reallocate a traffic lane on Shoreditch High Street to cyclists, to create space for the potential cycle lane. It might also be necessary to remove the left turn slip road at the junction of Shoreditch High Street into Commercial Road, to enable us to provide more space for pedestrians here. We’re also considering closing private vehicle access to Holywell Lane between the junctions with Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street for some periods of the day. Doing so would allow us to provide measures to improve bus journey times and encourage people to walk or cycle.
If you have any initial thoughts about improvements we could introduce at this junction please do let us know. Equally, if you have any concerns about the options we are considering do please tell us. We will use any feedback we receive to this consultation to help us develop a more specific set of proposals for improvements to this junction, and we will test these to determine what effect they might have on buses and other traffic. We will then hold a further consultation, with further details on improvements for the junction of Shoreditch High Street and Great Eastern Street.
More Information
We will be holding two drop-in events at the Trampery, 239 Old Street, EC1V 9EY:
Thursday 23 January 2025 (16:00 – 19:00)
Thursday 6 February 2025 (16:00 – 19:00)
This will give you an opportunity to get further information about the proposals and provide your thoughts and feedback, to allow us to consider your views.
If you are unable to make this date and time and would like to discuss the proposals further with us, please get in touch and we can respond to your queries directly. See the section ‘Tell us your views’ for our contact details.
We have also provided more information for you to respond:
Accessible Information
We want to make sure everyone is able to take part in our consultations. To help make it accessible to everyone we have provided:
You can translate the information on this page into another language by using the ‘Select language’ button at the bottom of the page
Connecting with London's deaf community on our consultations
To further enhance how we consult with London's deaf community we offer:
- A British Sign Language (BSL) video of our proposals and video of our survey
- A BSL conversation service. This allows the TfL consultation lead to have a two-way BSL translated discussion with a BSL user. To request a BSL conversation please contact us at haveyoursay@tfl.gov.uk and we will be in contact to arrange a convenient time
Tell us your views
We are holding an eight-week public consultation to hear what you think about these proposals. We want to know if you agree with them, if there is anything you do not agree with, and to understand the reasons why you feel this way.
You can reply by completing our survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete or if you are short on time, you can submit a quick response.
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The closing date for comments is 10 February 2025.
You can use our question tool during the consultation period. We will respond to your questions as soon as we can.
You can also contact us by email, via our telephone call back service (020 3054 6037) or in writing (FREEPOST TFL HAVE YOUR SAY).
Or you can ask your question in person at our drop-in events at the Trampery, 239 Old Street, EC1V 9EY:
Thursday 23 January 2025 (16:00 – 19:00)
Thursday 6 February 2025 (16:00 – 19:00)
Latest news
Update 11 February 2025
This consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. We are analysing your feedback and will report back shortly.
The report will be sent to everyone that takes part in the consultation and a copy will be published on our website.
