One of the capital’s busiest traffic arteries, the A1 road in Islington, is set for a pioneering ten-year revamp. The A1 Borough project builds on the benefits that will come from the building of the new £400 million Arsenal stadium, as well as those from the £25 million regeneration of Finsbury in the south and the regeneration opportunities of Archway in the north. An eight-week consultation period is launched today, Thursday 2 June 2005.<br><br>The busy road is the spine of the borough stretching down from Archway, on to Highbury Corner, along fashionable Upper Street and down through Goswell Road on the city fringes. The multi million pound A1 Borough project is the backed by Islington Council, public and private sector partners and Transport for London (TfL). The scheme will attract both public and private sector cash with at least £4 million of pump-priming cash being spent this year with millions more expected overt the life of the scheme.<br><br>The aim is to make it easier and safer for people to walk to local services; and cut the number of car journeys on local roads. Eight new or improved public spaces with the A1 running through them – at Archway, Whittington Park, Nags Head, Holloway Road, Highbury & Islington, Angel, Goswell Road and Old Street - are proposed. These are aimed at enabling people to come together to enjoy the street without reducing the ability of the road to carry people into and out of central London or pushing traffic onto neighbouring streets.<br><br>Work on the following proposals is underway and these projects will be delivered this year:<br>· Improving the pedestrian environment at Angel Town Centre, around Chapel Market and Islington Green;<br>· Improved walking routes to the new Arsenal stadium;<br>· Pedestrian improvements on Goswell Road, at Archway and Highbury Corner;<br>· The A1 Clean Team – dedicated to getting rid of litter, chewing gum and graffiti;<br>· A programme to spruce up the borough’s local parks and open spaces and the creation of a green corridor by planting trees;<br>Consultation will also start on a number of ground-breaking proposals, including:<br>· Turning Highbury Corner into a square, creating pedestrian access to the green island at the centre while allowing traffic to continue to flow;<br>· A possible new public space at Archway Corner and perhaps the demolition of Archway Tower in line with views expressed by local people;<br>Commenting on the launch of the A1 Borough consultation, <br><br>Cllr Bridget Fox, Islington’s executive member for sustainability says:<br>“This is a unique way of bringing about inner-city renewal. The A1 is a major artery into and out of London. But it is also at the heart of Islington and at the heart of local life for shopping, business, study and leisure. So we want to make sure that better transport, better safety and a better local environment benefit the surrounding areas as well as the length of Islington’s main street. Transforming the A1 in this way will turn the A1 from a congested traffic artery into a place for Islington’s diverse community to come together.”<br><br>ENDS<br><br>Note to editors:<br>1. The A1 Borough consultation will be launched on Thursday 2 June at 6.00pm at the Lillian Bayliss Theatre (next to Sadler’s Wells Theatre), Rosebery Avenue N1 2UD. Reporters and photographers are invited to attend.<br>2. High-resolution images are available from the press contacts listed above.<br>3. Islington is a fast-growing borough. Jobs growth in Islington will be 15% by 2016 (=20,000 more jobs). Population growth will be 20% by 2021 (=34,000 more residents: 18,000 new homes).<br>4. The council’s consultants for this project are: Alsop Design Ltd; Studio Egret West; Intelligence Space; Atkins.<br>5. Alsop Design Ltd is a leading European architectural and urban planning studio based in London, with additional offices in Toronto, Singapore and Shanghai. Major projects completed in recent years include Stirling prize winning Peckham Library, North Greenwich tube station and Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto.<br>6. Studio Egret West is an architectural practice.<br>7. Intelligent Space Partnership (ISP) is a consultancy providing expertise on pedestrian movement and space use, and provided the pedestrian movement strategy for the A1 Borough Project. This strategy identified the key problems faced by pedestrians on the A1 streets and will be used to target areas for improvements as the project continues.<br>8. Atkins is a major force in the development and regeneration market, delivering award winning sustainable urban solutions throughout the world. Its work ranges from green field development and urban extensions to the complex regeneration of brown field land. <br>9. Transport for London manages and operates the A1 north of Goswell Road.<br>10. Squint Opera is an award-winning film production studio, using film as a means of conversation between architect and client. Squint Opera specialise in generating support for a vision, be it from the private sector, local government, or the public and will be producing the project film for the launch.
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009