Furlong Road and Digswell Street banned turns

In August 2021, the council introduced banned right turns from Furlong Road and Digswell Street onto Holloway Road. This means that motor vehicles are no longer able to turn right onto Holloway Road from Furlong Road or Digswell Street. The restrictions do not apply to cycles or emergency service vehicles.

The scheme was introduced as a trial under an 18 month Experimental Traffic Order (ETO). (See the FAQ “What is an Experimental Traffic Order?” for more details). From 3 February 2023, following the 18 month trial, the changes will be made permanent.

The banned turns will continue to be enforced by traffic enforcement cameras and subject to a penalty charge notice.

The changes were introduced in August 2021. When the scheme is made permanent from 3 February 2023, there will be no additional changes to the affected roads as part of this scheme.

Emergency services vehicles (including police, ambulance and fire brigade vehicles) and cycles are exempt from the banned turns.

Residents and blue badge holders will not be able to legally make the banned turns in a vehicle, but all residents will still be able to drive to and from their homes, and people will still be able to access all amenities in the area by car.

The scheme was introduced to address road danger issues resulting from vehicles travelling eastbound along Furlong Road, Orleston Road and Digswell Street and queuing to turn right onto Holloway Road. Monitoring of traffic speeds and volumes on the immediate streets and in the surrounding area has shown that the scheme is achieving its intended objectives as a result of the banned turns. Therefore, we are continuing to prevent vehicles (except emergency vehicles) from making these movements.

These changes were introduced in 2021 to address urgent road danger issues which arose due to the combination of an increase in queuing traffic and the layout of the junction of Furlong Road, Orleston Road and Crane Grove.

Longer term, we aim to introduce further people-friendly streets measure in the wider area as part of the Barnsbury and Laycock Liveable Neighbourhood. Further information will be shared as it becomes available on our dedicated liveable neighbourhoods webpage.

As of August 2021, advance warning signage was installed in the local area to warn drivers of the changes ahead so they can re-route their journey. The changes were also updated on satellite navigation systems (satnavs) so that drivers are not directed along routes that use the banned turns.

This signage will remain in place once the scheme has been made permanent on 3 February 2023. The banned turns will continue to be visible on satellite navigation systems. 

We monitored the scheme at regular intervals during the first six months of the trial and overall, the results show limited traffic impacts in the surrounding area. 

Traffic monitoring of the trial showed that traffic volumes increased for vehicles turning right from Liverpool Road to Holloway Road. It is expected that this will be resolved through changes introduced under Transport for London's Holloway Safer Junctions programme, expected to commence in 2023. The junction will be signalised with the right turn from Liverpool Road banned and right turns to Holloway Road will be permitted at the junction with Palmer Place.

Other locations monitored along Liverpool Road and in the wider area have shown decreases or insignificant increases in traffic volumes. 

More detailed information on the monitoring results can be found in Furlong Road and Digswell Street scheme traffic monitoring data analysis. 

We expect that people-friendly streets will encourage more people to choose to travel by walking, cycling and public transport for more of their journeys. This is in line with the aims of our strategies on Transport, Net Zero Carbon 2030 and Air Quality to reduce vehicle use, reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality in the borough.