Old Street Roundabout from above in 2012

Old Street Roundabout is a road junction in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

, England. Historically a square roundabout, it is now a three-way junction. It is among access points of the Inner Ring Road for the adjoining St Luke's south part of

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

and the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

beyond, west and south, respectively. It is roughly on the western limit of

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

in the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

which straddles both sides of the Ring Road, a road which after taking up a little of the eastern part of

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...

then veers south-east, taking Great Eastern Street, at Apex Junction. It is sometimes known as St. Agnes Well after the shopping centre beneath it, while the moniker of Silicon Roundabout owes to the local prominence of technology companies. Since October 2020 the layout has been a simple junction, not gyratory.

Connections

City Road City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of Lo ...

crosses the roundabout, running south towards the

(particularly

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...

and

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

s), and north-west towards

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

, Pentonville, and the two northward railway terminus districts: King's Cross/ St. Pancras and Euston. The main, namely north-east side, the north-western continuation of City Road, and Great Eastern Street are the limit the

congestion charge Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, tele ...

zone (CCZ). To the west of

are

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

, and (further afield) the West End. To the east are

and London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

St. Agnes Well

The shopping complex serving the broad underpass at the centre of the roundabout is named St. Agnes Well, after an ancient well thought to have been about to the east, at the junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street. Remnants of the well can be found within Old Street station.

Old Street station

Old Street station Old Street is a National Rail and London Underground station at the junction of Old Street and City Road in central London, England. The station is on the Bank and Monument stations, Bank branch of the Northern line between Angel tube station, ...

is below Old Street Roundabout. It is served by the Bank branch of the London Underground

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

and by National Rail

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

trains. With the increase in passenger numbers using the station, in 2014 Transport for London announced that it was to offer pop-up retail space at

as part of a drive to increase its revenue.

Silicon Roundabout

The term Silicon Roundabout refers to the high number of web businesses near the Old Street Roundabout (also in East London), by analogy to

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

in California.

Cycling accidents

A number of cycling accidents have occurred at Old Street roundabout. According to the

London Cycling Campaign The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) is an independent membership charity lobbying for better conditions for cycling in London. Its vision is to make London "a world-class cycling city". It is one of the largest urban cycling organisations in th ...

, the junction is among the top three in London for accidents involving cyclists. Within a few days in February 2011 two cyclists were severely injured in collisions involving lorries on or very close to the roundabout. In another collision involving a lorry in 2008, a cyclist suffered severe leg injuries, which the police described as "potentially life-changing". In response to this Transport for London have proposed a massive transformation of the roundabout, into a pedestrian square with segregated cycle lanes and road signals. On 25 July 2018, a cyclist was severely injured on Old Street roundabout following a collision with a lorry.

Reconfiguration

After extensive public consultation held in 2014–15, plans to broaden the non-motor vehicle area began in 2018. In 2019, the work began by Transport for London (TfL) in conjunction with

Morgan Sindall Morgan Sindall Group plc is a leading British Construction & Regeneration group, headquartered in London employing around 6,700 employees and operating in the public, regulated and private sectors. It reports through six divisions of Constructio ...

. and the Boroughs of

and Hackney to create a much more pedestrian- and cycle- friendly zone. Remaining motor traffic is two-way to speed up pedestrian crossings and allow segregated cycle lanes. The work created a well-lit pedestrianised space around the new station main entrance.

References

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Junctions Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

Roundabouts in England Streets in the London Borough of Hackney Streets in the London Borough of Islington Information technology places High-technology business districts in the United Kingdom Hoxton it:Old Street#La rotatoria di Old Street