.gifs

I think two of your arguments contradict each other Oliver.

Namely that you acknowledge that the junction is part of the inner ring and the boundary to the charging zone...

Well, there's no need to 'acknowledge' such an obvious fact. I merely stated it.

both huge reasons a lot of people unfamiliar with the area take that route (as locals already know it's hell and avoid it).

And then you argue that people will find it intolerable and will switch modes, but I would say that the very people who comprise the majority of flow down City Road are those who are not local and would not build the intolerance required to change their behaviour.

There are just some routes that are core, not local, and have a high volume of traffic that isn't going to acquire experience that will change behaviour.

No, no contradiction here at all. Both phenomena are part of the mix. 40% of motor traffic journeys under two miles in Inner London are made by car. The exact percentage for Old Street/City Road would be lower than that, but a lot of that traffic is local traffic. I certainly didn't say that all, or even a vast majority of those travelling along the Inner Ring Road would switch behaviour, but there would be a percentage which would keep congestion at pretty much the level before motor traffic capacity was reduced. Of course, many people have no choice but to travel the routes they travel, but it is precisely for those people that the option should be facilitated by those who do have a choice in opting out. There is also no disjunction between 'locals who know' and 'non-locals who don't'. Plenty of non-locals will know perfectly well what it's like, will know alternative routes and rat-runs, etc.

Again, it works--theoretically, some of it may seem counter-intuitive, but the real-world evidence is vast.

I believe Old St, as it is positioned on the inner ring and edge of the charging zone, is that.

I really truly, and deeply, believe that the proposal of a cross-junction for Old St is flawed to the core.

Your worries are completely understood, and many people share them. There is, of course, still a debate in transport planning circles, but there is a very powerful school of thought which takes the lessons from the many, many examples where this sort of approach has worked very well. As I said, it is to some extent counter-intuitive, but the dire predictions are never borne out. The upside is that there is a very bright future ahead for London. :)