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 characteri ...

, 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 a ...

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 impo ...

in the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a maj ...

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 H ...

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 Lon ...

crosses the roundabout, running south towards the

(particularly Moorgate 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.

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 branch of the Northern line between Angel and Moorgate stations and on the Norther ...

is below Old Street Roundabout. It is served by the Bank branch of the London Underground Northern line and by National Rail Great Northern 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 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 the ...

, 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. 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

{{coord, 51.5257, -0.0875, region:GB, display=title Junctions 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