MORE than �2million of improvements will be made in Archway in a bid to make it easier for pedestrians to walk around the area - but plans for an Oxford Circus-style diagonal crossing to connect the marooned Archway roundabout island to the Tube station have been dropped.

Labour-run Islington Council is consulting with people on how to spend the �2.1million pot over the next 12 to 18 months.

At the heart of the plans is improving the look of the Archway roundabout island – and making it easier for pedestrians to actually get to the shops and businesses there.

Councillor Paul Convery, the council’s executive member for regeneration, said: “The money is still there and we are just deciding how to spend it. But we are not going to consult any more on the diagonal pedestrian crossing because Transport for London won’t allow it. Instead of a diagonal crossing, we will push for a normal crossing from the Tube station to the Archway roundabout. We want to completely reshape the Archway roundabout.”

Councillor Convery added: “What we have is a problem at the Archway. It’s a town centre that is struggling. It’s got a gyratory that everyone hates, a tower that creates an ugly cold draft and three office blocks that are almost completely empty.

“We want to encourage people who are sitting on assets that they are not using to start investing.”

“Then the next stage is to persuade Transport for London to remove the gyratory – but that will take four to five years.”

There are no plans to get rid of the Archway tower.