I see that at peak times "..access to the Victoria, Piccadilly and
Northern lines is via the Northern ticket hall....", and it is not
possible to enter via the old tube ticket hall.

Does anyone know why this is, and how long the situation is expected
to last? I can see that there is work on one of the escalators
leading to the Piccadilly line, but does that really cause so much
congestion that it justifies the new access arrangements? The
"official" route to the Victoria, Piccadilly and Northern lines is
much longer, and diverting everyone that way is bound to increase
congestion in other parts of the station. The daft thing is, it is
still possbile to enter the Victoria, Piccadilly and Northern lines
via the old tube ticket hall at peak times if you go via the
Metropolitain/H&C/Circle line platforms. I tried it yesterday, and it
is still quicker than the official route.

I realise that Kings Cross is a busy station and that it requires
congestion management at peak times. But surely the best way of
reducing congestion is to have more routes to the platforms open at
peak times, and spread the load a bit more evenly?