Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
What if...they didn't put the speed bumps back
As you probably know. Warham has been one of the roads closed for resurfacing this week.
The quiet and carlessness has been a treat, made all the better as far as my three year is concerned by the diggers and lorries that make periodic trips up and down the road. .
Yesterday, my neighbour who has lived on Warham for 20 years came to the garden gate for a chat. He mentioned how since they put the speed bump outside his house, he has noticed the plaster cracking in his house and the increased noise of cars/lorries going over the bump. He fervently wished they would not put the bump back.
So what if they didn't put the bumps back. Would we miss them?
The quiet and carlessness has been a treat, made all the better as far as my three year is concerned by the diggers and lorries that make periodic trips up and down the road. .
Yesterday, my neighbour who has lived on Warham for 20 years came to the garden gate for a chat. He mentioned how since they put the speed bump outside his house, he has noticed the plaster cracking in his house and the increased noise of cars/lorries going over the bump. He fervently wished they would not put the bump back.
So what if they didn't put the bumps back. Would we miss them?
Tags for Forum Posts: Ladder traffic solutions, Wightman Road, speed humps
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris Ford on
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I take the point, and I certainly wouldn't say I was in favour of more speed bumps. Quite the contrary.
I personally feel the only viable alternative to speed bumps is speed cameras. However I realise that many people are absolultely opposed to any increase in CCTV in our borough. I'd be interested to hear what people's views are on this...
If anyone has any innovative ideas for how we slow traffic down please let us know.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Speed cameras are not the same as CCTV. Not at all.
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OK, well I'll definately raise this and let you know what response I get.
I fear it may be too late to stop the works on Wightman - we already have one bump, but I'll see what I can do.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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I think that's a flat-top speed table, Chris. It only becomes a bump if attacked aggressively and at speed with a large alien weapon such as a vehicle.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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But isn't that the whole point ? A speed bump or table works because a speeding vehicle will leap in the air which is scary for the driver and bad for the vehicle. Unfortunately, the reactive force is transmitted to nearby houses.
Any speed bump which does not generate such a reactive force will be ineffective as a deterrent to speeding drivers.
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As you say OAE, WIghtman is in fact having ten flat top speed tables installed between Endymion and Turnpike lane.
I've spoken with Cllr Alexander about this and she tells me that when the Wightman proposals were still being discussed both her and Cllr Baker wanted speed cameras instead of tables. However they were confronted with the following:
"For selecting potential camera sites, it is recommended that analysis of collision data
should be undertaken over a minimum period (e.g. most recent 3 years, or preferably 5
years) to determine whether a camera is an appropriate solution to reduce speeds and/or
collisions at that site. Average (mean) and 85th percentile speeds should also be
collected so that the data is not more than 12 months old. This will help to demonstrate
the level of non compliance with the speed limit, which itself should also have been
constant over the same minimum period."
This is from the DoT website, and we were basically told that we cannot have speed cameras unless we've had enough accidents already.
It seems to me that the DoT are getting it the wrong way round. Yes they obviously have to prioritise where cameras are installed. However the whole point is to prevent potentially fatal accidents from occuring.
On that basis surely 'speed cameras before accidents' is more logical than 'accidents before cameras'.
If we are going to continue coming up against obstacles like this it is even more important that we find new ways of calming the traffic.
As Dan mentions below, we will absolutley be looking for creative solutions and encouraging suggestions and participation from everyone who lives here.
We secured a pledge from our party to conduct this survey within two years. That gives us plenty of time to carry out a thorough ward-wide consultation which should allow us to come up with innovative, lasting solutions to this problem without wasting money on stop-gap measures.
Incidentally I am putting all traffic-related suggestions from this site into a document which will hopefully be the start of this consultation. Please do e-mail me if you have further ideas.
Chris
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Thanks Chris.
The DoT are correct of course. We simply haven't had enough fatalities on Wightman Road over the years. The problem lies with our older residents. They're a hyper-cautious lot with a studied pedestrian helplessness and learnt lack of confidence in their very demeanour and road-crossing behaviours - quite unlike the more lemming-like proclivities of their Green Lanes counterparts. The least we might expect of them is a greater sense of self-sacrifice in the interests of the common good and of the Department's evidential base. Think, too, of the savings that might accrue to the much put-upon taxpayer in terms of reduced Freedom Passes, Winter Fuel payments, Pension credits, sheltered housing, Care homes, hospices etc. The Party Manifesto that promises 'More Accident Opps for the Old' rather than more photo opps for the candidate will really be onto something big.
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Again, would you commit to halting the installation of speed tables on Wightman as they are obviously a stop-gap measure ? It's not too late.
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John, I obviously cannot commit to this here and now.
a) because I am but a humble candidate and the council clearly doesnt view the speed tables as a temporary solution,
b) because until we have a viable alternative I think we need some form of physical deterrent to stop people racing along Wightman.
As I've said already, personally I'm not in favour of more speed bumps in our ward, and Iam 100% in favour of finding more creative alternatives which actually slow traffic down and do not damage our houses.
However if I raise this with highways I'm pretty confident I shall just be told that many residents are supportive of speed bumps (as this, and other threads have shown) and that if I cannot put forward an alternative I should stop moaning.
Needless to say I should think that a debate on the merits of speed bumps will feature quite prominently in our proposed survey...
Anyway, I shall discuss this with Karen and David and see what, if anything, we can do now.
C
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Permalink Reply by dan burgess on
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Chris, survey sounds excellent. Out of which I'd hope to see more human focussed solutions which use a little creativity and help put a bit of 'soul' back into the community.
Like this
http://www.homezones.org/concept.html
Here's one in Bristol
And there's lots more good case studies from cities around the world.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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The council did a homezone pilot in Linden Road but it was considered to be fairly expensive, according to Sustainable Haringey, [15 Sept 2009, pt 6] Haringey were awarded £90,000 of government funds to implement it. This document (pdf page 6) also mentions Tower Gardens.
I also unearthed this undated pdf about Haringey's traffic management which mentions Home Zones
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