Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
New Harringay traffic plan to be unveiled ... soon ... (-ish) ... maybe ...
It was announced at a recent residents' meeting that the Council are planning to plan an event at which Mike Hakata will bring forward the Haringey/TfL plans to manage traffic in Harringay ward. The measures will affect both the Ladder and the Harringay stretch of Green Lanes.
The date of said meeting however seems to be something of a moving feast: a planned post-summer meeting became an autumn one which has now become just a blank space.
Personally, whatever the date, whilst I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised, twenty years of dashed hopes has left my current expectations measured in the extreme.
What with the extra pressure placed on Green Lanes by the various LTNs to the east, the options for much in the way of ward-wide traffic management seem very limited. They could still take measures around limiting parking on Green Lanes by cannibalising residents spaces on the Ladder rung roads and the Gardens. If they want to, they could also limit traffic on the rung roads.
Let's see what several years of deliberation bring in this pre-election year ... or maybe next year (perhaps). (My apologies for the uncharacteristic pessimism).
Tags for Forum Posts: traffic
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Jamie Harper
-
It's quite galling to see these people turn up again, knowing that nothing will be implemented before the May '26 elections. False promises and snakeoil from Mr. Hakata and his colleagues.
The likely changes to parking will necessarily increase traffic on rung roads and Wightman. In the same way that improvements to some residential streets to the east have negatively impacted the ladder, so too will changes to the TfL-run Green Lanes.
How many election cycles will it take us to realise that effort and time spent campaigning for an impossible LTN or practically impossible traffic restrictions to Wightman Road, would be better spent directly threatening these people's seats? All of the Harringay councillors, and particularly Mr Hakata and other nearby cabinet members' seats. Campaign against them in their own wards. Something tells me Mr Hakata much prefers his current council salary and perks to those of his previous job of mini-cab dispatcher.
When is the Harringay ward going to play politics properly?
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson
-
So what do you propose to deal with traffic problems?
-
-
Close the Ladder to through traffic and let everything else take care of itself. I believe that’s Haringey policy. I remember when Mike Hakata was elected on a platform of stopping the traffic on the Ladder. That was a *long* time ago eh?
-
-
Which problem? Whose problem?
There's a very simple fix I could suggest for my road (Burgoyne). If you live on another ladder road, for a small fee, I could offer a simple fix for it too. But that in itself has been the problem. The council has allowed and encouraged selfish and illogical tinkering.
If Haringey Council is to be believed and TfL is finally willing to consider changes to this stretch of Green Lanes (FWIW, I'm confident the council has been the obstacle to change rather than TfL), then Hermitage, the Gardens, the Ladder, and St Ann's should all be back in play.
Undo the flawed and parochial tinkering and start again.
-
-
I am not a driver but surely the obvious answer to alleviating pressure on certain roads is getting rid of all LTN's. This way drivers can get from A to B in less time and, more importantly for the environment, use less fuel. Why should residents who live on the roads where traffic is being forced to go be chocked to death by fumes. Do these people not matter then?. The answer is staring the Council in the face but they choose to ignore it. I remember the uproar of drivers when LTN's came about and some mentioning that their usual 10 to 15 minute journey by car was now taking 30 minutes or more which to me means more fuel, more fumes. Get rid of LTN's and then traffic management would not be necessary.
-
-
I think you've missed the point, Linda. Because of the climate emergency, councils have a legal responsibility to cut traffic. Encouraging more traffic everywhere on more roads I'm pretty sure won't cut traffic. And it won't cut down on pollution, rubbish thrown out of cars (a real problem on Ladder roads) and dangerous roads. It's been quoted over and over again on this forum: Haringey has a very low car ownership profile to the rest of London and the vast majority of car journeys start and end outside of our borough. So Haringey's residents are receiving pollution, rubbish and poor air quality for no benefit whatsoever. More traffic is generally bad for the residents of Haringey and should be a goal of the council, legally and morally.
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
-
Our council formally and unanimously declared a climate emergency at Full Council in March 2019.
One would never guess it by their actions in the six years since. Their biggest single failing has been lack of action in transport: they have gone easy on fossil-fuel use and the ownership of fossil-fuel burners. Climate-aware councillors have been side-lined: this is consistent with Starmer's Government's shelving of climate policies.
They are not concerned enough about air pollution. They are terrified—not of the climate emergency —but of electoral backlash in May, through any disadvantage to the (large) minority of car owners.
-
-
Oh yes the halcyon pre-LTN days when there were no traffic jams and no pollution and every car zipped about at 30mph. The best way to reduce the pollution is for people to drive less. Peopleshould change to public transport or cycling or walking. It's way less polluting to do any of those things. Fact is many people prefer to sit alone in a tin can polluting their neighbours. And of course the mobility impaired and those with heavy tools etc will need to drive but for eg the mere fact of having kids or having shopping to carry doesn't require a car.
-
Permalink Reply by StephenBln
-
I agree with your sentiment, but as you can see by the comments, people are inherently selfish. Whether they be resident car owners wanting their guaranteed parking space or potential political jockeys - vying to win the most votes.
One of the biggest problems in solving the traffic problem for residents has always been the difference of elevation West and East of the ladder. Going up with or without shopping by foot is not a pleasant task.
Well over a decade ago I suggested that there should be a (mini/smaller) bus service along Wightman Road towards Turnpike Lane Station at one end and perhaps Manor House or Finsbury Park at the other. I still believe this would be of real benefit to residents at the top, giving them an alternative to the car and an opportunity to use public transport. TfL rejected the idea back then! Perhaps the council could put pressure on TfL? Non resident car users could perhaps be filtered out by systems of number plate recognition and being charged for use. The higher the charge the better.
© 2025 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
