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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Apart from the considerable speed that drivers travel along Endymion Rd (when they aren't completely stationary of course - but that's another discussion!!), I have noticed more and more that the rules of the crossing are often ignored and you really take your life into your own hands sometimes when crossing (not all drivers are guilty, I hasten to add).

Does something need to be done before there is a serious accident or a death?

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What a great result.  Thank you to everyone involved with getting this outcome.

Update. 

For reference, to quote from the Council reply to Karen A: "Our Street Lighting Officer has inspected the crossing and confirmed that the Belisha Beacons would benefit from replacement. An order has therefore been placed with our contractor for two new Belisha Beacon posts and two new Amber Beacon Bowls with LED lamps. This work will be completed by the 16 October."

Well, speedy response so far: sometime this week the north-side post and beacon were replaced. BUT the beacon head is the standard type: that is, not with the stated LED lamps.

As for the "two new Belisha Beacon posts and two new Amber Beacon Bowls with LED lamps": the south-side post (which, as I wrote before, is in about as poor condition as the north-side post) so far has not been replaced. What may be complicating things for this post, though, is that at the moment there is repaving work on the Endymion Road footway on the south (or Park) side of the road. I hope it's just a temporary hitch in replacing the south-side post. Perhaps, also, the lack of LED heads might also be temporary - an interim fix until both promised LED heads can be installed simultaneously. One LED head on its own might be distracting, to be fair.

I will thank my Council contact for the promptly executed work so far, and will ask them about the remaining south side post and the current lack of LED heads.

 

As you suggest Gordon T, we must hope this is an "interim fix" until the whole job is done by the 16 October as promised.

But how simple - and helpful - it would have been for the email to Harringay ward councillor Karen Alexander to mention a "temporary hitch" - if that's what it is. Or even for someone in the Highways Team to post this information very briefly in this thread on HoL.

There are still many lessons to be learned by senior Council staff. 

I may have misunderstood the term "new Amber Beacon Bowls with LED lamps".

If "LED lamps" means a ring of amber LEDS arranged around the circumference of the bowl and pointing at the oncoming road user to make the crossing more visible in daylight, that's what I thought would be installed.

If "LED lamps" only means the flashing light source inside a normal bowl, then the work to replace the north-side pole is complete, though the south-side pole is so far untouched - as are, so far, the branches obscuring it from one direction.

 

Cameras at the ready for 16 October! 

Though intuitively, two globes with LED rings seem to be more sensible at this location. Including to reduce light pollution over the park and into the windows of nearby homes where they avoid the need for what I think is called a "courtesy shade".

There have been trees removed that makes the view a bit brighter and the crossing now has working light.

It's still a but lively crossing but it all helps.

Thank you very much for responding and ensuring significant changes everyone.

On 21 October I went to Endymion Road to see for myself what had been done try to improve visibility at this zebra crossing.

As Gordon T described, the black and white striped pole on the north side of the crossing had clearly been replaced, and the orange globe of the belisha beacon also looked new.  It was at least clean.

Endymion Road zebra crossing - view north

It looked to me that the same applied to the southern side of the road.

Endymion Road zebra crossing - #3

My photo (below), looking eastward from about 25 metres away, shows that branches didn't obscure the globes. But if there are now LED lights inside them, they didn't seem that bright.  It was rainy, grey and overcast. So I imagined that rings of LED lights might be seen more easily by drivers.  It seems to have been a missed opportunity. (Click on the photo to see larger versions posted on Flickr website.)

It was also a shame that Haringey Highway staff wasted time and effort in writing emails full of excuses for inaction; instead of looking into what residents said about the real problems and ways to solve them. 

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

Now you see it - Endymion Road zebra crossing

Alan, thanks for following up.           A few thoughts.

1) Standard beacon heads as fitted won't be that be that bright, at least during the day. The LED light source inside uses less energy and lasts longer than a filament bulb, of course.

2) I looked at some Islington zebra crossings yesterday while driving, they have a double-sided ring of LEDs round the circumference of the beacon, facing oncoming traffic. The LEDs are very directional (i.e. move off the alignment by only a couple of degrees and you see very little light), which is fine on a straight road. I doubt they would work for this crossing though, situated as it is on a sharp 20-25 degree bend. The LED ring could not be oriented to take account of the bend, I think. It could serve one approach direction or another, but not both, and if you 'split the difference' you would hardly see them at all because they are so directional.

3) Branches still obscure the right-hand beacon if you're further up the road, but it's better than when this discussion started.

I've come back to this discussion because I want to revisit the speed issue on Endymion Road.

Hardly any of the drivers take notice of the speed limit (possibly because it is one of the only remaining roads without 20 MPH restrictions and speed bumps).

I find it dangerously fast the speeds some cars are driven along there which adds to the concern over the safety of the crossing (it is still hazardous).

I have been driven around 4 or 5 times in the last few weeks because the cars weren't prepared to stop.

Yes, it does seem bizarre that having humped Tollington Park and Wightman, they've left this little strip right alongside the park as a speedway. I'll flag this to our councillors.

The Zebra crossing is in my opinion the most dangerous in harringay. Considering it's location to the park something really needs to be done. Cars just go too fast and are unable to stop in time for the crossing. I would say on a busy time one in 5 do not stop.

Perhaps this ought to be pelicanised, in addition to any traffic calming?

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