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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

On a quick trot down to Turnpike Lane I thought again how pleasant it is to see people out on the street. Click each picture for a clearer version.


Tags for Forum Posts: traffic, wightman bridge, wightman bridge closure

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I think that this might be partly Ian's point.

I interpret that 15-20 years ago, some other area changed and pushed traffic into GL/WR. This is petty and nimby to the extreme. And yet, all we can seem to propose is: let's do the same and push the traffic to someone else's back yard.

For me it's Hewit's no-right-turn all over again, only on a greater scale. And sod the residents at Beresford and Fairfax.

15 years of living in London and I still struggle with the concept that London operates 33 town halls with opposing views one to the other and no consolidated vision. 

I lack faith in any positive outcome.

Everyone else, east and west of us, who lives in a residential road that is a potential rat-run, has had something done about it. Directly north of us the North Circular is a mess and many people get off just before it gets messy and continue into London from there.

And the real killer -> IT'S ONLY FOR FIVE MONTHS!!!!!

Indeed. 20 years ago London had ~1.5 million fewer inhabitants.

For inner london, it was rougly at it's historical nadir since 1891 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_London)  

All transport modalities in London are cramped at peak times. Even walking.

Volume makes all the difference - there's only so much capacity in the (road) network, regardless of traffic management. 

No wonder things are worse.

Michael, to explain, I am talking about a bigger picture of logic. some on WR and ladders may want the road closed forever. Some on WR & ladders may want the road re-opened. A greater number of people using the road who do not reside on WR or ladders would want it re-opened. Greater good of society.

Ian, you are accepting that the current state is the only possible way things can be. The purpose of the study that has started is to find another way of handling traffic that uses the area as a whole and that of course includes the Ladder.

In the 30 odd years I've lived here my perception and that of others living here is that traffic flows have increased year on year in the area. Over the last three decades people living locally have stood on street corners counting cars, set up their own traffic counters, lobbied Haringey and their councillors (you may have read individual actions people have taken over the years to try and improve things in other posts). But things have only deteriorated.

Allowing traffic to continue to build on the Ladder road, especially on Wightman Road, has meant not having to address difficult problems elsewhere, like decisions to bring about ad hoc improvements in one place without appreciating the impact on other places and not wanting to get to grips with the mess that is Green Lanes.

As for greater good; traffic can be given alternative routes, the routes traffic uses at the moment are not fixed and eternal. People cannot pick up their homes and move them. The greater good of the tens of thousands who live in the area is surely the most important consideration.

Ian a good point well put so many comments on this topic are focused on the ladder residents (of which I am one) with little consideration for the impact this is having on non ladder residents lives. There is an incredible NIMBY culture being demonstrated here. My wife has had over 30 minutes added each way to her daily drive to Islington, other road users including buses are similarly impacted. How many people live in the ladder? Less those residents that don't support the closure vs the impact on local / regional road users including those of us who use a bus. It's an easy equation to see this should not be a permanent solution
I fully accept that some people may simply think about themselves and their own convenience but doesn't that also apply to people driving vehicles?
I accept that this is my opinion only and other can quite rightly disagree. Unless something radical is done, some of which has been discussed on this thread, simply closing Wightman without reducing overall traffic levels will simply push the issue to someone else's St. Hence the reference to a NIMBY attitude.
A lot of comments have been made about increased car commuting times since the bridge works started. Many have said how they were stuck in traffic for X amount of time, as if they were somehow separate from other road users. As some one else has said on one of the thread, they were not stuck in traffic, they are the traffic, they contributed to the traffic jam as much as anyone else in the tailback
On NIMBYism lve been thinking about an experiment where I stop drivers going up my street and ask them what the traffic is like on the street they live. Ask them how they would react to the traffic volumes I have going down their road. I would imagine a great number of them be horrified at the thought but simply don't apply that same level of concern about streets they drive on. That is real NIMBYism

Please don't do that Michael. You're too valuable a contributor to lose

It may not appear so but I do completely understand your concern with how Warham road is used. Something should be done but I am hopeful a more equitable solution could be found other than the permanent closure of Wightman.

I think it boils down to a simple equation. Commuters through the area spend say 10 hours per week on their commute,some more, some less. People living in the area do so for up to 168 hours a week.

Over the past thirty years I have spent considerable amounts of money installing double glazing and replacing a glazed front door with a solid one, all to try and reduce the noise coming into my home. I don't open the windows at the front of the house, even in summer, as the noise sometimes is unbearable. I have done everything I can. Maybe now it's time for motorists to do their bit.

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