20 mph for Wightman Road - consultation agreed

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by StephenBln on October 17, 2009 at 14:30

OK, Then we'll have to wait until five years after the 20mph is introduced to see who was right ! :o)

Permalink Reply by richard on November 25, 2009 at 2:21

Can someone explain how it can cost £100,000 to just introduce a 20mph speed limit. By the way, have there been any accidents on Wightman Road in recent years?

Permalink Reply by TTTH on October 23, 2009 at 11:09

I agree Nic, crossing points are most important for me too. How are they going to inforce 20mph speed limits anyway? Cameras? Drivers are savvy enough to work out where they are and speed between them. More creative thinking is needed to slow traffic and I think small traffic islands or raised sections of the road to the pavement work better long term, like this:
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/49/images/Mitchams4Table.jpg

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 23, 2009 at 11:11

The other night there were two young boys on bikes riding slowly in the middle of the road down Wightman. That worked.

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Permalink Reply by TTTH on October 24, 2009 at 13:33

I was up at Ally Pally last night and they have a 20 mph speed limit with raised platforms along the stretch of road at the front of the building. It appears to be successful in slowing traffic, so we could push this as an example in the borough of what we want?

Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on October 18, 2009 at 17:06

Afraid I was absent for that little exchange over the past two or three days. Just as well: I'd be very hesitant to get caught in the crossfire between two or three colleagues and champions of Wightman Road's future!

What is not clear from the Journal's story is that residents' (particularly WRN4RA's) approach to Wightman Rd's problems has been consistently holistic - whole Harringay and beyond - certainly over the past 3-4 years. The discussion on this site which best encapsulates that approach is WightmanPaul's "The name Harringay is a Vehicle for Joined up Planning in Harringay - Planning and other Local Developments, Feb 23 2009. (Sorry, not a live link.) One of our better discussions, featuring Paul, Karen, Matt, Hugh, Adam, Alison, John, John D and several others - which also includes Matt's useful link to earlier relevant discussions. A very useful lead up to the Traffic & Transport Special in March and, I suggest, well worth revisiting in the lead up to the 'Wightman20mph Consultation'.

As Karen makes clear in the Journal piece: 'This is only stage one of bringing about the improvements that Wightman Road needs.' Which ties in nicely with WRN4RA's three-year-old shortlist:
footways repair and resurfacing,
road resurfacing,
proper parking demarcation,
light-controlled crossing between Mattison & Pemberton,
transformation of 'Jewsons' frontage' with abolition of 'free parking' strip and unsightly hoardings,
facelift (if not rebranding) of Railway Bridge,
'Welcome to Harringay! Drive Carefully' 'gateway',
more new manageable trees,
hanging baskets in Station Approach . . . .
Doubtless, Wightman Road North's residents could add to that list, aiming for a road that's not only safer but 'softer' and tolerably liveable as a result - backing it up with enforcement tools but improving the aesthetics as well.

A final addendum, then, to Karen's summing up in that February discussion: "So, first traffic calming, which is coming, then hopefully 20mph", which should leave our road ready for the Wightman Bus - all very complementary. It will be a bus of suitable proportions whose drivers will, of course, follow the DfT's recommendation of an operational speed of 15mph or less over our new speed cushions or sinusoidal (as distinct from suicidal) humps. (Thanks, Paul, for extending our vocabulary.)
Remember, those 240 residents who signed for extending the Ladder20mphZone and the 256 who have signed for the Wightman Bus are in no way contradictory. For the most part, judging from my doorstep conversations, they are probably the very same people.

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Permalink Reply by John D on October 24, 2009 at 17:07

At the last Transport Forum that I attended, the Council expert said that speed bumps / cushions were undesirable on bus routes because passengers complain of being shaken about. So in future, speed bumps or a bus, but not both.

There certainly are some up by the Shopping City but they are so mild that they don't slow traffic to any marked degree. Indeed, they are positively dangerous because some drivers and some pedestrians think they are pedestrian crossings, which they are not.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on October 24, 2009 at 20:27

Yes, John, I think I feel between a rock and a hard cushion on this one. My only solution might be: 'any of you passengers complaining of discomfort, get off and walk'!

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 25, 2009 at 10:42

So if you really don't want a bus down Wightman Rd you'd better start asking the council for speed humps!

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Permalink Reply by John D on October 25, 2009 at 17:12

But the Council (see above ) say the two issues are interlinked and mutually exclusive.

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Permalink Reply by WightmanPaul on November 25, 2009 at 13:20

W(3?) (Sainbury bus) runs over the back across speed platforms. It's not an issue. Let's not complicate matters. Issue is 20mph or not?

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Permalink Reply by Harringay Birder on October 20, 2009 at 13:21

I am afraid speed is not a problem for those who drive on Green Lanes regularly. Lack of it is. This will only be worsened by speed humps - not to mention a bus service - on Wightman Road. The reason will be that more people will abandon Wightman Road (and all the bumps they have to go over just to reach it) and stay on Green Lanes. Great for Wightman Road, but for users of Green Lanes, already bedevilled by chronic congestion, noise and pollution?

Tricky one...

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