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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Traffic Calming Measures on Wightman Road

Is there anyone else out there who is as distressed as i am at the state of the Wightman Road 'race track'? The speed of the traffic, the uneven, narrow pavements.....i could go on. Not only would i never consider cycling along this road, but i am also getting increasingly nervous about even walking (pushing a pushchair) along the road, as the vehicles chicane around the traffic islands. Surely, the state of this road is totally inconsistant with the council's policy of encouaraging a green lifestyle and getting people out of their cars.

I have recently been in dialogue with the council regarding this matter, and was given the predictable response of 'can't put in speed bumps due to the strategic nature of Wightman Road' and 'lack of funding' despite the recent 300% increase in residents parking parmits, according to the council due to 'green initiatives'. I find their lack of lateral thinkinging around this problem infuriating.

If, like me, you feel that slowing the traffic down on Wightman Road is a total no-brainer' PLEASE send an e-mail to CLEMENT.FREMPONG@HARINGEY.GOV.UK and STREETSCENE@HARINGEY.GOV.UK informing them of your concerns.

I'm sure we can get something done about this highly unsaticefactory situation and make the Wightman Road area a much more pleasant place to live.

p.s. If anyone from Her Majisty's Finest is reading this, is it possible to get some 'road saftley' speed cameras set up?

Thanks for you attention, Andy Ayles

Tags for Forum Posts: tfl, traffic, wightman road, wightman traffic calming

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by GK/OD on March 25, 2008 at 23:19
There was a traffic survey done for the whole area some years ago... a private company was commissioned.

The recommendations were costly and the Local Authority at that time said they would have to be staged in over a long period.

The main areas of concern were the rush hour traffic trying to avoid Seven Sisters Road running from Hermitage Road into Endymion instead.

Also in the recommendations were things along Green Lanes. Various crossings. One near Mount View Court. Pedestrian Crossing at Endymion junction with Green Lanes.. Also a lot that I cant remember.

What I do remember is that Wightman Road did not figure in this at all
Permalink Reply by rahman on March 26, 2008 at 22:21
I hate to be the dissenting voice, but I have always thought of Wightman Road as a main(ish), not purely residential road. I cant see how reducing the speed limit to 20 would work as it would just cause more problems for already heavily congested green lanes.

Are there many accidents/ injuries/ people being knocked over on Wightman Road to support the hazards argument, or is the presence of traffic there just something residents would rather not have to deal with for lifestyle reasons?

(I am genuinely asking, because it had never occured to me that Wightman Road (a) was not a main road and (b) was a particularly hazardous road at that).
Permalink Reply by GK/OD on March 26, 2008 at 23:01
The bollards and One ways on the `Ladder` (rung) roads have made it better in my opinion. Usually apart from when your heading North from the St Anns Rd junction Green Lanes is quite slow anyway and Wightman Road is often used. I know as I`ve worked and driven around here for twenty years
Permalink Reply by alistairj on March 27, 2008 at 0:19
The concerns expressed relate primarily to pedestrians (particularly those with prams because of pavement parking and overgrown greenery) and cyclists. I suggest Eddie's 'pram test' if you want to familiarise yourself with some of them!
Permalink Reply by GK/OD on March 27, 2008 at 1:12
I agree about lack of room on pavements but short of widening the road and pavement area which would be unfeasible not much can be done. Cutting greenery back, yes. Cyclists likewise, its just a winding not very wide road and if I was a cyclist I would avoid it. It can`t be straightened or widened without taking garden space away or knocking down houses. That would cost.
Permalink Reply by GK/OD on March 27, 2008 at 1:13
20 mph limit though is the least it should have
Permalink Reply by Alison P on March 27, 2008 at 15:39
Errr sorry GK/OD - how exactly as a cyclist can I avoid it?

I can't fly. I live on one of the roads that leads to it. I can't use the passageway because, as some have pointed out on this very site, it is illegal to cycle on it. Green Lanes is also tricky (different problems to Wightman, but problems all the same).

So the answer is not to cycle .. is that what you mean?

I can't believe that there isn't a way to make it a little safer for cyclists. Slower. More crossings. Perhaps fewer islands .. Worth a little thought maybe ..
Permalink Reply by GK/OD on March 27, 2008 at 23:01
I agree Alison. I`m just not sure I can see how on such a road features for cycling can be incorporated as in wider roads.

At least a 20 mph limit would help. Not everyone adheres to speed limits but its better for `normal` drivers to nearly adhere to 20 mph than nearly adhere to 30 mph
Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 27, 2008 at 23:46
With the volume of traffic on Wightman Rd, it only takes one to "adhere" to the speed limit and they all do.
Eddie FinneganPermalink Reply by Eddie Finnegan on March 27, 2008 at 14:42
A welcome dissenting voice, Rahman. However OTT our arguments pro 20mph and pedestrian crossings we must agree there are quite valid arguments contra.

But you ask, "Are there many accidents/injuries/people being knocked over on Wightman Road to support the hazards argument ...?"
And I ask, "Do we really need to count the ambulances/stretchers/bodybags... before we recognise potential hazards and real blight on lives of a significant section of Harringay?" Rahman, if we were anti-traffic or heavily into 'lifestyle reasoning' most of us wouldn't live in London. After three decades on Wightman Road I can't see why I shouldn't spend another three decades here - but not in these worsening conditions.

No, we're not a 'purely residential road'. Do such things exist? Are we 'a main(ish) road'? We're a section of the narrow, winding B138 receiving a constant flow from the 'much mainer' and wider A105, A107, A503, A103, A504, A109 and A1080 - just to mention our most obvious tributaries. Indeed, to push the metaphor, if this were a river system I'm afraid our little winding Wightman stream would have burst its banks a long time ago.

If we are to look for comparisons, cast an eye over the B540 (Hornsey Lane) on the Haringey/Islington border, linking the A103 at Hornsey Rise with the B519 through Highgate and around the Heath to the A502 towards Golders Green and Hendon.

Hornsey Lane, a much better road than Wightman but with some similarities, has for several years been part of the 20mph zone with the streets on its Islington flank - only after the demands and insistence of its residents. What's more, it works. Nothing grinds to a halt. Some drivers, including W5 Bus drivers occasionally breach the 20mph limit, but in general it is observed. The 30mph A103 through Crouch End, branching towards Archway and Finsbury Park, seems largely unaffected.

I suggest that a more comprehensive 20mph zone, encompassing all of Harringay & St Ann's wards, including some stretches of 'A' roads (e.g. Turnpike Lane; Green Lanes from Endymion junction to Bounds Green Road) would be the way to go and would not bring traffic or business to a standstill.

This would not be an avenue towards a borough-wide blanket 20-zone. To quote Paul Watters of the AA's roads and transportation: "London .. ... has lots of main A-roads where people have to make progress. If some main roads end up with 20mph limits, people will ignore it and bring other 20mph zones into disrepute."

All we're saying is: Wightman Road ain't one of those main A-roads.
Permalink Reply by andy on March 27, 2008 at 16:07
Yes, good to hear Rahman's opposing views, and i agree with all of the counter comments. Also, on the subject of reducing traffic speed to 20mph, i dont actually think it reduces the capacity of the road. I've read about road trials whereby it has no effect on traffic volume at all. Another observation i would like to point out to Rahman is that i live on the Wightman Rd end of my street, and i often see near and actual accidents - some very serious with multiple police cars and ambulances. Believe me, it's a real issue that needs addressing.
Permalink Reply by TTTH on March 28, 2008 at 9:50
It's reassuring to hear Eddie's comment that 20mph speed limit works in Hornsey Lane. I wondered if it could ever be inforced or if the majority would ignore it.

If you think it's bad driving/ cycling/ walking on Wightman Rd, you should try living on it and crossing the road every day.

I live on the end, Alroy Road and have been the victim of the psycho speeding car driver several times while trying to cross the road. I wrote to the Council twice, they said in so many words that I would need to be knocked down if anything was to be done about a new crossing or speeding ramps. Because the juction at Endemyion Rd is such a bottle neck, cars speed into Alroy Rd without any regard to the fact that it's actually a residential road. So would we be entitled to a ramp like those on the ladder to slow down traffic? We have families with children living on this road, and a sheltered housing development not far away if we want to prioritise the most vulnerable.

On a different note, there is a new junction at the top of Lothair Road South and Alroy Road. That came about after a few traffic accidents. However they have over spent on unnecessary signage and actually have 4 new light signs, 2 turning right and 2 going straight ahead within yards of each other. The say they have no money and then they spend so unnecessarily on stuff like this.

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