Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A new cycle route for Harringay/Gardens/St Ann's?
If you look at the map of cycle routes in this part of Haringey i.e. east of the East Coast Mainline, it is remarkable how few there are - in fact there are none in Harringay, Gardens or St Ann's, as you can see on Opencyclemap (blue/purple lines are cycle routes):
https://www.opencyclemap.org/?zoom=14&lat=51.58135&lon=-0.0...
This seemed a bit weird to me, and I was interested in working out if there was an option of a quiet route towards Wood Green - I was also already using an alternative route to the south (which I had submitted to the traffic study, but who knows what has happened to that).
In the end it was surprisingly easy to find a route, as the key discovery was Langham Road, which is reasonably quiet (though could be modified to make it better) & goes from West Green Road up to a little cut-through to Downhills Park Road, which is cycle route 54 from Tottenham Hale to Wood Green and Muswell Hill; the cut-through even includes some railway tracks in memory of the Palace Gates Line.
It's quite easy to get to the West Green Road/Langham Road junction from the area to the south; for my route I chose Etherley Road. Then I combinied this with a southern link into the main route C20 to central London via either Finsbury Park (in day time) or Endymion road (at night), gives a full route (detailed route as a pdf) here:
One huge advantage of this route as against cycling to the west of the East Coast Main Line is that it is basically totally flat until you get to Finsbury Park (unlike Crouch End or Wightman Road ). As it stands now the route is pretty good, with zebra crossings or traffic lights near all main road junctions (though not exactly at them unfortunately). I've heard that Langham Road is popular with fast minicabs etc, but it wouldn't be hard to improve this though.
There's also space on Green Lanes to provide an easy right turn into Lothair Road North using the existing traffic island and the wide pavement on the right (going South) after the bridge - many cyclists already do this.
There is also a proposal that the St Anne's hospital redevelopment re-opens an arch under the GOBLIN line which could also create a cycling route through to somewhere around Ashfield road - this would give a good link to/from the Warehouse district.
I'm not clear what the mechanism for creating new cycle routes - the main focus at the moment seems to be upgrading existing ones & renumbering everything to a single set of cycleways.
This was one of the ideas discussed at the St Ann's Healthy Streets event a few weeks ago, and there also may (in the end) be funding for some local improvements as a result of the St Ann's redevelopment. But who knows....
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alfred Jahn on
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Hi
I agree, currently it is very dangerous (I find it impossible) to get safely from Finsbury Park to Wood Green. Wightman Road/Green Lanes are a no no.
I disagree with you that Langham Road is a viable alternative (without major re-development). I rather think it's currently the ONLY alternative but especially the bottom bit between West Green Road and Belmont Road is a motorway with many cars going up and down at high speed without consideration for cyclists.
After you cross Belmont Road it gets a little bit quieter but still, there is very little space, it's a straight road with cars coming from both directions and very often I have to stop in the middle of the road due to speeding cars coming towards me.
It just shows how little cycling infrastructure means to the council.
Alfred
PS: I cycled from Homerton Hospital all the way to Fleet Street earlier this week, using 99% safe, well-thought through cycling infrastructure so it seems possible to do these things elsewhere.
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Permalink Reply by michaelw on
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I'm not denying that Langham Road could do with improvement, and filtering roads is well established & has been used particularly effectively in the Waltham Forest mini-Holland scheme.
But, as you say, the question is whether Haringey is able to implement this sort of plan....
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I'm a resident of the lower part of Langham rd, it's a classic rat run. I'm a member of a neighbourhood group looking at interventions in this area, we are sort of under the umbrella of Living Streets, and we seem to be talking about the Belmont x Langham intersection a lot in our meetings. I'm going to get Langham Rd filtered.
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Agreed, there is no strategy nor plan to achieve any increase in safety or volume of cycling or walking in this area of Harringay. Check out the good work of @HaringeyLiving and others which has, thus far, made little difference. As in other threads on here, the general consensus is that while Haringey Council has made some big gestures, e.g. declaring a climate emergency, there is no change in action or overall policy.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Setz on
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Objections to planning applications for changes to our streetscape don't seem to me to work - however many there are, it's carry on regardless.
Up to us to get them to deliver if you ask me (which nobody did!). Make affected voices heard before decisions are made.
Would the very best route be through Chestnuts and across the St Ann's Road then through the St. Ann's hospital site (I actively volunteer for StART)? Then through a new exit at the corner of Warwick Gardens, or through a new Tunnel or two under the railway line.
How can crossing the St Ann's Road become childs play?
A joy of the St Ann's Healthy Streets group is lots of precise, up to the minute local knowledge and good ideas from committed local people who respect our environment. Suggest those who care need support them by joining Haringey Healthy Streets (free).
p.s. how about "carry on mindful"?
I'll get my coat.
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Cycle routes through parks are generally a bad idea at night, even if well lit, so I'm not keen on Chestnuts park as a route.
There are loads of improvements that can and should be made in the St Ann's area, e.g. the dangerous roundabout by Chestnut's primary school at the junction of Black Boy Lane & St Anne's Road, and cars speeding down St Ann's Road.
There was a very good meeting of Living Streets St Ann's a few weeks ago, when all these issues were discussed & there was also support from the councillors who attended. It feels like there is momentum building, but pressure will be needed....
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I use this exact route on my commute from Langham Rd, just one point, Umfreville is the ladder road to use, it comes onto Wightman for a left turn, easier than trying to get onto Endymion by the park.
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I’m also part of the group that itsjono mentions and I do get the sense that some momentum is building to tackle these issues, although it’s a shame this appears to be being led by local groups rather than the council at this stage. I’d encourage everyone to join their local group to see what they can do to push things forward. If anyone lives in or travels through Duckett’s Green (the area bounded by West Green Road, Green Lanes and Langham/ Graham Road) and would like to know more, then email duckettsgreenhealthystreets @ gmail.com. We’re linked into Haringey Living Streets, St Anne’s Healthy Streets and Bruce Grove & West Green Healthy Streets
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