Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
FAO: Zena Brabazon - Endymion Roundabout
Have written to Zena Brabazon about this already but wanted to share my outrage and possibly gain some advocacy on this issue.
I frequently run and walk by the Endymion road mini roundabout - as some of you may know vehicles tend to enter it at excessive speed.
I was therefore pleasantly surprised that the council had installed traffic islands which I noticed had achieved the desired traffic calming effect, and negotiating the roundabout is now very pedestrian- and cyclist friendly.
I walked by it today and was dismayed to see that the whole section had been re-surfaced and the added layer of tarmac has effectively levelled the islands with the main road (no more than 1.5" height - won't be felt by the average van) and the sidewalk, where it is 100% level. The result - the islands now have traffic calming properties of 0, and the roundabout is wide open to manouvres on to the pavement!
Given the speeds at which vehicles drive through this creates a lot risk for pedestrians, cyclists and bikers.
- for pedestrians, and especially individuals with impairments/disabilities, the lack of elevation may cause one may struggle to identify where the road ends and sidewalk begins
- for cyclist and motorbike riders it now creates ambiguity - some may not notice it at all in adverse or low visibility conditions, could run unexpectedly into the island and cause an accident. I have personally witnessed a fatal accident involving a motorcyclist in a similar situation (newly installed roundabout.)
Complete and utter shambles. The council and subcontractor need to be held to account.
UPDATE: 11 October 2018
Here is the full explanation from the officers in charge of the fiasco. Note the multiple contradictions such as references to crossing facilities, while discounting the traffic islands as such, and the interesting rationale for the raised junction table. I have set out a number of questions back to the council.
"The traffic islands at the junction have been designed and installed such that they can be overrun by traffic (particularly large vehicles) whenever necessary, however still providing the needed visual contrast to the asphalt junction table and thus help to slow down traffic going through the junction. Unfortunately due to the tightness of the junction, we are unable to install a pedestrian refuge islands with high heights and with ‘keep left’ bollards as desired as these will be subject to abuse, requiring regular maintenance and also jeopardise the safety of pedestrians using the crossing facilities at the junction.
The raised junction table was installed at almost the same level as the adjacent footway to ensure the required gradient for the raised table ramps were achieved whilst avoiding undue adjustments to the adjacent footways, which in some instance could result in the backfall of surface water on to adjacent private properties."
Tags for Forum Posts: traffic
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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What amuses me about that project is it they’ve taken away their informal crossings which they apparently realise didn’t work, whilst at the same time proposing them for the entire length of Wightman Road in their latest Wightman Road proposals.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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The idea for raised intersections comes from Mayer Hillman of Hampstead and is credited with saving many lives. However his designs call for the intersection to not only be raised to the level of the footpath but to be made of the same material as the footpath to let the drivers know that they are visitors in that space.
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Did that concept also include setting traffic islands at or near the level of the road?
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Traffic islands were not mentioned at all. This is a complete dog's dinner. I'd be surprised if it doesn't turn out like the bicycle racks they installed up and down Green Lanes and they have to rip it all out and do it again properly.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Yeah, but this is now their third go at improving it - T-junction to mini-roundabout in the '80s, raised roundabout plus informal crossings five(?) years ago, and now this.
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Permalink Reply by kotkas on
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That's an interesting idea, but doesn't seem to be on the list of designated 'pedestrian' crossings in the UK and 'ghost' traffic islands of the kind that the council has created don't feature in the design.
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Just walked past the thing and saw a SUV just drive over the islands. What an almighty mess.
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Permalink Reply by Dan77 on
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Yes I saw the same thing this morning.
I cycle through this death trap every day and I didn't think they could make it any worse. Ingénue that I am, I thought when the works started they were actually going to make it more bike-friendly.
The current absence of a painted-on mini roundabout makes it even harder for drivers to understand. About 20% of drivers don't understand roundabouts - give way to the right, go round it rather than through it, that kind of thing. How is it possible to pass a driving test without knowing this stuff
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I've used (driven) it a few times now and my sense is that some drivers are now interpreting it as a T-junction, rather than the roundabout 'all give way to the right' protocol. The presence of the mini-islands guides the eye for Endymion Rd traffic, particularly uphill, and reinforces the 'look' of it as a T-junction vs. roundabout.
All very counterproductive.
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Exactly my thoughts - a massively confusing, counterproductive design, complicated by incompetent execution.
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And - look at the bell-shaped pavement bollard in the upper photo - it's already heavily tyre-marked and already on the tilt (compare its orientation with the neighbouring lamp post and traffic sign pole).
Another issue is there are no speed tables on the long straight section between the Endymion Rd vehicle gate for Finsbury Park and the roundabout, needed to slow vehicles on the downhill, unsighted approach to the roundabout.
Yes, there are four speed tables and a newly-raised pedestrian crossing between the roundabout and Green Lanes, and the pedestrian crossing has been renewed with brighter flashing beacons, illuminated poles and high-level lighting, so that zebra crossing should now be much safer to use. But one speed table either side of the crossing would have been as effective, with the other two instead on the upper section of Endymion Rd, while still keeping to budget.
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UPDATE
Good news - it's now properly marked, with circulatory arrows round the central white disc - and they go clockwise, not like the one on Stapleton Hall Road a while ago.
BAD NEWS - the bell-shape pavement bollard is now completely uprooted, lying on its side on the pavement. There was only about 30 cm depth of it below pavement level, and that is an inverted cone not a proper box section. Surprised it lasted as long as it did with that little anchorage.
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