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 John McMullan on
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Custom says that if you drop £20 in the street I can pick it up and keep it. The law says otherwise.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Whatever the " rights " of pedestrians may be, these tables are NOT pedestrian crossings. Nor are they pedestrian refuges.
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Permalink Reply by Roger on
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... to be fair... it was the same before the works with the pavement broken up from vehicles mounting the kerb... I stopped crossing there after a lorry almost ran me over on the pavement... hardly surprising the iron bollard was totalled... but it should have been more securely anchored...
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Permalink Reply by kotkas on
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John D: I think they were intended to be a pedestrian refuge - but got levelled with the road. Otherwise why not just paint road markings?
https://www.trafficchoices.co.uk/traffic-schemes/refuge-island.shtml
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Permalink Reply by DavidJ on
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They clearly have tried to make this safer for pedestrians - otherwise why raise the road and put in islands?? - thus:
"A raised pedestrian crossing is an elevated section of road where the crossing has been raised to the height of the kerbstone. This design lowers driving speeds and makes the crossing easier for all pedestrians, in particular those pushing prams or using wheelchairs. A refuge is a "rest stop" for pedestrians crossing the road. It also serves to separate opposing traffic streams, thus making frontal collisions less likely. "
From here -
The execution is a fiasco, however.
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Hi everyone. Sarah James and Zena have been looking into this, and I got forwarded the following justification from the officers responsible for this. I have my own views but would be hear to know what you think:
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.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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"OK bakers officers, your technical challenge is to justify trying to squeeze a quart of traffic engineering aspirations into a mini-roundabout pint pot." That's what it says to me. And thanks for persisting and posting the response.
Walking from the Ladder to the park I never use it as a crossing, far too risky - before the bridge I cross Wightman onto the west (railway side) pavement, walk up to the Endymion Road traffic light crossing, and cross back.
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Permalink Reply by Nicky on
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I agree. I can see what the intentions were but for some reason it is just a nightmare now. Two days ago I saw a lorry turn left onto Endymion from Wightman road and they were over 3/4 of the pavement on that corner. If a person had been there they would have been squashed! I would also argue with that the traffic has hardly slowed at all and the sound of lorries and trucks hitting the ground as they fly over the bumps is nerve jangling.
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