Islington going 20 mph throughout borough - including their part of Green Lanes

Islington is planning to go 20mph throughout the borough (apart from the A1) - not just the residential streets, which are already 20mph.

Coverage in the Islington Tribune:

ISLINGTON is to become the first area in the country to introduce a mandatory 20mph speed limit on every road controlled by the local authority.

The “game-changing” decision – to be agreed at a meeting on Thursday – has put the Town Hall on a collision course with the Met Police, which has said it will not enforce the policy.

Legally, Islington Council has the power to apply speed limits to the roads it controls. Residential side streets are already subject to the speed limit.

However, the new policy means they will be joined by major artery routes such as Essex Road, Caledonian Road, Hornsey Rise and Green Lanes.

The only roads exempt from the policy will be the A1, which is controlled by Transport for London and is made up of Holloway Road, Upper Street and City Road.

Councillor Paul Convery, the borough’s Labour transport chief, is recommending the policy despite objections from police and the Town Hall’s own officials.

The news has been welcomed by the opposition Greens and Lib Dems, both of whom have campaigned on the issue.

Caroline Russell, a former Green Party candidate and chair of the Living Streets pedestrian lobby group, said it was “potentially game-changing”.

Cllr Convery told the Tribune that the policy would reduce road deaths. In a report recommending the proposal, he wrote that Islington has a “disproportionate number of collisions between bicycles and motorcycles and other traffic”.

Last year, there were 245 bicycle accidents in the borough, 24 of which were serious and one of which was fatal.

There were 193 motorcycle collisions, with one fatal and 24 serious.

“All our principal roads run through densely populated residential neighbourhoods and busy shopping areas,” Cllr Convery said. “A pedestrian has a 90 per cent chance of surviving if hit by a car travelling at 20mph, in comparison with a 50 per cent chance of survival if hit by a car travelling at 30mph.”

Also in the Evening Standard and on BBC online.