Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Wightman Road closes but opens a new road to cyclists to the city
Has anyone noticed just how many cyclists are now using the closed Wightman Road to commute to the city? I've been watching from my bedroom window (on Wightman Road) for the last few mornings and am staggered by the number of cyclists (and also a fairly large increase in pedestrians). I am sure it's not just my imagination but the amount of cyclists riding along my route into St Pauls seemed to have jumped dramatically over the past two weeks. Could it be that the most terrifyingly dangerous part of the route has now been removed and there is now great joy to both new and old cyclists in journeying along Wightman Road, through Finsbury Park up to Manor House and then beyond into the city? I am convinced that people who would never have considered cycling because of Wightman have now made the switch and would continue if the road was made safer.
Endymion Road in both directions at 8.15am for the last couple of mornings has been pretty much as clear as it always is, certainly no huge build up of traffic. Of course I don't know what the current picture is at the northern Turnpike Lane/Hornsey end but I hope it is an improving situation.
I appreciate drivers have been inconvenienced and that some of the businesses on Wightman are suffering. It says a huge amount about the wonderful community here on the Ladder that there is already talk about how we can help them through this period.
The council took a bold decision to close the road while the bridge works advance but it has given us the unique opportunity to see what a wonderful place Wightman Road could be. It is a narrow, winding, hilly, wholly residential road which was never intended to take the 120,000 vehicles a week it is currently carrying. And before people tell us how it was our choice to live on a busy road and we knew what we were getting let me just say that when we bought our house in 1996 the road was nowhere near as busy and what it has become is neither what we and other residents expected or deserved. In time traffic will find another way and is a slightly longer journey really such a hardship when there are so many long term benefits.
The benefits of a long term closure are huge (though it may not seem so to drivers using it as a cut through) in terms of a healthier environment for Wightman Road residents and by default Ladder road residents too, a safe cycle way to the city, a much better environment for people to walk, reduction in vehicle traffic – the list goes on.
The Green Lanes Traffic Survey continues – I am confident that it will show that the key to the traffic issues on the Ladder start with Wightman Road, address that and the rest will follow. One thing is for certain – we can't allow things to go back to how they were before!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Antoinette on
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And what of the £3.5m cost of rebuilding the Wightman Road bridge only to close the only road it leads to....? Are the Wightman Road residents ready to put their money where their mouth is and reimburse the tax payer that wasted investment in infrastructure?
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You're ignoring the truth once again. The bridge needed replacing, perhaps not to bear the load it's being replaced with, but it had to be done. Are you really suggesting they should have left it in its current state of disrepair should the consultation recommend the closure of Wightman Road?
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Why replace it all...just take it down I'd it's not going to lead anywhere...
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Obviously the contract is in place and the work will be undertaken but it will have been a spectacular waste of £3.5m if the road subsequently closes. I can see the Daily Mail headline now....how much do you suppose just taking it down would have cost.... £50k?
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as I wrote on another thread, I hadn't been on the ladder since all this of all this started. Today I did, to see a friend, and it must be lovely for those of you who live there.
So, rather than allowing these arguments to become more and more partisan and 'block warfare' starts can all the councilors be persuaded to halt all work on the bridge once it's been removed and close the bloody road without the bridge, This will make the majority of the ladder residents happy judging by all the comments.
We can then Save millions of public money, this can then be used to close up the northeast of harringay and the woodlands park estate ( like the gardens) and provide new glazing in all the properties on green lanes and turnpike lane.
Would that make everyone happy? And stop all this begger thy neighbour stuff.?-
F-----g 'block wars' I knew this would happen.
Could we just restrict ourselves to deciding where the front lines are, so we all know where it's safe to walk.
I'd suggest the white lines down the middle of GL and the same along St Anne's.
Ladder gets the brouhaha and the jam. The gardens and woodlands will have to share the Salisbury.
Ooooh it's just like west side story -- without the romance.
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If there's any playwrights, composers and choreographers out there this could be a hit!!!
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Permalink Reply by DavidJ on
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Yes, it does seem very hard for people to appreciate other's points of view when their own interests are at stake. I do wonder how well you are escaping this dynamic yourself?
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Im not!
But I was chastised for proposing wider solutions ( congestion charge the arse out of people diving inside the M25 and north circular. Everyone benefits) and encouraged to embrace local or hyper local solutions.
So let's all go for it! In the absence of suggestions like severe width restrictions ( ever tried driving through the top end of shepherd hill? Single file and two way with bollards that will take your doors off if your not careful. No Lorry or large panel van is going through there) or home zones (Linden road brick built tree planters in the middle of the road)
I will now whole heartedly support the removal of the bridge for the peace, quite and Benefit of Wightman rd and ladder- if my neighbours and good friends on the other side of the Lane, will support the closure of northeast harringay and woodlands park.
Quid pro quo!
Hyper local solutions for the benefit of the residents and let the rest of the world go sort itself out.
Why should I care about them?
Hyper local Community in action.
What do you think?
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I don't see why Woodlands Park should not be blocked off if there is a problem there now - it never seemed very busy - I used to live on Clarendon and then St Ann's (which was itself busy) - but that area didn't seem very rat run. If it is being rat run now I would certainly support blocking off there too.
Of course Harringay Rd has already been blocked off - and there are closures to the East that probably already benefit the Woodlands area.
We need less reliance on cars and to reverse the domination of cars. We can wait around for grand solutions - but I really don't see anything wrong with getting on with things locally. I do think that the ladder has been a weird anomaly for a long time in that it has been allowed to be treated as massive traffic rat run for a long time.
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If the bridge is removed thus solving the ladder problems why not just approve a continual spin out of closures from there, CPZ style.
You can't say 'just the ladder and then we'll see', if a problem turns up - then we might approve it -so long as it doesn't interfere with me driving to B&Q or my quick cut through to the M11 or children's school. That's just the gardens closure all over again.
As the song says 'let it snow, let snow, let it snow' !
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Surely the point is that we are actually already many years into this process. We have had a whole serious of road closures - Harringay Rd, Hermitage Rd, Warwick Gds, a series of closures around Crouch End, Finsbury Park, Seven Sisters . . etc etc . . .
Road closures to protect residential streets are not new at all.
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I'm not saying they are,
Just that with the overwhelming ( as it appears on here) desire on the ladder for a 'shut down' and the absence of any support for traffic calming width restrictions or other obstacles that might sort the major problem out. it would be a rather 'poor show' if the Laddetts or Gardeners objected to others following suit.
You do need to remember that you will be inconveniencing your neighbours just over the road so would it not be equitable to allow them to do the same. After all isn't that what you've been complaining about regarding the gardens closure?
Then we could all benefit from a car free borough because no one would be able to drive anywhere. Except on an A road.
So as I said earlier, take down the bridge don't replace it and use the money to allow others to 'close down' in the same manner.
I'll whole heartedly support it now.
Seems fair to me and gives you exactly what you want.
Seems a bit sad for the folks at the south end of the Ladder though.
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