Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Cyclists and Wightman Road
Hi all,
Is it just me or has Wightman Road now become an absolute death trap for us cyclists with the jutty out bits that enrage car drivers who swerve into us to avoid oncoming cars...?
Thinking a cycle track on part of pavement could be an answer... We don't take up as much space as a car parking half way across the pavement as it used to be...
Nemone
Tags for Forum Posts: cycling, cycling safety, harringay traffic study, traffic, wightman road improvements
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Laura on
-
It's more difficult to cycle along safely, and given how unsafe it was before, this is REALLY saying something. Cyclists in the area have the choice of Wightman Road or Green Lanes for many journeys and to have to make this choice is
On Wightman Road the traffic heading towards you swerves in and out of the bays created by the new infrastructure. This means judging safety and speed becomes MORE difficult. Oncoming traffic will swerve to their left and then out to their right - effectively swerving out into your lane. You have no choice here but to be in 'primary position' so the traffic coming in the opposite direction will swerve very close to you
Motor traffic COMPETES to get to the pinch points before traffic heading in the opposite direction. Again this makes it harder to judge the movements and speed of motor traffic on the road.
The position of the lowered kerbs at the heads of roads are such that they can be driven over very easily by motor traffic turning left. Bell bollards would prevent this.
For Wightman Road to have become more hazardous for cyclists and pedestrians is staggering. The letters came from "Sustainable Transport" at Haringey council "we will be carrying road safety and accessibility improvements on Wightman Road and Alroy Road". Says all you need to know about transport planning in Haringey.
-
Permalink Reply by DavidJ on
-
Yes it does actually feel worse and quite scary.
I use it more or less every day and I have noticed that it looks like fewer cyclists are using Wightman Road now - considering this is peak cycling time. I guess many cyclists have given up on it.
I have no choice as this is where I live - I either give up cycling or continue to brave it.
-
-
Why would Haringey Sustainable Transport do this do this to it's tax payers? it's not like there aren't examples of good practise in nearby boroughs. Are the decision-makers just totally ******* incompetent? I don't get it. Let's put it another way, how can the people who make the decisions, be in post when such poor decisions are made?
-
Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish on
-
As per upthread, time to use our voting power to persuade the council/ councillors/ parties that the wants and needs of the borough are changing. I'm not sure it will happen quickly but it will happen eventually if enough people make their voices felt. At the moment I feel we're not near the tipping point but it could happen soon. Personally I haven't voted Labour for a good 10 years, Green party all the way.
-
Permalink Reply by AndrewAW1 on
-
With the nature of the road you're never going to get a solution that includes car parking, full width pavements, safe cycling and the capacity for a high volume of traffic.
Whilst the council continues to prioritise a high volume of traffic for the road nothing is going to change and I can't see the council not prioritising that any time soon. The only way I can see to change Wightman Road is to change the council.
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
-
If you look at all the traffic schemes in the area they all try to compensate for the disaster that is Green Lanes. No one is willing to bite the bullet and do what is needed to the major road that runs through the area - prioritise cycling and public transport and ban parking. The trader lobby just has too much clout to even start the conversation on that one and I for one (who has put up with this nonsense for the 35 years I’ve lived here) am heartily sick of pandering to businesses at the expense of those who have to live with this 24 hours a day.
-
-
One thing to be careful of is the idea that simply banning parking on Green Lanes will solve a lot of problems.
If parking is banned on Green Lanes I suspect that the average traffic speeds would increase as drivers would need to be less cautious with fewer unexpected vehicle movements. So, there is a reasonable chance that banning parking would make the road less pedestrian friendly.
Any intervention like this would need to be as part of a package to still calm the traffic on Green Lanes and make the whole area more pedestrian friendly.
-
-
I agree. I drive along there sometimes and rather than calming the traffic flow, as in slowing it down, Wightman Rd is now a death trap for all, especially cyclists. I would never cycle along there now.
-
-
Meanwhile at the Liveable Neighbourhoods conference that's going on RIGHT NOW
- Attachments:
-
-
thumbnail_IMG_0271.png, 657 KB
-
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
The Haringey funding for this programme has gone to Crouch End - an odd priority given the needs in the east of the borough, not to mention the central areas like Harringay.
-
Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
-
Yes, I remember one of the last stakeholder meetings an Peray Ahmet (at that time the lead member for Environment) was almost giddy with the fact that she was driving a big initiative in Crouch End, whilst she sat on her hands during a process to try to improve Harringay's lot. I never worked that one out.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
