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 Paulie on
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@ Justin
There is a cycle route on Green Lanes opposite the park but the council does nothing at all to enforce it.
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Permalink Reply by empyrean_aisles on
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First, if you've ever tried to cycle on that part of Green Lanes you'll know that a) cars often park illegally there meaning that you have to swing in and out of the traffic, which is far less safe than being in the flow of traffic the whole time. And second, you can't 'enforce' cycle lanes. It is often safer to ride on the road than on what has been designated a cycle lane without regard for safety or, often, common sense (see here for examples).
Really, how many times do people have to be told: cyclist are legitimate road users and have the right to use the road - yes, the road, not just the cycle lane - as much as cars do!
I am both a driver and a cyclist, and the Wightman closure has certainly gotten me to change my behaviour. I am now cycling rather than driving as my default. Spring is here and it is delightful to be pootling happily along a road that previously used to feel like it involved dicing with death.
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Permalink Reply by Jayvee on
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Forcing everything down GL is not the answer. Green Lanes is now unbearable to walk down, let alone drive or take the bus. Private car usage must be discouraged in harringay, there is simply not enough space. The mind boggles that there are still no bus lanes when traffic often backs up all the way to clissold park.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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I was on GL earlier, the number of single occupancy cars was amazing.
Actually what also struck me is that the two bottle necks (on GL) seem to be the junction with the Salisbury (northbound) and Manor House (southbound). It struck me that a great deal of the traffic exiting Salisbury Road (coming off St Anns) and heading south to Manor House could be removed by allowing some of it to use Hermitage Road (and arguably residential), but Hermitage is gated, forcing the traffic through the Harringay Section of GL.
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It would more sense for that traffic to continue along St Anns to seven sisters road rather than use hermitage.
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Why? Do not get me wrong, I am not advocating opening up Hermitage.
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I have heard arguments that if you make it easy to use a road it will simply just fill up with traffic, so maybe the solution is in fact to make it difficult to weed out the drivers making behavioural decision to use a specific mode of transport or road?
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Yep, it's called Induced Demand. The fly in the ointment is that it all also applies to rail:,if you give people fast, frequent, electric services they are likely to use it. Watch the complaints on HOL in the next few years about overcrowding on the Gospel Oak line.
Doesn't necessarily mean we shouldn't do it mind!!
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Yes, I know. I use it a fair bit if you meant the uphill bit past Downhills (which is half in Haringey and half in Hackney actually). I was talking about the section of GL from the Arena to the Salisbury primarily, and I should have been clear that what I meant by dedicated cycle lane is segregate.
Actually, the bit that ticks me off about the stretch of 'cycle way' you mention is that pretty soon after it was installed some utility company dug it up. They did a reasonably good job of patching the surface back up but for the fact that the half of the track they dug up (from the curb to the median of the cycle track) they resurfaced it with some quite rough material which actually made cycling up the hill that bit harder. The only way to get on to the smoother original surface material is to take the right hand side of the track, which exposes you to the traffic just a bit more than I am happy with!
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Good for you. I was cycling - along Green Lanes - all along. And the cycle route I am referring to is part of the road itself, as you would know if you cycled along it.
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Permalink Reply by Penny A on
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I totally agree with Karen on every point, and in case anyone forgets here is the bigger picture! Harringay needs to stand firm and be in the vanguard of change, yes Wightman for Harringay and residents!
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/air-pollution-london
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