Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Is the Road Signing for Ally Pally Events Safe?
I have serious concerns about the safety of signing around to road closure at the Park Road and Priory Road junction into Alexandra Palace and the ability and willingness of the Council and Police to keep our roads safe. The entrance to Ally Pally at this junction was closed for three days and it was signed unsafely.
I approached this junction from Priory Road and found a sign at the lights indicating the entrance to the Palace was closed. I could barriers across the road to my right. This meant that I the only way to go was straight over the lights. If I did not change lane, I ran the risk of going up Muswell on the on the wrong side of the road which is not very safe. Or I would have had to change lane with the rear view obscured by rain and a traffic island which is not safe either.
I raised the issue with the security people at the barrier recognised the problem but felt they could not persuade the Ally Pally committee to see sense. The police apparently attended and could see nothing wrong.
While I spoke to the security team, the only vehicles accessing the Ally Pally are were show biz and events vehicles. So I believe this particularly unsafe arrangement was for the benefit of the event organisers. The poor signage was allowed by the Highway Authority and the Police and perhaps it should not have been. If I complain to the Council or Police, the matter would be fobbed off.
I therefore hope a politician picks the matter up and ensures it is addressed before someone gets hurt.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bob Hare on
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Hi Patrick
Thanks for your trouble in reporting this. I'll take the matter up with the CEO / deputy, and will post the response here.
Kind regards
Cllr Bob Hare
(member of APP Board and AP Trading Co board)
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Permalink Reply by Mr Wodjacallim on
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Thanking you for picking this issue up. I do think it needs to be addressed.
One of the security guards agreed the arrangement was not safe after we spoke to a similarly affected driver. The security guard reported the matter to the Alexandra Palace Management Committee who did nothing.
There seems to be a lack of common sense and consideration since the Alexandra Palace Management Committee decided to refer to Alexandra Palace as the "Palace of the People". Since then there have been regular unnecessary road closures, massive armies of security personnel and doubling of ticket prices and now unsafe traffic arrangements.
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On a related issue I've contacted MP Catherine West, the Council and TfL about the road closures two weekends running and last weekend coupled with rerouted buses which also went unnotified. It's scarcely credible that there was no signage on W3 bus stops, for example, so people were waiting pointlessly at stages beyond Wood Green station and when I went further into this found many people including me were stranded at various points, missing appointments and the like. It's outrageous that the Palace is closing off that road for more and more events with apparently little regard for residents and anyone else who wants to use the park, which is not only closed to traffic but also pedestrians and cyclists. So far Bus Alerts have been the only people to respond, their final message being to say 'with the right resources' bus stop closures should have been possible (!!) and to ask me to complete a survey, which insisted on an Oyster number meaning people without Oysters/those with Freedom Passes are excluded from giving feedback!
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Hi Ros
I have been looking into this too and I think there are two distinctly different issues. The first is I felt the road arrangement was plainly not safe. I had a choice of either driving into crowd trying to get into Alexandra Palace or execute a very hairy road manoeuvre. The second issue is when the roads are closed off it creates bus route closures and massive traffic jams around the whole area which is neither considerate nor environmentally friendly given the additional traffic fumes it creates.
The thing is the Road through Alexandra Palace is a private road and the "Committee" can close it when it pleases even if it creates massive jams, inconvenience etc. We have no right to challenge the decision. If it were a public road, members of the public could challenge any road closure or diversion and propose alternative arrangements.
Perhaps the Road across Alexandra Palace should be made a public highway, then we can have our say. The road not only serves as a key bus route, it also serves as means of connecting Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Wood Green. I regularly use it.
On the brighter side, the larger scale events have mean the palace is only losing about £300K per year. In previous years, the losses I believe have been far higher.
I do think decisions are being made by the "Committee" which do not take local people's interest into account. It is extremely high handed and it should consider arrangements more carefully. Better arrangements could have been made concerning bus diversions and re-routing traffic. The Committee is largely made of Councillors and Council officers who plainly did not consider the inconvenience caused to local people and how to minimise it.
For many events, closing the road is not essential and ways can be found round it.
It was never a matter of resources, the cost of a few signs and alternative arrangement is trivial. The fact is our Council and the "Committee" are determined not to see sense and favour the money for the tickets over all other reasonable considerations.
As an example on the same day, there was a shooting Muswell Hill and the only way to access the road was through the park. A grandmother was separated from her grandchildren and needed to get through. The security would not let her pass. It looks like another case of prioritising ticket revenue over child care.
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Thanks for this, Patrick. Since first posting here I've heard a plethora of local stories of people getting stranded and badly inconvenienced and a few of us have been in touch with various organisations. I've still had no response from the Council or Catherine West. Earlier I had a response from the Palace, listing all the ways they had 'informed' people but I countered most of this as it relied on things like looking at the website, expecting us rather than them to be proactive. Why nothing in Haringey People?? and why no response to various contacts, which is very discourteous? I've now emailed Pete Mitchell, our local councillor, and will see what he says. Your point about this 'committee' is quite worrying ie it could be quite political and unaccountable, married to the private road status. What more do people think we can do to raise the profile of these issues, which could worsen as the Palace seeks to increase its revenue? Fine ambition but not at locals' expense!
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I have still hear nothing back that suggests anything will change or be taken on board.
It seems Councillors responsible for Ally Pally are not listening to what people say. Its not courteous, it results in not only inconvenience but also unsafe road arrangements.
Does Councillor Bob Hare take any interest in what people say on this forum?
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