Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Green Lanes worse than usual?
Is it just me or does Green Lanes seem to be more congested than usual? I'm not aware of anything going on that may cause it. Seems to have been like it for a week or so now.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Don on
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Of course it's anecdotal, but during The Closure last year several Sainsbury's staff told me business there had suffered badly enough for their managers to complain to the Council as a result. Whether one thinks this is good (more business for local shops, perhaps) or bad (a pain in the neck for people doing large shops for families) probably depends on how one sees the views raised here. I think the Arena (not just Sainsbury's) is a large part of the problem at the bottom end of GL, hence my comment lower down this thread. The Williamson Rd/GL/Endymion junction complex looks severely in need of re-planning.
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Permalink Reply by JoeW on
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Filtering Wightman is consistent with the Mayor's Transport Strategy published this month
"London’s streets should be for active travel and social interaction, but too often they are places for cars, not people. Most of the main causes of early death in London are linked to inactivity1, including the two biggest killers – heart disease and cancer. This inactivity is in part due to an overdependence on cars, even for very short trips2. Today’s children are the first generation that is expected to live more of their lives in ill health from chronic diseases than their parents3. Cars take up a lot of space relative to the number of people they can move around, and reliance on this space-inefficient mode of transport has made London’s streets some of the most congested in the world. This has huge impacts on Londoners – causing pollution, making streets unpleasant places to be and delaying public transport journeys. It also reduces the efficiency of freight and commercial journeys – the trips that keep the shops stocked and London’s businesses running."
The problem is when Wightman is open to ratrunners it induces more cars onto the roads. People know if GL is busy they can cut through any Ladder rung and continue on Wightman, and vice versa. But that traffic then just bottlenecks immediately outside the Ladder - Arena , Turnpike Lane etc.
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Joe: Like many political statements, this one's capable of wide interpretation. As an overall policy for reducing car use and improving public transport, it's unimpeachable. But it doesn't tackle so many of the practical problems that people face: having to live many miles from employment and travel into or across central London every day, needing to transport children/luggage/goods/elderly family members around, or get themselves and others to school/college/hospital/social services appointments when public transport is inadequate, delayed or not accessible.
Surely it’s these real needs that motivate car use, not some aim of making life on the Ladder unpleasant for residents? So many advocates for closing - no, it really isn’t "filtering", it's closure - Wightman Road don’t accept that their solution does all the things condemned in the mayoral strategy to the rest of Harringay: "cause pollution... make streets [specifically Green Lanes] unpleasant... delay public transport [we know from last year that this was one of the worst effects]... reduce the efficiency of freight and commercial journeys". By all means campaign long-term for more cycling across London or the return of trams in GL - yes, please - but last year showed only too well that displaced Wightman traffic also did exactly what you say happens now, causing "bottlenecks immediately outside the Ladder - Arena, Turnpike Lane etc" - that were far, far worse than at present. So why increase the misery for everyone else?
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It's TfL strategy Don, not a political statement.
"The success of London’s future transport system relies upon reducing Londoners’ dependency on cars in favour of increased walking, cycling and public transport use."
The current layout of the Harringay ladder promotes car use. Filtering Wightman - closing it to ratrunning through traffic if you prefer - reduces car use, without increasing pollution (the available evidence show that pollution actually decreased on Green Lanes)_
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That is correct--not political but a statement of current public policy.
I consider this to be a very important point and I have raised it here regularly when as well as directly with the council (something that should influence their decision making). Closing Wightman (I could care less if it's "filtered" or "closing") is in fact consistent with the public policy statement from TFL and therefore given weight on that basis.
It could become a political issue (and may already be) if, e.g., someone were to run for mayor on a platform of something like no congestion tax and free reign of vehicles all over London. It would take something like that to make it a political issue I would think.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I would imagine the closure of 7 Sisters Rd at Finsbury Park left a lot of drivers trying to find a way around it
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I think this week's been particularly bad because of road closure at Finsbury Park after the attack there. But on Thursday, around 11am, there seemed an exceptionally slow queue from the Arena to Manor House, which also made me wonder if the traffic light phasing at MH had been altered again to give preference to Seven Sisters Rd traffic.
I've never understood why there also isn't a filter light on the southbound GL/Endymion junction, since so much traffic comes out of the Arena and then turns right into Endymion, crossing the inside lane (and bus stop) and jamming everything up as it has to wait for a break in the traffic coming north before moving. One good idea from the traffic study was potential relocation of the Arena bus stop a bit further south, which might help alleviate some of this problem.
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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I was wondering about traffic light phasing changes affecting Green Lanes. I too have noticed it's been worse than normal for the last few weeks (even before the awful attack in Finsbury Park) when I've been walking/busing/driving, and I'm generally only out and about in the area during off peak hours (10 am to 3pm ish).
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