LCSP backs Wightman Filtering!

We are delighted to report that the traffic sub-committee of the Ladder Community Safety Partnership (LCSP - the umbrella group for Harringay's Residents' Associations and other local interest groups) has indicated that its preferred option for the future of Wightman Road is filtering. LCSP's recent letter to its members is reproduced in full below.

LCSP's support for Wightman filtering is great news - we also believe this is the only option guaranteed to permanently reduce traffic. We need as many people as possible to show their support for filtering - you can do this by completing the council's Green Lanes Area Transport Study survey here before Sunday 14th May - and please encourage your friends and neighbours to complete the survey too!

LCSP's letter to members:

Dear LCSP Member,

As you may be aware from the recent letter drop by Haringey Council we are coming to the point where the Green Lanes Area Traffic Study is finally about to
come to a conclusion and make recommendations.  We are all invited to go to the council web site to find full details of the possible options (available from 3rd April); this survey will be open until 14^th of May. Drop in sessions will also be held, including one at St Paul’s Church Hall from 6:30 to 8:30 on Wednesday 5^th April.

The Options

Broadly the options as they relate principally to the Ladder are:

1.       Minor improvements

2.       Wightman one-way (northbound)

3.       Wightman one-way (southbound)

4.       Wightman closed (filtering- akin to the filtering that occurred during the railway bridge closure)

How We Have Arrived At This Point

The LCSP Traffic Sub-Group has worked hard during the past 18 months to try to help guide this process so that a favourable outcome can be achieved for both Ladder residents and other residents in the study area. Sadly the process has not been as imaginative as would have been hoped given the potential for radical and innovative thinking and change. From the LCSP’s perspective the process has lacked political commitment, and creativity. For instance, there has been no study of the implications for traffic flow and volume in the light of any (limited) access to roads on the east side of Green Lanes. Regrettably this has also now been demonstrated in the options presented for decision making. For example - a full blown filtering of Wightman Rd appears to be the only version of this option contemplated. There seems to be little consideration of more creative, less blunt or binary (open/closed) approaches such as:

·        A time limited filtering, with closure only occurring at peak hours to stop the huge flow of traffic across the Ladder

·       Closure using cameras technology as opposed to physical barriers to allow priority (disabled, high dependency, emergency etc.) users to still access roads freely and fines for those disregarding the closure similar to the successful Hewitt Road No Right Turn

LCSP Traffic Sub-Group Preference

The LCSP Traffic-Sub Group have consistently stated that we have two objective outcomes from this Study:

1.       Reduce the volume of traffic across Ladder Roads in an equitable manner

2.       Improve the quality of the traffic that remains (i.e., reduced speed, vibration from speed humps as a result of HGV use, increased road safety, etc.)

In relation to whether the options presented meet these tests, clearly the first (minor improvements) does not.  We are therefore left with a filtering or one way Wightman based option. We are conscious that a one way option could, on the face of it, prove to be attractive- notionally it would reduce the amount of traffic on Wightman by 50%. However, recent plans being consulted on by Haringey would indicate that there may be a lack of joined up thinking in relation to this Study and the future plans for Wood Green, plans that would see Wightman Road become part of a Primary Route network under this redevelopment- potentially, if not managed appropriately, a de-facto Wood Green bypass. See the map from the consultation documents, with further details of the consultation, and how you may feed into this; below. One way systems are not often viewed as positive (see the removal of the Tottenham Hale gyratory as an example) and some fear the proposals run the risk of making Wightman into a motorway worse than is currently seen.

Unless there is commitment to significant intervention in the design adopted, to ensure that traffic is encouraged to cross the Ladder in a manner that would be expected of residential roads, and roads still heavily affected by traffic crossing the Ladder, we as a group cannot wholeheartedly support a one way option. This option does not meet the second objective of improving the quality of traffic on our roads.

Consequently, the only option being offered to us that does meet both of our objectives is filtering. However, as mentioned earlier, a creative approach must be taken to analyse properly the pros and cons of different approaches. It is also critical that well thought through mitigation is implemented to reduce the impact of the chosen option on neighbouring streets and residents

The LCSP is a large organisation, with hundreds of members, and we are very aware that not everyone will necessarily agree with these conclusions. The aim of this document is to explain to members, and the wider public, the logic behind our position, given the very limited options which the Council have offered us. We urge you to have your own say by responding to the consultation before the deadline of 14 May, and if possible attend one of the drop-in sessions (details in the document delivered to you by the Council) where you can ask questions about the options.

Justin Guest, Chair LCSP Traffic Sub Cttee

Ian Sygrave, Chair LCSP

Wood Green Consultation

As you may be aware the consultation on the Wood Green Development Plan has been extended until the 28^th of April, so your comments can still be made here.

See map below showing proposed through routes