Haringey has recently been consulting on its Draft Transport Strategy (see http://www.haringey.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/travel/haringeys-transport-strategy-2018). Living Wightman submitted the following comments:
The draft strategy borrows heavily from recent Mayoral/ Greater London strategies but needs to have a more Haringey-centred view. To be effective, the strategy must recognise the implications of an obvious fact about Haringey’s geographical situation and consequent impact on transport – that many people live in outer boroughs, but work in, or want to visit, inner boroughs (including Haringey itself).
Specific comments:
The draft strategy borrows heavily from recent Mayoral/ Greater London strategies but needs to have a more Haringey-centred view. To be effective, the strategy must recognise the implications of an obvious fact about Haringey’s geographical situation and consequent impact on transport – that many people live in outer boroughs, but work in, or want to visit, inner boroughs (including Haringey itself).
Much of our traffic is therefore “through traffic”. Haringey
is virtually a box enclosed by red routes that run round the edge and much of
our problems arise because of drivers seeking to find ways through the middle
instead of staying on those main roads. The council’s recent transport study in
the Green Lanes area found that over 50% of traffic is not local – not local
residents or business employees, or residents’ visitors or customers of the
businesses. A significant proportion of Haringey traffic as a whole is also not
local – it is vehicles driving say between Enfield or Barnet or further afield,
and Islington or Hackney or more central locations.
One implication of this is that many measures to promote
active travel will have limited effect – they might encourage a few Haringey
residents to walk or cycle rather than use the car, but will have no effect on
non-Haringey residents. However there are measures which the council has the
power to implement, for example by modal filtering to eliminate rat running, and
restricting road capacity (except for buses), Haringey’s roads will become less
attractive to both local and non-local traffic.
Specific comments:
1.
Where we
want to be in 2026 (page 7)
·
“That more
journeys will be taken by walking and cycling than by using a car”
Comment: We understand the modal share of active travel (3% of journeys are by cycle and 37% by
walking) is already higher than by car. We suggest a better target might be
something like “to reduce the number of car journeys by 20% overall by 2020”
and/or “to increase the modal share of cycling to 10% by 2020”. The targets
also need to be time-based in a way that is meaningful for councillors and
officers currently in post – targets for 2026 are just too far in the future to
be effective in influencing current decisions. There need to be targets for 1,
3 and 5 years ahead.
2.
The four
“Outcomes” (page 7):
·
“Outcome 1
- A public transport network that is better connected, has greater capacity and
is more accessible, supporting our growth ambitions
·
Outcome 2
- Active travel the easier choice, with more people choosing to travel by
walking or cycling
·
Outcome 3
- An improved air quality and a reduction in carbon emissions from transport
·
Outcome 4
- A well maintained road network that is less congested and saferIt would better
reflect Mayoral/TfL strategy”
Comment: We suggest it would better reflect Mayoral/TfL priorities
if the active travel outcome - Outcome 2 - was listed first.
3.
Transport
Geography diagram (page 8):
Comment: The diagram shows a dotted line along Wightman Road which
the key indicates is part of a “Green Grid” for cyclists and pedestrians. Note
that Wightman Road currently has a traffic flow of well over 1000 vehicle
movements per hour for most of the day (actually higher than some neighbouring
A-roads such as Turnpike Lane), as there are no restrictions on vehicles using
the Harringay Ladder “rungs” as a rat run to avoid Green Lanes. This level of
traffic discourages walking and cycling. We would welcome measures such as
modal filtering of Wightman Road which would then facilitate its use as a
Quietway and part of the “Green Grid”.
4.
Outcome 1
priorities (page 8)
·
“To
increase connectivity, capacity and accessibility on our road and public
transport networks to support our regeneration and growth ambitions for
businesses, housing and jobs”
Comment: The capacity of the road network should not be increased
(unless purely for the purpose of public transport), this will merely induce
more traffic.
5.
Outcome 2
Priorities (page 9)
·
“increasing
the use of electric vehicles and car sharing schemes”
Comment: Increasing electric vehicle use and car sharing does not
promote active travel. This priority belongs under Outcome 3 (improved air
quality). Also note that since the majority (60%) of Haringey residents do not
own a car, promoting car sharing may increase car use rather than decrease it.
Also note that although electric vehicles may decrease NOx gas emissions (a)
they still contribute to pollution and climate change elsewhere (where the
electricity is generated) and (b) they may increase particulate pollution since
electric vehicles are heavier (batteries are heavier than fuel tanks). Petrol
and particularly diesel cars need to be reduced, but electric vehicles are not
a “silver bullet”.
We would like to see some specific
measurable goals for the active travel outcome. For example, under Key Facts it
states “Just under 40% of vehicle
movements in Haringey could be replaced by cycling” – so what is the target
level of replacement by cycling in 1, 3 and 5 years time? Specific targets
should also be set for specific underrepresented cycling groups such as women,
children and older people.
6.
Outcome 4
Priorities (page 10)
·
“To
minimise the use of our back streets as ‘rat runs’.”
Comment: The strategy should be to eliminate (e.g. by modal
filtering) rather than minimise (e.g. by width restrictions or right turn bans
etc.). We note the Council has recently decided not to minimise rat running in
the Harringay Ladder (an area of 13,000 residents currently blighted by
excessive traffic) – which could be eliminated by modal filtering of Wightman
Road.
7.
Comment: The
strategy should clearly state the council’s policy as regards the borough’s
willingness to bear the burden imposed by traffic that wishes to use its roads
purely as routes for private vehicles to pass through.
8.
Comment:
The strategy should include concrete data about the dimensions of roads in the
borough and their suitability/capacity for carrying traffic. If a road such as
Wightman Road is not wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic without
pavement parking, then it should not be expected to carry over 1000 vehicles
per hour. The strategy should state that meaningful measures should be taken to
significantly reduce the traffic flow in these circumstances.
9.
Comment:
Population growth is mentioned on page 6 but only the projections for Haringey
itself. The strategy also needs to take account of the projected population
growth not just in Haringey, but also the even higher projections for neighbouring
boroughs such as Enfield and Barnet (plus the higher levels of car ownership in
those boroughs), and the potential adverse impact of this on Haringey residents
if our roads continue to be fully accessible to through traffic.
10.
Comment: The
strategy should be clear that any new housing in the borough will be provided
with zero car parking spaces other than for disabled or designated car-sharing
spaces; but should have sufficient high quality cycle parking provision.
