Don't Reroute Wood Green Traffic to the Ladder

WOOD GREEN TOWN PLAN (SPD) TRANSPORT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE HARRINGAY LADDER

Background

The Wood Green SPD document contains many sensible proposals for the improvement of the built environment of Wood Green Town Centre. However the document fails to place Wood Green in its proper context in relation to traffic and transport. Specifically, it fails to show a clear understanding of the impact of some of the proposals for the surrounding area. At no point in the document is there consideration of traffic flowing through rather than within or to and from Wood Green. By neglecting through traffic, it becomes easy to neglect the impact on surrounding areas of displaced through traffic resulting from proposals such as a Bus only High Road or to a lesser extent as a result of increases in congestion from removing bus lay-byes or removing the Shopping City bridge and replacing it with a ground level crossing.

Tfl best practice guidance states that a Transport Assessment should be able to demonstrate how developments affect demands for travel and how all travel demands and service requirements will be met. Given recent experience with the failure to predict the resulting traffic problems at Green Lanes and Williamson Road in Harringay resulting from a modest change in the facilities in that area, it is clear that proposals as extensive as closing Wood Green High Road to all but buses would have a major impact on surrounding areas [the Spatial Plan on page 6 makes clear that the only alternative route for North-South traffic would be through the residential streets of the Ladder]. It would seem prudent to undertake thorough traffic surveying and modelling including Harringay and St Anns wards before any such changes were considered.

The theme of sustainability has a high profile within the document. This manifests itself through a number of proposals including an alternative [to using the High Road] cycle route using Alexandra Road, Turnpike Lane and onto Wightman Road. No consideration is given to the cycling environment on Turnpike Lane or Wightman Road. In fact, if traffic were displaced from the High Road to Wightman Road as a result of the closure of the High Road there would be little need for a new cycle route and any new route along Wightman Road would be more dangerous than less friendly than that road currently is.

For more information visit Harringay Online

THIS PETITION WILL CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT ON 22nd JUNE 2008


Petition Statement

Closure of Wood Green High Road to vehicles other than buses and allowing south-bound traffic to turn right at Station Road would result in the displacement of large volumes of North-South traffic around Station Road, through the new link road and along Wightman Road and the other Ladder roads. Equally, north bound traffic would have little option than to follow the reverse route.

We note that, inspite of its paying lip service to sustainability, and in the absence of proper traffic modelling the Council already has in place the Heartlands link road necessary for re-routing High Road traffic.

We believe that:
The SPD fails to consider aspects of traffic movement through Wood Green.

A direct consequence of some of the proposals in the SPD would be the displacement of traffic around Wood Green and, in particular, through the Harringay Ladder.

We demand that:
The Council have proper regard for planning guidance and conduct a thorough traffic assessment including a comprehensive survey and modelling exercise using independent expertise having consulted residents and interested parties in Harringay and St Anns wards, amongst others, on the terms of reference of such work.

That no changes be made to the status of Wood Green High Road until such surveying and modelling is complete and interested parties have had a chance to consider and be consulted on the conclusions.