Stoke Newington Ward Forum Monday 21st October - focus on illegal parking

Dear all,

 

Our next Stoke Newington ward forum is on Monday 21^st October at 7pm in Yorkshire Grove community hall.

 

Given the number of emails and correspondence about the parking issues on Hollar, Batley and Tyssen Roads – ranging from the signs being painted over, to the illegal parking, and intimidation of parking attendants – it seems that it would be useful to focus the meeting on how these problems can be addressed.

 

We’ve invited representatives from Parking, anti social behaviour and the police, as well as seeing who might be responsible for the minicabs from a licensing angle. Hopefully these will be confirmed soon – but obviously for the meeting to be useful, it would be good to have residents there who can raise the issues with the relevant people and we can try and find a way forward from the current situation.

 

Please let me know if this would be useful and if you’d be interested in attending on 21^st.

 

Kind regards

 

Louisa

 

Cllr Louisa Thomson

Labour councillor for Stoke Newington Central

Chief Whip

Twitter: @welovestokey

www.welovestokenewington.org

News

Upcoming Traffic Meeting
Ian Daly and Maryann Allen from the LB Hackney Road Safety Team have asked for a meeting with LARA to discuss progress of the traffic measures/suggestions previously investigated and discussed, ie the Brooke Road 20mph zone proposals, and to finalise a way forward. We assume that the next step will be a public consultation with questionnaires to the residents but shall confirm this with LBH. 

The meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday June 28^th at 7.30PM 
Location: The council chamber at Stoke Newington Town Hall.

All welcome, please come along and make your views known. 


People Power needs your vote!
LARA committee member, Fiona Fieber is looking for support for her great project 'People Power', where artists will use innovative and creative ways to engage pupils and schools with renewable energy and sustainability. There are funds of £500,000 available to go towards the best projects, and the more support each project gets the more chance it has of being successful.

You can read all about it and vote here http://www.energyshare.com/people-power/

Vote for People Power! 

STREETSCENE - BROOKE AREA TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - OPTIONS APPRAISAL

Here is the report from Hackney Council regarding potential traffic calming schemes for the LARA area.  If you have any comments about these schemes, please leave a comment at the end of this post or email us at lara.n16@googlemail.com  If you would like to see drawings relating to this report we can also send these via email.
There will be a public consultation in March relating to this report.

1. 0    Introduction
         
    As part of the London Borough of Hackney’s Road Safety programme for 2011/2012, funding is available to consult upon (and implement) a 20mph Zone in the Brooke Road area of Stoke Newington.

    The 20mph Zone is to be bordered by the Stoke Newington Gyratory (Manse Road, Evering Road, Rectory Road and Stoke Newington High Street).

    In addition, several traffic management issues in this area have previously been highlighted by local residents, originating from traffic ‘rat running’ away from the main gyratory. As such, it is to be investigated whether any of the identified problems can be addressed as part of the proposed 20mph Zone works in 2011.

    To this end, a meeting was held on the 26th October 2010 between representatives of the Hackney Council Road Safety Team and the Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA) to discuss their concerns with respect to traffic in their area.


Identified Issues


    The main traffic problems raised (at the meeting and previously) were:

    Rat running traffic along Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road.

    Rat running along Lawrence Buildings.

    Illegal left turns into Brooke Road from Lawrence Buildings in order to access Leswin Road.

    Wider issues directly relating to the Stoke Newington Gyratory have also been identified. However, these issues relate to Transport for London’s Road Network (TLRN) and fall outside of the scope of the 20mph Zone scheme.

    A drawing detailing some initial proposals relating to the 20mph Zone and traffic management schemes (Dwg TT-0220-BR-3, Appendix A) was presented to LARA at the meeting on 26th October.

    This summary note will examine the implications of several suggestions made by LARA (Appendix B) and appraise the remedial options available.

    OPTIONS APRAISAL

    Option 1 - Gated Road Closures (Appendix F, Dwg: TT-0220-BR-8, TT-0220-BR-9)

    One measure suggested by LARA in order to prevent ‘rat running’ along their residential streets is to provide gated road closures on Darville Road and Bayston Road. This would effectively cut off the parallel routes through the centre of the Stoke Newington Gyratory.

    Advantages

    The following advantages are expected from the implementation of permanent gated road closures:

    Complete removal of ‘rat-running’ traffic from the residential streets within the Stoke Newington Gyratory. The minimal amount of vehicles displaced from these streets is not expected to significantly affect the capacity of the surrounding gyratory.

    Relatively inexpensive to implement, estimated at £25,000.

Disadvantages

    The following disadvantages are expected from the implementation of permanent gated road closures:

    Severance of access to the local area resulting in inconvenience for residents.

    Loss of on-street parking expected at each closure point in order to provide a turn around area for cars. The loss of parking is estimated at 12 spaces in total split equally across the 3 closure points (4 spaces on Bayston Road, 4 spaces on Darville Road, 4 spaces Leswin Road).

    A turn around area for larger vehicles is not expected to be feasible at the proposed closure points. The occurrence of large vehicles (e.g. refuse vehicles) having to reverse over long distances will carry an inherent road safety risk.

    The Metropolitan Police (Appendix C) have expressed concerns over the proposals (for similar reasons to those above).

    The provision of closures on Bayston Road and Darville Road (as requested by LARA) is expected to result in traffic being displaced to Leswin Road, thus requiring additional measures at this location also.  


Discussion

    Provision of gated closures will of course remove through traffic altogether, a major objective for LARA. However, such measures would incur several disadvantages with respect to access for local residents and emergency services.

    Issues regarding access may be resolved through a public consultation process. However, there are also concerns that turn around areas cannot be appropriately provided and loss of parking (estimated at 12 spaces) and additional road safety risks (as a result of reversing vehicles) will arise. The reduction in on-street parking on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road is expected to face opposition during consultation with the residents affected.

    Furthermore, when reviewing the results of speed and volume surveys (Appendix D) for the roads in question (Darville Road and Bayston Road) a major problem is not evident. Bayston Road recorded 85th percentile speeds of 22mph with a peak weekday average hourly flow of 93 vehicles. No collisions resulting in injury were recorded on these streets in the latest 36 months of data (Appendix E).

    The cost of implementing such measures is estimated to be £25,000 (a relatively inexpensive scheme). However, when considering the limited scale of the current issues and the potential for negative impacts on the wider community (i.e. severance of access, loss of parking etc), permanent closures are not considered a proportionate remedial measure to the issues highlighted by LARA.


    Option 2 – ‘Point No Entries’

    An alternative option to the permanent closures described above, would be to provide ‘point no-entries’ at the same locations (as shown in figure 2.1).

    Advantages

    The following advantages are expected from the implementation of ‘point no-entries’ on Darville Road and Bayston Road:

    Will discourage ‘rat-runners’ from using these residential parallel routes.

    Relatively inexpensive to implement, estimated at £6,500.

    Will not result in loss of parking or the requirement for turn around areas.

    Will not affect emergency service access (emergency vehicles can be exempted from the relevant Traffic Orders).

    Will not give rise to the road safety issues resulting from reversing vehicles.

Disadvantages

    The following disadvantages are expected from the implementation of ‘point no-entries’ on Darville Road and Bayston Road:

    Severance of access to the local area resulting in inconvenience for residents.

    Will not be self-enforcing and police enforcement is likely to be impractical. The measures will only serve as a deterrent to some motorists.

    Additional street clutter is inevitable, although the existing ‘point no-entry’ on Leswin Road at its junction with Tyssen Road may be removed as part of this proposal and relocated to the Leswin Road/Evering Road junction.

    May increase traffic speeds due to limited opposing traffic flow.


Discussion

    It is acknowledged that signed ‘point no-entries’ are unlikely to be as effective (i.e. 100% effective) as permanent gated closures. However, they are expected to act as a reasonable deterrent to most ‘rat-running’ motorists. In addition, ad-hoc enforcement by specialist units could be utilised to ensure the measures continue to be as effective as possible.

    Therefore, when considering the recorded low traffic speeds, low hourly traffic volumes and excellent existing collision history of the roads in question, such an approach is considered much more proportionate (than gated closures) and will result in fewer negative impacts on the local network and emergency services.

    The cost of this option (estimated at £6,500) is expected to be cheaper than the implementation cost of gated road closures and will result in no loss of on-street parking.


    Option 3 -     Deterrent Measures (e.g. Junction Tables and Pinch Points)

    Measures to deter rat-running without altering the priorities (or stopping up) of the local network have also been proposed by LARA as a different approach to solving the identified issues, by way of making the links in question (Bayston Road and Darville Road) unattractive to through traffic.

    Specific measures suggested by LARA include:

    Provision of junction tables at Tyssen Road j/w Bayston Road and Evering Road j/w Bayston Road (Dwgs:  TT-0220-BR-5 & TT-0220-BR-7).

    Provision of a pinch point feature midway along Bayston Road (Dwg TT-0220-BR-6).  

     Advantages

    The advantages of this type of approach are as follows:

    No severance of access for the local community will result from these measures. This is beneficial for both local residents and the emergency services.
    Will help to self enforce the proposed 20mph Zone for the area (due to be consulted upon in 2011).

Disadvantages

    The disadvantages of this type of approach are as follows:

    When considering that extensive traffic calming already exists on the roads in question, further deterrent (and hence a reduction in rat-running) is not guaranteed by the provision of these additional measures.

    The potential for significant speed reduction is not expected as the area is already extensively traffic calmed.

    The measures are expected to be costly and will not provide value for money relative to the benefits attributed to them. The two tables (Tyssen Road j/w Bayston Road and Evering Road j/w Bayston Road) have an estimated cost of £60,000 and the proposed pinch-point on Bayston Road is expected to cost £10,000.

    Extensive parking loss (estimated at 14 on-street spaces) will be required in order to implement the proposed ‘pinch-point’. This is expected to result in severe opposition during the public consultation process.

    Major design issues are associated with the implementation of the junction tables at the two proposed sites as a result of the existing levels and cambers on the carriageway at these locations. Extensive re-profiling is expected to be required and to this end, topographical surveys and carriageway core tests (estimated cost £3,000) will be required.

Discussion

    In the current financial climate, ‘value for money’ should be a key consideration before progressing any plans for remedial action.

    The construction of junction tables at the proposed locations is expected to be more costly, and achieve less (in terms of addressing the issues identified), than the other options described in this report.

    The construction of a pinch point is unlikely to provide a deterrent to ‘rat-running’ traffic (wishing to avoid congestion on the nearby gyratory system) as the existing low flow conditions will not induce any calming in terms of a ‘give and take’ operation at the pinch point. Furthermore, extensive parking loss (up to 14 spaces) is a major barrier to implementing such a measure.

    When considering the issues above, these measures are not expected to form part of a viable solution to the current traffic issues being investigated. 



    OPTIONS SUMMARY

    Option 1 – Gated Closures

    Cost: £25,000.
    Loss of Parking: 12 on-street spaces for turn around areas on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road (4 spaces at each gate).
    Effectiveness: Total removal of ‘rat-running’.
    Traffic Impacts: Severance of access for local residents and emergency services.


    Option 2 – ‘Point No-Entries’

    Cost: £6,500.
    Loss of Parking: No parking loss.
    Effectiveness: Medium to high reduction in rat running expected, improved by ad-hoc enforcement.
    Traffic Impacts: Access/egress restricted northbound on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road with no severance of access for emergency services.


    Option 3 – Deterrent Measures (Junction Tables and ‘Pinch-Point’)

    Cost: £70,000 (plus additional survey costs).
    Loss of Parking: 14 spaces at ‘pinch-point’ feature (Bayston Road).
    Effectiveness: Minimal reduction in ‘rat-running’ and speed.
    Traffic Impacts: Minimal.


*Note: All of the above options will incur additional consultation costs.
    RECOMMENDATIONS

    When considering the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed traffic management measures listed above, it is recommended that the most appropriate option (subject to further public consultation) is the provision of Option 2 - ‘point no-entries’ on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road (relocated from junction with Tyssen Road).

    This is the most proportionate solution when examining the scale of the traffic issues evident from the speed and volume surveys undertaken and the existing collision history in the area.

    Few adverse impacts are envisaged from the provision of such measures and it is hoped that they will provide sufficient deterrent so as to reduce the volume of through traffic currently using the parallel residential links.

    In order to maintain effectiveness and driver compliance of the ‘point no entries’, ad-hoc enforcement measures (i.e. temporary camera enforcement) may be considered as part of the overall package of proposals.

    Any measures must be consulted upon with the wider community in order to gain a full cross section of local opinion prior to any commitments with respect to implementing the proposals.

Update - LARA inclusive traffic campaign One-way system

Are you awaiting the outcome of the Stoke Newington Gyratory Consultation recently carried out by Hackney? Well don’t hold your breath. Whilst Hackney’s intentions are worthy no doubt, it doesn’t seem as if they have entered into a meaningful dialogue with TfL about the issue as yet. At our meeting in October with representatives from both sides present it quickly became clear that there isn’t a lot of talking going on between them right now.

In their own words TfL’s priorites are to implement the mayor’s traffic policies which are  A) to ensure a smooth traffic flow (in our case on the A10 artery into London, which includes the SN gyratory) and  B) to promote cycling in London.  Apparently A) only applies exclusively to vehicular traffic and B) is only for lycra-clad city workers commuting up and down the A10 at lightning speed and with no regard for their own or anyone else’s safety.

However, when questioned TfL conceded that ‘We all realise that the one way system has created an environment which is not ideally suited for non car modes, but going forward nobody has been able to identify an alternative workable solution’.
They have confirmed that the Cycle Super Highway proposal will look at providing a cycle facility for the entire gyratory system. The design for the super highway is scheduled to start this spring (2011) and a two way cycle facility on the High St might be considered.  We are keeping in touch with TfL so watch this space for updates – that is the best we can do right now. Does Boris Johnson care about us? - I think not.
On the other matters raised regarding TfL-owned roads they were similarly uncompromising. Here some answers received from TfL in response to the issues we raised with them…

Lack of safety on / inadequacy of existing pedestrian crossings across SN High St (Sainsburys), Evering / Manse Rd and Rectory Road) In the past three years there have been 17 personal injury collisions (all slight injuries) on the High Street, of which five involved pedestrians (29%) which is marginally lower than you would expect on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) when compared to the Borough average (Hackney 31.7%). In terms of converting the zebra crossing on Manse Road to a pelican, a review of the collision information shows that there have been just 4 injury collisions along this section, and none of these involved pedestrians. Unfortunately the statistics for this location would not meet TfL’s criteria for installing new signals on the network. 

Insufficient number of crossings to Manse/Evering Road, Rectory Road but particular across SN High Street (additional crossing should be considered by Tesco’s) – A site visit to Stoke Newington High Street revealed a number of physical issues which would prevent the installation of a new crossing point. The parking and loading for the local businesses extend down both sides of the road, and a new crossing would require their removal over a distance of approximately 40m (on both sides of the road) to facilitate the zigzag markings. Based on previous correspondence with traders in the area this proposal would be fiercely resisted (they have been campaigning for more loading and parking). The signals would also be required to be sited at least 20m from a side road entrance to meet visibility requirements. Unfortunately the number of accesses onto the A10 mean that it would not be possible to site a new crossing near the Tesco’s.
The pedestrian facilities on Manse / Evering Road are sufficient to meet the desire lines and as there are no collisions involving pedestrians there would be no justification to provide an additional crossing point.

Excessive pedestrian waiting time at junction with Evering Road – The signal timings change according to set plans for each time of day. The cycle time varies from 50 – 60 seconds (the time it takes for all the movements to take place). This means that a pedestrian should have to wait on average 30 seconds for the green man to be displayed, which is well within agreed parameters.

TfL proposals – TfL is currently designing an improvement at the Stoke Newington High St junction with Brooke Road. The focus of the proposal is improving journey times and reducing congestion. The design is almost complete, however there is currently no funding to implement the measures in light of the recent budget cuts. TfL is also developing a proposal for the Manse Road junction with Rectory Road, as the junction is too narrow for HGVs approaching from the south. This proposal is still at the feasibility stage.

 TfL clearly doesn’t see local traffic as their remit – and someone will have to die first before the statistics will allow them to look at a problem?? No doubt things will change with the revival of the West Hackney Recreation ground – which is definitely on the cards now with the application for funding going ahead soon.
We are looking at a number of routes to gain more and better attention for our problems here so watch this space.

Brooke Area 20 mph zone
Some good news here – Following our meeting in October LBH has sent us their draft traffic appraisal. This document looks at three options for the prevention of rat-running and excessive speed within the LARA area, in addition to the 20 miles per hour speed limit throughout. Their Option 2 – no-entry signs at the southern ends of Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road, seems to be the favoured proposal. LBH are planning a Consultation in March. We’d like to publish the draft appraisal on the blog as soon as possible and are awaiting LBH’s ok for this.
AJ

Open Letter Re: Stoke Newington Gyratory

In response to an article written in the Hackney Gazette recently, here is an open letter from our chair, Jim Westwood, on behalf of the LARA Commitee and its residents:
Just a reminder about the Walkabout this coming Tuesday as part of the on going consultation for the 20mph zone on our streets. All welcome. Please see previous post.

Dear Sir/Madam
I was very interested to read your article about the Stoke Newington gyratory system. While the consultation is welcome, many residents who live within the gyratory system have been discussing this issue for some time. Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA) recently held a well attended meeting on the issues faced by residents living within the one-way system.

Your readers, and others, may be interested to note that the LARA members do not, in the first instance, see the retaining or abolition of the gyratory system as their main priority. What they do see as their main priority is taming the roads around the gyratory to make them safer and more pedestrian/cyclist friendly and improving the environment and safety of the gyratory’s internal streets. For example, more safe crossing points, traffic calming measures on the gyratory, stopping the rat running that goes on through our streets and creating a 20mph zone.

In your article, Trevor Parsons of LCC implies that reverting back to two-way traffic will cure if not all then most of the ills of the one-way system. Many of the LARA residents are not so sure. They fear that whichever traffic system we end up with, the problems our children, elderly and disabled residents face in crossing the High road and other roads will not disappear.

Stoke Newington High Road has been revitalised as a shopping centre over recent years. With the introduction of supermarkets such as Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s alongside the more established shops such as General Woodwork, their is more reason and temptation to cross the road other than at the current few and far between safe crossing points. Around the gyratory system the traffic must be slowed down by introducing traffic calming measures. We also need a lot more places where residents can cross the road in safety.

The issue of whether we stay with or reverse the gyratory system is a complex and costly one that could drag on for a long time. In the meantime, we still have cars racing at high speed along Rectory Road, Evering Road and Stoke Newington High Road as there are no deterrents in place to stop them. ‘Taming’ the gyratory system and improving the local environment within it could be achieved quickly and for a lot less money.

Traffic Concerns – Upcoming Consultations

There are two separate consultations happening at the moment, concerning our area:

1.     Stoke Newington Gyratory Consultation October 4^th 2010 until January 10, 2011: LB Hackney is currently carrying out their own appraisal of the 2009 TfL study on the Stoke Newington Gyratory; as part of this Hackney are asking residents for their views. They have published a residents’ questionnaire, which can also be completed online at www.hackney.gov.uk/sn-gyratory. it would be great to see as many people as possible, particularly LARA residents, to put their views forward!

2.     Brooke Area 20mph zone: the consultation for the 20mph zone on our streets will start in January 2011 and will be implemented from April 2011; we have arranged a ‘walkabout’ with Maryann Allen,  Road safety Team Leader at LB Hackney, on October 26^th at 5.00pm – meeting point at 1 Darville Road (corner Darville / Evering Rd). The purpose of the walkabout is to raise those issues which we have identified following discussions with other residents (see list published by LARA), ie to make our points. We’ll also have the opportunity to hear more about Hackney’s plans for the 20mph zone in advance of the consultation.  Please do join us if traffic in LARA is your concern - All welcome!

 

Stoke Newington Gyratory Consultation

Do we need a one way traffic system in Stoke Newington? – Have your say

Hackney Council is currently consulting residents and businesses in Stoke Newington to identify traffic and road safety issues in the area and to understand how the gyratory affects you as a resident, visitor or business owner.

How to have your say

Complete our online survey available on www.hackney.gov.uk/sn-gyratory or fill in a hard copy version set to be distributed with the 18 October edition of Hackney Today.

There will be a public exhibition in Stoke Newington Library between 18 October 2010 and 10 January 2011.

Drop in sessions:

Thursday 14 October 2010

6pm – 8pm

Stoke Newington Neighbourhood Forum

Stoke Newington Town Hall, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0JR

Tuesday 19 October 2010

11am – 2pm

Stoke Newington Library

184 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0JS

Friday 12 November 2010

5pm – 8pm

Morrison’s Supermarket

47/49 Stamford Hill N16 5SR

Saturday 4 December 2010

10am – 2.30pm

Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market

William Patten School, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX

Deadline for responses: Monday 10 January 2011

More information

For more information about this consultation, please contact the Traffic and Transportation team on 020 8356 4891 or email: consultation@hackney.gov.uk

TRAFFIC IN OUR AREA AND CHANGES WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE Following public meeting on June 17th, 2010

The Problems
A number of traffic issues have been identified, which are of concern to residents in the LARA area. In summary these include:
- Speeding cars along Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular, with the LARA area effectively being cut off all surrounding areas and green spaces by fast traffic;
- Cars ‘rat running’ up and down the residential streets off the High Street, Bayston Road inparticular (this issue has been addressed in the past in Leswin Road by making part of it one-way); speed bumps are insufficient in avoiding and slowing down through traffic;
- Lack of pedestrian crossings across the High Street;
- Lack of safety of the existing crossings across the High Street; inadequate warning to drivers
- and bad traffic light phasing; this is a particular issue for people with children in William Patten school;
- Inadequate access around and into the area by bicycle, particularly on one-way stretch of Stoke Newington High St. , as well as both Brooke Rd and Evering Rd being one-way in the same direction; this leads to ‘distorted’ bicycle traffic with the result of people cycling on the footpaths to avoid longer journeys;
- Local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and southbound drivers doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- Inadequate access of local residents to public transport due to bus routing around one-way system;

There are other issues, which have been raised by residents’ groups of the other areas bordering the gyratory zone; these are being considered, however LARA is limiting its campaign to the area within the LARA boundaries.

The Stoke Newington Gyratory
LARA believes that many of the problems listed above are a result of the gyratory or one-way system, which has been in place for the last few decades, serving to alleviate congestion on the A10 into and out of Central London. There have been a number of campaigns in recent years for the removal of the gyratory in favour of 2-way traffic throughout.

-LCC position
In particular LARA has consulted with LCC iH (London Cycling Campaign in Hackney), who have a strong position in favour of removing the gyratory; their views are backed by experience with similar campaigns such as the Shoreditch High St. gyratory removal. Discussions with LCC also included consideration of other measures to improve accessibility to the area, including contraflow cycle lanes, and the dialogue with LCC has been particularly helpful to us in identifying possible solutions to the problems identified.

LCC’s own current position is to campaign for reinstating 2-way traffic for all road users on Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road, Northwold Road, Evering Road, and Brooke Road. Their view is that 2-way traffic is preferable to contraflow cycling lanes, being much more effective at achieving slowed down and more even traffic flow; they advised that experience has proven that contraflow cycling lanes are a second-best option to returning the streetscape to its original appearance, causing problems especially at junctions.

-TfL Study
Transport for London (TfL) has carried out a feasibility study on the removal of the gyratory which is not positive in terms of removing it. Hackney Council is currently conducting its own appraisal of the TfL study to look further into the options, results anticipated in late 2010. LB Hackney has confirmed that there will be a full consultation with local residents and stakeholders in due course, to get a more coherent sense of residents’ views on the issue. LARA welcomes the opportunity to be consulted on the matter and we shall be keeping in touch with LB Hackney in order to ensure that this happens in due course.

-LARA position
There are differing views in the area about the pros and cons of reinstating 2-way traffic in this area. LARA has consulted with residents as well as a number of other local and regional stakeholders on the matter, and, as a committee, has decided to move forward with their campaign for addressing the problems identified above, and implementing local improvements rather than pushing for the removal of the gyratory. This is considered a wider issue and too long term, and we believe that going back to 2-way traffic would even worsen some of the problems present. Further to this we want to concentrate our efforts on goals which are achievable in the short to medium term.

To summarise, our aims are to
- lessen the impact of heavy traffic on our residential area;
- discourage unnecessary speeding and rat running through our residential area;
- improve and make safer pedestrian connections within the LARA area + between the LARA
area and its surroundings, including schools, shopping facilities, public transport, green spaces and other amenities;
- create better and safer access throughout the area for cyclists;
- make the LARA area safer and more inclusively accessible for all local road users.

What would LARA like to see happen?
LARA believes that, in order to achieve our goals outlined above, measures must include:

Traffic calming measures:
- 20mph speed limit throughout residential streets, properly enforced;
- Effective speed controls to one-way portion of Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road and Evering / Manse Road;
- ‘filtered permeability’ measures, ie motor vehicle barriers mid-way along residential roads, Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road in particular, to ‘filter out’ traffic unsuitable as through traffic in a residential area;
- Removal of local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and stopping southbound drivers from doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- Increase number of pedestrian crossings across the High Street to account for better connection to shops and to schools;
- Make existing pedestrian crossings across the High Street safer by means of better warning to drivers, better traffic light placement and more pedestrian friendly phasing;
- Improve pedestrian connections to Stoke Newington Common and West Hackney Recreation Ground green spaces;

Improvements for cyclists:
- Implementation of separate , safe, cycle lanes, including contra-flow cycle traffic, to
Stoke Newington High Street, Brooke Road and Evering / Manse Road;


How can we bring about improvements?
The Roads within and around the LARA area are owned by TfL (red routes A10, Manse, Evering and Rectory Road) and Hackney Council (all other roads). LARA’s campaign must therefore now pursue its campaign with both these organisations.

LARA’s discussions to date have included Louisa Thomson, councillor Stoke Newington Central ward, as well as Andrew Cunningham, head of Streetscene (LB Hackney). No contact has yet been made with TfL – this should be our next step.

June 2010

LESWIN AREA RESIDENTS (LARA) PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday 17th June 2010

7pm
St Paul’s Hall (entrance on Evering Road, N16)

ALL WELCOME

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Traffic problems in the LARA area

Are you concerned about road safety in your area?

We are hoping to have a lively discussion and hear the views of other local residents, groups and organisations on traffic, safety and accessibility in this area - so please do join us to share your views! There will be two council officers attending and answering questions on wider traffic issues in the area.

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Only a month to go until the Big LARA Lunch!

LARA is organising our first ever Big Lunch as part of the nationwide annual event. Friends, families and neighbours are invited to a free picnic,
entrance is a plate of food to share.

We need lots of help to get it off the ground and ideas for games, keen face painters, barbecue superstars, gazebos, deckchairs, ice cream vans,
first aiders, party people, foodies and volunteers to help make this a fab fun event for everyone.

The Big Lunch is on Sunday 18th July 2010 from 1 – 4pm on the
West Hackney Recreation Ground, Evering Road N16

If you can help out in any way email lara.n16@googlemail.com or come along to the LARA Public Meeting on 17th June

LARA (Leswin Area Residents’ Association) TRAFFIC IN OUR AREA AND CHANGES WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE

The Problems
A number of traffic issues have been identified, which are of concern to residents in the LARA area. In summary these include:
- Speeding cars along Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular, with the LARA area effectively being cut off all surrounding areas and green spaces by fast traffic;
- Lack of pedestrian crossings across the High Street;
- Lack of safety of the existing crossings across the High Street; inadequate warning to drivers
- and bad traffic light phasing; this is a particular issue for people with children in William Patten school;
- Inadequate access of local residents to public transport due to bus routing around one-way system;
- Inadequate access into the area by bicycle, particularly due to both Brooke Rd and Evering Rd being one-way in the same direction;
- Cars ‘rat running’ up and down the residential streets off the High Street, Bayston Road in particular (this issue has been addressed in the past in Leswin Road by making part of it one-
way);
- Local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and southbound drivers doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;

The Gyratory
We believe that the majority of the problems listed above are caused by the gyratory or one-way system and would like to see this reviewed in light of these local issues.

We recognise that the A10 is a major artery into and out of London and we accept that this cannot be changed. Our aim however is to lessen and channel the impact of heavy traffic and unnecessary speeding through what is essentially a residential area and to improve pedestrian and cyclists’ connection between the LARA area and its surroundings, which include schools, shopping facilities, public transport, green spaces and other amenities.

LCC iH(London Cycling Campaign in Hackney) Position
LARA has consulted with LCC, who have a strong position on the above issues; their views are backed by experience with similar campaigns such as the Shoreditch High St. gyratory removal. Discussions with LCC also included consideration of other measures to improve accessibility to the area, including contraflow cycle lanes. Please see below for a summary of the LCC position.

LCC’s own current position is to reinstate 2-way traffic for all road users on Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road, Northwold Road, Evering Road, and Brooke Road. Their view is that 2-way traffic is preferable to contraflow cycling lanes, being much more effective at achieving slowed down and more even traffic flow; they advised that experience has proven that contraflow cycling lanes are a second-best option to returning the streetscape to its original appearance, causing problems especially at junctions.

In summary, some of the benefits of reintroducing 2-way traffic to the area could be:
- More continuous traffic flow generally
- No more speeding cars along the High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular
- Less rat-running;
- Reduction of density of traffic on the High Street at peak times;
- More local journeys undertaken on foot or by bike—the current picture is heavily distorted and not ‘normal’;
- Vastly improved access to public transport, mainly bus services, for local residents;
- Making for a more pleasant and less dangerous environment for pedestrians
- Increased retail activity as a consequence;

What would LARA like to see happen to the one way system and what other local traffic calming measures or complementary measures would we like to see put in place?
The suggestion here is a two-stage process: The removal of the gyratory, if this is agreed to be the long-term aim, must be preceded by local traffic calming measures - or In the very least local traffic calming would need to be introduced as complementary measures. The reason for this is that a reintroduction of a two-way system might increase rather than resolve some of the problems in our area, the major issue here being rat-running.

Step 1 – Local traffic calming measures, which are to include:
- 20mph speed limit throughout, properly enforced;
- ‘filtered permeability’ measures, such as ‘modal filters’ mid-way along residential roads, Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road in particular, to ‘filter out’ traffic unsuitable as through traffic in a residential area - across-the-road barriers in other words;
- Removal of local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and stopping southbound drivers from doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- More and safer pedestrian crossings across the High Street;
- Better traffic light placement and phasing;

Step 2 – Removal of the one-way system
The return of the gyratory to two-way operation could have the following benefits:
- Slower and more regulated motor traffic flow around the area;
- Less rat-running;
- Better pedestrian connections;
- Better permeability for cyclists (‘maximum route choice, minimum diversion’); thereby enabling more local journeys to be taken on foot or by bike;
- Improved accessibility throughout the area and to public transport;
- Less pollution and noise;
- A better public realm;
- Better access to and therefore possibly greater prosperity for local Businesses;

How can we bring about improvements and include also the views other local stakeholders?
LARA’s initial discussions have also included Louisa Thomson, councillor Stoke Newington Central ward. Louisa advised that TfL is the main organisation to be lobbied for our purpose- it is important to note that the A10, Manse, Evering and Rectory Road are all red routes and controlled by TfL.

TfL has carried out a feasibility study on the removal of the gyratory which is not positive in terms of removing it. Louisa Thomson advised that Hackney Council is currently conducting its own appraisal of the TfL study to look further into the options. The results of this are due this year and we understand there will be a full consultation with local residents and stakeholders in due course, to get a more coherent sense of residents’ views on the issue. She felt that there is an opportunity for the wider LARA meeting with local stakeholders to feed into this consultation but this would be more effective as a resident led campaign.

The subject is complex, and no doubt there are many different views and interests at stake. LARA would like to have an open discussion with interested residents and other local stakeholders, including residents’ and business associations and the local police;

We are therefore inviting the following persons, groups and organizations to a meeting on Thursday 17th June at 7.00pm at St Paul’s Church Hall to discuss their views:

- All residents of the LARA area
- Anyone living in the adjoining areas who is interested
- Living Streets
- NARG (Northwold Area Residents’ Group)
- CAAG (Cazenove Area Action Group)
- SNUG (Stoke Newington Common Users Group)
- Stoke Newington Business Association
- Stoke Newington Police
- Councillors Stoke Newington Central Ward
- Any others who have an interest in the matter

Update on traffic

We’ve held our first meeting on local traffic issues on Feb 22nd, with Trevor and Oliver from the London Cycling Campaign in Hackney, Louisa Thomson, ward councillor, and Robert Lindsay, Bayston Road resident, who has been campaigning against the gyratory in the past.

The aim was to gather information on what has been going on up until now and to start (re-)formulating a view point. Please also read the notes which are posted on this blog. We generally feel that much could be gained by the removal of the gyratory, as well as other interim measures to calm traffic locally and would now like to take things to the next level and discuss the points in a larger forum in order to revive the campaign. We’ll post date and time and location here soon.

Meeting date:
22nd February 2010
Report date:
26th February 2010

Notes from LARA Traffic Meeting
Regarding Stoke Newington gyratory

1 Purpose of meeting
To learn about the history of the campaign against the gyratory; objectives:
- Improve accessibility for all users of the public realm
Robert Lindsay has previously campaigned against the gyratory under the name of SNOWS (scrap Stoke Newington One Way System);
Robert started when Ken Livingstone was Mayor of London. He gave an overview of his work to date. Robert is moving out of the area in the near future and would like to see the campaign continued. LARA is picking up from here.
- Wide range of support for the cause from residents, local businesses; huge hidden support for the gyratory to be discontinued;
- Different interest groups and strands which need to be brought together, including: LCC, LARA, Cazenove Area Action Group (CAAG), Stoke Newington Business Association; Stoke Newington Common Users Group;
- Another local residents group that has already publicly expressed support for scrapping the system is Cazenove Area Action Group – LARA check their website. Robert noted that Amy Erikson is one of the driving forces behind that as well as the Stoke Newington Common Users group.
- Opinions need to be sought from other groups such as NARG;
- LARA to help pull all together into unified campaign.
Robert also added the following post‐ meeting note:
“We didn't discuss this at the meeting but the most radical option, in terms of traffic reduction/calming would be to grass over Rectory Road where it runs over the common, forcing cars to use the High Street. There is a common myth that if you cut road capacity, eg by closing or narrowing a road or making it two way, the remaining roads (in this case the High Street) will become more congested. In fact evidence and experience shows that if you cut road capacity, the number of people using that particular route fall because they decide to leave their cars at home. One traffic engineer told me he expected huge tail backs when Shoreditch went two‐way ‐ in fact it never happened.”

2 Why are we campaigning for the return of the gyratory to two‐way operation?
- Slower and more regulated motor traffic flow around the area
- Better pedestrian connections
- Better access to and therefore possibly greater prosperity for local businesses
- Improved accessibility
- Less pollution and noise
- A better public realm
- To enable more local journeys to be taken on foot or by bike
- Better permeability for cyclists (‘maximum route choice, minimum diversion’)
- Less rat‐running
We fully recognise that the A10 is a major artery into and out of London and we accept that this cannot be changed. Our aim is to lessen the impact of heavy traffic and unnecessary speeding through what is essentially a residential area and to improve pedestrian and cyclists’ connection between the LARA area and its surroundings, which include schools, shopping facilities, public transport, greenspaces and other amenities.

3
3.1
LCC / Councillor Louisa Thomson’s Positions
Trevor and Oliver from the London Cycling Campaign in Hackney gave a detailed overview on the issues to do with the gyratory and how these tie with wider traffic policy issues and aims, streetscape issues, etc.
They have been campaigning for the removal of this gyratory and others (Shoreditch, Tottenham Hale) for over 10 years and the LCC in Hackney is among local organisations to be credited with the successful return of the Shoreditch High Street gyratory to two‐way operation;
There are literally dozens of options, and it’s not useful to drill down to the fine detail just yet. Options need to be discussed and agreed with all stakeholders to reflect or address interests and promote agreement, all in due course when the prospect of change becomes clearer.
LCC’s own current position is to reinstate 2‐way traffic for all road users on Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road, Northwold Road, Evering Road, and Brooke Road. Their view is that 2‐way traffic is preferable to contraflow cycling lanes, being much more effective at achieving slowed down and more even traffic flow; they advised that experience has proven that contraflow cycling lanes are a second‐best option to returning the streetscape to its original appearance, causing problems especially at junctions.
In summary, some of the benefits of reintroducing 2‐way traffic to the area could be:
- More continuous traffic flow generally
- No more speeding cars along the High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular
- Less rat‐running;
- Reduction of density of traffic on the High Street at peak times;
- More local journeys undertaken on foot or by bike—the current picture is heavily distorted and not ‘normal’;
- Vastly improved access to public transport, mainly bus services, for local residents;
- Making for a more pleasant and less dangerous environment for pedestrians
- Increased retail activity as a consequence;
In tandem with the removal of the gyratory, local traffic calming measures (complementary measures) must be looked at, including
- 20mph speed limit throughout
- ‘filtered permeability’ measures, such as ‘modal filters’ mid‐way along residential roads, Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road in particular, to ‘filter out’ traffic unsuitable as through traffic in a residential area;
- Removal of local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and stopping southbound drivers from doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- Safer pedestrian crossings to the High Street—this is a particular issue for people with children in William Patten school;
- Better traffic light placement and phasing;
Not just in LARA area but also other adjoining areas—e.g. ‘filtered permeability’ in the area south of Northwold Road and east of Rectory Road.

3.2
Louisa added some more background to this last point, stating that one of the approaches we had taken as ward councillors was to campaign for improvements on the roads that the Council does control (Bayston, Darville, Leswin, part of Evering) as this was more achievable in the short term (whilst not losing site of the long term aim of removing the gyratory). The issue was first raised with ward councillors by residents in the area who had concerns about the route to school and the safety implications for families with small children. Louisa confirmed that as a result of a
walkabout with residents and lobbying by ward councillors, the Leswin Area is next in line for a 20mph zone, but that we had stressed that this scheme needed to also look at other road safety measures at the same time. There will be a full consultation with residents over the scheme and the indicative timing for this at the moment is end of 2010/11. This will be an important opportunity to feed in ideas for improving the rat run situation and making these roads safer and shouldn’t beseen as a distraction from the main campaign against the one way system.
We have already picked up the issue of turning left illegally at the bottom of Lawrence Buildings (the Council are looking to improve the warning signs here) and the danger of the crossing outside Sainsburys (TfL control this and haven’t been positive about any improvements that can be made so far).

4 How do we go about it / What needs to be done?
There seems to be a wide range of different groups and interested parties who have a stake in this issue and have been campaigning on different levels. The aim now is to pull together as many ‘strands’ as possible in order to form a more powerful campaign. It is probably unrealistic to get all interested parties to agree on all points, however we should aim for a general consensus before starting to lobby in earnest. LARA to discuss at next committee meeting and then arrange
for wider residents’ and interest group meeting with LCCiH present – consider St. Paul’s Church Hall.

Who do we address?
LCC and Louisa advised that TfL is the main organisation to be lobbied for our purpose, as it is important to note that the A10, Manse, Evering and Rectory Road are all red routes and controlled by TfL. LCC and Louisa referred to TfL’s feasibility study on the removal of the gyratory which had not been positive in terms of removing it. Louisa added that in light of this, Hackney Council was conducting its own appraisal of the TfL study to look further into the options. The results of this are due imminently and at the moment, we understand there will be a full consultation with local residents and stakeholders to get a more coherent sense of local feeling on the issue. Louisa felt that there is an opportunity for the wider LARA meeting with local stakeholders to feed into this consultation but this would be more effective as a resident led campaign (as the Shoreditch campaign was). Due to local government purdah from the 29th March, the consultation is unlikely to happen before then.

6 Next Meeting
TBA – LARA to keep all attendees informed of next meeting date to be arranged.

Comments Please !
If you have any comments about the above notes and want to give your opinion about local traffic concerns, please respond in our comments section below. We welcome input, for and against, any of the suggestions outlined above.

Meetings and Having Your Say!

- The next Community Advisory Panel meeting will be held at 7 o'clock on Wed 3rd March at the Somerford Grove Communuty Hall. This meeting is open to the public and gives residents the opportunity to meet local police and influence the focus of their work in the community over the following 2 months.

- Hackney Council is reviewing its parking policies .We can fill in an online survey on www.hackney.gov.uk/pep or ring 020 8356 8877 to get a copy. I haven't looked at it yet but if you feel that residents' parking is a good thing in Stoke Newington it would be important to state that.

Thanks for this update Anne

Cycling / Traffic Meeting

A note from committee member, Andrea:

Following my enquiry about cycling (and traffic) issues in the area I’ve had a good response back from the Hackney cycling campaign, from Trevor Parsons. They’d like to get in touch / meet and I think it would be worth us listening to what they have to say as they seem to have a much longer history of looking at the gyratory than we have. We’ve discussed the week commencing February 22^nd for a specific traffic meeting (for those who want to get involved). This would be a good opportunity to invite the Hackney Cycling people. I’m happy to organise and suggest a date + time – those who would like to be part of this please do let me know or forward on to people who might get involved........

You can leave any comments below.