Speed Kills
By Robbie Richards
Each day on Church Street, I see young mothers with buggies. I see school children going to the five schools that Church Street serves. I see people visiting the library, Clissold Park, Abney Park cemetery, Stoke Newington town hall. I also see traffic. Traffic which has increased in speed since the introduction of the bendy buses three years ago.
Associated traffic and parking regimes have removed parking on virtually the whole of Church Street, thus allowing all traffic empty road space along which to accelerate. I have no accurate measurements of speed but it certainly seems that speeds of 30mph are reached and sometimes exceeded. Buildings shake because heavy traffic damages the road surface, and high speed impacts on these defects cause vibration. Pavements are so narrow on parts of the street that this traffic can be as little as 3 feet away, on occasion. If somebody were to stumble, or a child were to run out, it is hard to see what chance of survival they would have with those traffic speeds. Combined with the removal of pedestrian refuges to allow bendies to negotiate corners it was not altogether too surprising that an 83-year-old lady was knocked down by a 476 bus on the zebra crossing by the Rose and Crown in March.
The combination of traffic travelling at speed and heavy pedestrian use is a major problem on narrow streets like Church Street. Clearly, the present situation is heavily skewed to favouring traffic flow over pedestrian safety and comfort. Businesses the length of Church Street face difficulties in retaining passing trade, and even accepting deliveries means that suppliers have to risk parking fines to service their customers. This is a process which feeds on itself. Less business means fewer deliveries means faster traffic means less business means fewer businesses means…
Church Street is not simply a road. It is a street. It does not exist simply to convey traffic. People live on Church Street. They shop on Church Street. They walk on Church Street. They meet and interact. It is a village street, it is not a mini-motorway. It fulfils vital social needs. 
Is there any way out of this seeming impasse?
There is a concept which recognises this problem – shared space. This has been used in the design of the new King’s Cross development and various other schemes throughout the country, including the Bull Ring in Birmingham. Shared space removes many of the conventional methods of controlling traffic by blurring the distinction between highways and buildings thus forcing drivers to think and be aware of their surroundings so that they travel much more slowly. The Department of Transport has recognised this in the newly published ‘Manual for Streets’ and promotes the design of streets for all users. Can Hackney Council consider talking to Transport for London, who has responsibility for Church Street, to see if some of these ideas can be incorporated into our environment? They may wish to consider particularly the space between the library and Clissold Road which has a high concentration of facilities adjacent to each other, for example; Clissold Leisure Centre, Clissold Park, the two St Mary’s, the Town Hall, the Assembly Rooms. Pedestrian priority along that stretch of the street would still allow traffic through, albeit at a much reduced speed.
Inevitably, these are long-term processes and do not solve the short-term problems. However, a short-term solution, such as an enforced speed reduction to 20mph, would at least address the safety and comfort aspects of the situation, and a parking review could quickly improve accessibility for businesses.
Other parts of London must similarly be blighted by a traffic-centric policy which is designed to get people into the City and West End as fast as possible and ignores the very real community needs which London villages generate. Maybe this is one for our London Mayor. Applied over the capital, it might even help to get him re-elected.
Robbie runs the Fox Reformed on Church Street |
