• WHY can Transport for London, which is pleading poverty, splash out £11million and cause a further year’s disruption at Highbury Corner, having already taken since January 2015 to replace the railway bridge?

Having seen the chaos caused by shutting part of Holloway Road and one side of the roundabout at Christmas – granted there was less traffic then – just imagine what it will cause with a normal day’s traffic. Far better to spend this £11million on improving access to Highbury and Islington station.

At the moment the only fully-accessible parts of the station for a wheelchair user are the four surface-level Overground platforms. There is no lift access to the four underground platforms.

The only access to these platforms is by a couple of escalators and then along corridors and down at least two flights of stairs. Okay, if you are able-bodied but tough luck if you are disabled.

Surely it would be better to spend this £11million on improving access to these platforms by re-installing lifts in the old station across the road.

Has TfL considered that, by closing off the western arm of the roundabout, the phone and bag thieves will no doubt be rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of cycling up and snatching. At Archway, they even have had the neck to go into shops and snatch phones and laptops.

It has been said that Highbury Corner is one of the most dangerous in London, with some 13 crashes involving cyclists in the 36 months up to last March.

Since the road was resurfaced at the roundabout, after the bridge works, it has still been restricted to one lane in each direction at the start of Holloway Road. Has this been considered by TfL as a contributory factor in these road accidents?

JE KIRBY
Clissold Crescent, N16