Highbury Corner

• ALL of us will have seen the letters over recent months about the Scheme from Transport for London (TfL) and Islington Council to reorganise Highbury Corner.

These have raised a number of points about the plan which would have a major impact on a hub that is well up in TfL’s list of busiest places in London, around 35million travellers a year (four times the level mentioned in the study for the council in 1995), and now the ninth busiest rail interchange in the UK.

The scheme is incidentally about the fifth attempt to address the problems of Highbury Corner.

Reasonable questions that have now been raised include:

• The transparency of modelling of future traffic flows;

• The impact of putting in such a complicated loop, counter to peak hour traffic flows;

• TfL’s forecast that almost every traveller at peak hours including cyclists will take longer to navigate the junction;

• Adequate provision for pedestrians;

• Lack of clear figures for pollution, now so much better recognised as a serious health issue;

• The future of the green space, already reduced;

• Value for money?

• To accept that by far the greatest numbers travelling in London are by bus, tube and Overground;

• The proportion of road space to given to cyclists, with a layout that may prove impractical for cyclists;

• The future of Liverpool Road and its capacity for cyclists;

• The impact of the increased volumes of traffic on the roads used as through routes, including cyclists, such as Islington Park Street, Canonbury Lane, Baalbec Road and Fieldway Crescent;

And, above all:

• The impact on the local community, and on local business.

The station itself needs investment and redesign: the underground is often overcrowded at peak times, and is difficult to navigate for many.

The uncoordinated façade and the new pavement certainly lack design and amenity. Future investment should include a replaced northern entrance.

To proceed with plans for Highbury Corner without considering the station would be an utterly lost opportunity.

Everyone will also have seen the constructive spirit of the letter by Councillor Richard Watts following the local elections, (Best Labour result in Islington in my lifetime, May 11): “We will, of course, remain an open, transparent and listening council – putting the views and concerns of local people at the heart of all we do.”

Can we suggest that there should be a long pause to rethink this project, after the disruptions of the past three and a half years, to allow for renewed local consultation?

FRANCES CAIRNCROSS
The Upper Street Association
JAMES COATES
Canonbury Society
ANDREW GARDNER
Islington Archaeology and History Society
DAVID GIBSON
Islington Society
MARTIN JONES
Highbury Fields Association
KATE POTHALINGAM
Highbury Fields Association
ERIC SORENSEN
Angel Association
PHILIP WALKER
Canonbury Society
CHARLES WOOD
The Upper Street Association