Over the years, Colney Hatch lane has been hacked away by the actions of various councils: chopping down trees, reducing pavements, concreting over grass and now a further threat to our lane that of removing the final remnants of greenery, paving over the remaining vestiges of grass verges. A once leafy, green Muswell Hill is being slowly deprived of its village charm being turned into a noisier and dangerous place to live.
The latest bus plus proposals will turn Colney Hatch lane into 4 lanes off traffic or possibly 3.5 resulting in great danger to all as cars thunder down the Lane believing the road to be wider than it actually is. When the general transport policy is to narrow roads to calm traffic down, in my stretch of Colney Hatch Lane, it appears to be that of widening the Lane and creating a faster road, which will support a higher volume of traffic.
The reasoning behind these proposals is that the congestion created by the traffic lights, ironically placed to improve the flow of traffic and speed up bus times on the 43 bus route, will be reduced by widening the road. If you stand at the bus stop on Colney Hatch Lane near the traffic lights, it is quite clear why there is so much congestion at the traffic lights. The tail back of cars all want to turn left at the traffic lights!! Yes the decision to block off all the roads linking Colney Hatch Lane and Alexandra Park Road has caused chaos on Colney Hatch Lane. Why some road should be created as safe havens at the expense of other residential streets is beyond me. I would be very interested to find out where the councillors who proposed these measures live… Hence the solution to all the problems must surely be to open up all the roads that have been closed linking Colney Hatch Lane and Alexandra Park Road.
Instead a series of proposals have been forced on a few residents in a very short space of time – less than a month in which to examine the proposals, and make a response. These proposals will not only create chaos for road users on Colney Hatch lane (bearing in mind that the changes imposed on us by the alleged improvements to the 43 bus route resulted in 10 months of mayhem) but also infringe on our basic human rights. Noise pollution already disturbs the sleep of residents living on Colney Hatch Lane especially since the Council closed off roads and erected traffic lights. Are we to be made to suffer more as the traffic will be tearing down the road even closer to our safe havens? Are we to be imprisoned in our homes, unable to open the windows at the front of our house because we cannot bear the noise or the fumes? When we do venture out, it will be almost impossible for mothers with prams or the disabled to walk along the reduced pavements. If we decide to cross the road, the traffic will be even faster and we do so at our own peril. Even more sinister, are these proposals paving the way for CPZ?
If all residents and residents associations do not stand up for our human rights and fight these proposals then it may be your garden they are taking away next…