Wightman Road in Harringay N4/N8 London is living again. For 5 months until Sept 2016, the road is closed whilst the railway bridge at its southern end is strengthened. With traffic dramatically down as a result of the bridge works, this is a residential community reborn. A place where children play in the street, neighbours stop for a chat, families cycle safely and where joggers and commuters enjoy rather than endure passing through. So for many of us the idea of Wightman Road going back to being a traffic-clogged rat run is unthinkable.

For a residential road, Wightman Road was carrying a massively disproportionate share of local traffic –120,000 vehicles a week. This was generating killer levels of pollution, with children most at risk. Nitrogen Dioxide was above EU legal limits. Worse still, given the high proportion of deprived households on Wightman Road, some of the poorest children in Haringey were paying the price for the convenience of motorists from other areas who were using Wightman Road as a rat run. Our local residents campaign is asking

FIRST, we’re requesting that Haringey Council extend the current arrangements beyond summer to allow time to find a long-term solution that drastically reduces traffic on Wightman Road.

SECONDLY, we’re proposing that any long-term solution allows access for local businesses and their customers, but stops Wightman Road being used a rat run through route as part of overall measures to improve traffic flow in the surrounding area.

A strengthened bridge risks larger and more lorries, extra traffic generated by an estimated 7,500 new households created in the immediate and surrounding areas means a bad situation will get even worse. So it’s in everyone’s interests that we act NOW to stand up for the quality of life of local residents, particularly children who face stark health inequalities, on Wightman Road and the surrounding area.

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