Highbury East will hold meetings to change the infrastructure of their roads

Highbury East councillor Caroline Russell fights to make the roads more pedestrian and cyclist friendly.

The ward councillors are discussing the idea of getting rid of thru traffic between neighbourhoods to main roads to limit the number of injuries and in the worst case scenario, death.

The next regular ward partnership meeting in late November or early December will focus on walking and cycling on roads, according to Russell.

“We have to make it impossible to use residential roads to get from one main road to another,” Russell says. She also says they need to implement a “Copenhagen crossing” which enforces the rule 170 of the Highway code by providing a continuous footway across side roads, “emphasising pedestrian priority over cars,” she says.  

Russell and the rest of the council feel this issue is now more important than ever after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was announced on 1 October. It states that there are only 12 years to limit the effects on climate change, and Russell hopes to reduce the ward’s carbon footprint by making it easier for foot and bike traffic.  

“We will end up with a better city if we actually take climate change seriously,” Russell says.

Environmentalism isn’t the only reason that these meetings will be happening, though; the safety of pedestrians and cyclists are a huge concern too. Foot and bike traffic safety has been a local topic for the Highbury East ward since about 15 years ago when a child was killed while walking to school on Blackstock Road.

“For me stopping death and injuries on roads is an absolute bottom line. It is wrong that we have streets that are designed where people can’t make a mistake. Whether they’re crossing a road on a bike or walking. If someone makes a mistake they could die,” Russell says.