Stop the Shepherdess Walk - Sturt Street Junction Vehicle Restriction for Residents

Summary:

- Say NO to a fixed gate at the corner of Shepherdess Walk Park restricting all vehicles

- Say YES to re-instating the traffic camera BUT with automatic numberplate recognition so local residents can drive and cycle through freely and access parking spaces

In Full:

Parking : The restriction installed has cut off the majority of the Zone A parking spaces, meaning that if our small area is full, we have to take a 1.1 mile detour, driving unnecessarily around the City Road (10 mins in traffic) just to access available spaces on Shepherdess Walk and the rest of Zone A - spaces which we can see from our very small side of Zone A but couldn’t access without being issued a ticket. This is nonsensical, adding to congestion and vehicle emissions.       

Delays and Traffic : Those motorists living on Wenlock Road / the west side of the restriction have to take a 10-15 minute detour, around either the Old Street roundabout or through the centre of Angel, to drive to / return from the rest of Hackney. This is a significant delay and creates increased congestion and vehicle emissions. For car users, this restriction has turned our roads into an island - with only one road in or out (City Road), one road by which to access the rest of the Hackney Borough (City Road). Which has led to frustration amongst those residents who drive. We might as well be part of the Borough of Islington rather than being marooned on the edge of Hackney.    

Additional concerns with a restriction being in place at this junction:

- Access for emergency vehicles without delay, including fire trucks, needs to be proved so that there is a secondary route should the City Road route be blocked  

- No information has been provided by the council to back up why this restriction is actually needed, or even what problem exists at this specific junction. This area of roads leads to a dead-end at the canal, and are therefore by nature already very quiet. The continued occasional use by local residents would pose very limited impact to pedestrians and cyclists – the very narrow metal bollards in place mean vehicles move very slowly when approaching this junction, which we welcome.  

- Many of us who own cars are also pedestrians and keen cyclists using this junction daily outside of our cars, but that doesn’t mean that on the occasions we do drive (or have to drive for work) our journeys should be so disproportionately impacted. Also, the narrow gap which would remain either side of the proposed gate is not user friendly for cyclists when approached from Shepherdess Walk due to it being on a corner, especially for families cycling to Shepherdess Walk Park with children.  

In light of the above, we would like to propose an alternative solution:  

- Reinstall the traffic camera as originally envisioned by the council  

- Enable access for residents only using ANR - as the neighbouring Islington Council do, thereby allowing registered cars belonging to residents of the impacted roads to pass through without a ticket being issued  

We believe this would: 

1. Achieve the originally intended goal of reducing the number of cars using the junction, promoting safer cycling and walking balanced proportionally with local motorists needs, and thereby avoiding unnecessary traffic congestion and emissions from detours  

2. Stop the vandalism, as it would remove the frustration felt by the immediately impacted motorists who feel boxed in by the measures imposed on them without consultation  

As the residents in the vicinity, it is our area, our roads, our businesses and our lives which are impacted. We strongly ask that you take our views into account.

Vanessa Mitchell    Contact the author of the petition