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Reclaim the streets with speed limits and innovation
• I AM very pleased to see that Camden Council has at last decided to proceed with a “living streets” scheme, as is now underway in Camden Town, taking out unnecessary clutter and raising the street level close to the pavement level.
These schemes, which have been trialled in many parts of Europe, have been shown to reduce traffic speeds and accidents by creating streetscapes where cars no longer feel they own the road. Streets are made neater, pedestrian areas wider, and pavements made safer and easier to navigate for disabled people.
I hope this will be one of the first truly radical street schemes introduced by Camden, which has to date been pretty conservative. We need similarly innovative schemes in other areas, for example, Kentish Town Road which could be turned into a much more popular shopping area if the congestion and division was addressed.
Also, Highgate High Street, if officers from Camden and Haringey would work together, as ward councillors have tried to persuade them to do so, could be reclaimed as part of the village rather than a busy arterial route.
And as Farokh Khorooshi is campaigning for in the Hampstead 20:20 campaign, Camden could make Hampstead High Street much less threatening and quite excitingly transform Whitestone Ponds into a village green and pond rather than a roundabout with a concrete pond.
There are lots more opportunities. Myself and fellow Greens have for example when Kentish Town Road was up for modernisation asked for an innovative scheme like this. We have also called for general road safety measures like 20mph speed limits on all roads, as introduced by Islington. We will continue to seek such schemes and safety measures which allow us to reclaim our streets.
Cllr Maya de Souza
Green Party, Highgate ward
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