Queensbridge Road - Middleton Road Area - Environmental Improvements

Overview

The consultation close date has been extended to Friday 5 January to produce more consultation packets to distribute in the area and allow consultees sufficient time to respond. The consultation extension will also allow respondents to consider and complete the Lansdowne Drive and Westgate Street School Street consultation, which will be live mid December to mid January. Please check hackney.gov.uk/school-streets for updates.

The Council is committed to making Hackney’s roads safer for everyone living, working or visiting the borough. Helping to create an environment that will encourage more walking and cycling is a key part of the Council’s transport strategy and vision. The Transport Strategy includes a Liveable Neighbourhoods Plan which recognises that roads and streets in our neighbourhoods are not just places to park vehicles or drive, walk and cycle on; they make up the largest element of the public realm of the city and are the places where we socialise and live our lives. An aspiration of the Transport Strategy is to reclaim Hackney’s neighbourhoods from parked vehicles and motor traffic congestion and transform them into the most attractive and liveable neighbourhoods in London.

This aspiration can only be achieved by reducing the dominance of the private vehicle. Reducing the amount of parking and reducing traffic flows will also help to improve air quality, reduce traffic casualties and make our neighbourhoods more pleasant places to walk, play and cycle in. Poor air quality resulting from vehicle emissions is finally being recognised for the damage it inflicts upon the health of the city.

With this in mind, Council officers have been working on proposals to provide better pedestrian and cycle crossing facilities at the Queensbridge Road – Middleton Road junction, introduce changes to the environment along Queensbridge Road and plant trees and shrubs outside Queensbridge Primary School.

Why your views matter

Over the past five years, eleven collisions were recorded at the junction. Of these, nine involved unsafe vehicular turning and four involved cyclists. This has prompted the Council to come up with measures that will improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists when crossing the road at this junction.

Queensbridge Road is characterised by high speeds and traffic volumes for a typical 20mph road. It is wide and straight and this encourages the higher speed. The proposed scheme is intended to change driver behaviour and the character of the road at this section.

What are the proposals?

The proposals include:

1. Installing new traffic signals with full crossing facilities for pedestrians and cyclists on all sides of the junction. The facilities will include pedestrian countdowns, convex cycle safety mirrors, cyclist waiting areas (ASLs) and low level cycle signals with ‘early release’ facilities for cyclists. In addition, the signals will have a full pedestrian phase where pedestrians get to cross the junction in all directions in one phase. The junction will be resurfaced with suitable surfacing materials to remove slipperiness.
2. Installing extended pavements outside Queensbridge Primary School to create a quiet space with sustainable urban drainage systems, trees and greenery. The extended pavements will help reduce traffic speeds while the trees and shrubbery will help create a barrier to emissions and improve the air quality outside the school.

For an overview of the proposals, please refer to the drawing enclosed.

More proposals for Queensbridge Road between Hackney Road and Dalston Lane are still being developed. Residents will get a chance to comment on these proposals once they are fully developed.

Additional speed reducing measures at Queensbridge Road between Richmond Road and Pownall Road are being developed. Residents will get a chance to comment on these proposals before they are implemented. 

What happens next