The Mayor of London cut the ribbon on Highbury’s new public green space yesterday, praising Islington’s pioneering work on safe and eco-friendly travel.
Highbury Corner junction now has segregated cycle lanes, a new station forecourt, wider pedestrian crossings and a green space replacing the old roundabout. A group of trees previously cut off by traffic has also been opened up to the public.
Joining local council chiefs at the opening of the renovated junction, Mayor Sadiq Khan said it was “essential” that other boroughs follow Islington’s lead in making it safe for Londoners to walk and cycle each day.
“Here, we had 15 collisions before work began on this project and two of them were cyclists,” he said. “These kinds of transformations lead to this area being safer, but also businesses benefit because more people are walking and cycling and going into shops,” he claimed.
He praised the work of Islington council and encouraged other local authorities to adopt their own green initiatives. “As a south Londoner, I’m jealous,” he joked.
Local resident Jules Kelly said, “I’m very excited. It means a more open friendlier space. People may grumble about [the expense], you can get fault-finders, but overall it’s a good thing that’s happening.”
Work began in April 2018 to make the junction safer and more environmentally friendly, as part of the Mayor’s £2.3bn investment to create ‘healthy streets’ across London.
Khan said 31 London junctions had been improved, with Transport for London planning to compete ten more renovations before May.
However, the Mayor said improving London infrastructure has been made difficult by budget cuts from the Conservative government. “We’ve lost our operating grants, so that’s on average £700 million a year, which has been really hard. We’re lobbying the government to reverse that, but in the meantime we want to make it more attractive to use public transport.”
Town hall transport chief Councillor Claudia Webbe said: “We are standing right now in a place which used to be a road. Had we stood here before we would have been mowed down by dangerous lorries, vehicles, and cars. Now we are safe in this new public space, we can all really feel a sense of community and togetherness. This is a fantastic transformation.”
Leader of the council Richard Watts said the plan to improve Highbury Corner had begun ten years ago, but only started to take shape after Khan was elected in 2016. “This roundabout used to be a nightmare: it was car dominated, pollution dominated, it was a really horrible place for ordinary people,” he said. “Islington council and TfL took a decision to do something big and brave.”
Watts estimated the cost of the new infrastructure at near £12 million. “It is expensive, but it’s a price worth paying,” he said. “Highbury and Islington is becoming one of London’s most important stations and transport interchanges, and this is an enormous improvement from where we were in the past.”
