LTNs - diversionary tactics

In an effort to reduce the number of cars committing a contravention in Warwick Road, N11, or perhaps partly because Mr Mustard won his tribunal case when there was only one low sign, there are now 3 signs in Warwick Road; that helps, provided you know what the sign means in the first place.

Now, let us suppose you are not simply a commuter trying to take the quickest route and finding that Brownlow Road (the B106) is backed up so you take the convenient alternative but someone who has good cause to be in the Warwick Road area, you might be visiting elderly family with a food parcel or a friend in Union Rd (your bubble) or you are a home delivery driver, collecting a sick person for a day care visit to the hospice or even dropping off a skip like the one in the picture, you just have to visit the northern part of Warwick Road.

You get there, you understand the signs and now you have a problem. A diversion isn't posted. Mr Mustard has highlighted in yellow the two alternative routes, to the west and the east. These routes are ones which you can take without having to make a u-turn as on busy London roads they are more dangerous than mostly left turns (which would be Mr Mustard's preference) or mostly right turns

Here is the area in question:

The yellow highlighter shows the ridiculous routes you have to take in order to get to a point just 1m from where you were 20 minutes previously. The green lines are ones you can take in order to avoid the no left at Bounds Green tube as by taking them you are going straight over, not left. Better to use the longer one as the short one is narrow and may be used by drivers coming up Brownlow Road who aren't allowed to turn right so they may take this route.

Mr Mustard cycled them both as if he was in a car so (apart from using the pavement some of the time, whether shared use or not, as he was respectful of the rights of pedestrians) he followed the signs as applicable to motor vehicles (except at the end when he went between the no motor vehicles signs). His camera didn't have a long enough recording time so part of the eastern route got recorded over, here is the western route via Arnos Grove tube station.

 

 

 

As it happens Mr Mustard lived in Warwick Road over 40 years ago.  He was in a  bedsit, he bought a BSA B40 from the milkman, a milkman who would now have to go on a huge round trip in order to put a pint bottle on the step.

Mr Mustard is both a car driver and a cyclist and thus neutral on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods so this blog post isn't intended to start a bunfight between car drivers and cyclists but is simply to highlight the problems caused by the lack of a posted alternative route. It would be of great benefit if the alternative route was posted to help those who do have business in the street. The council could start by exempting 'for access' and putting every resident in this block on the 'white list' so they don't get ticketed by the cctv camera and can take the shortest route home, avoid traffic jams and cut their pollution contribution.

Mr Mustard thinks there are better ways of fixing the cut through problem, he doesn't like the pejorative 'rat run' label, if the road is open, everyone is entitled to use it.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard