Red Routes rubbished
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• Islington Council is chipping away at the Government's Red Route scheme, which it is rejecting as a potentially dangerous "corridor of fast moving traffic through a heavily built up area".
Last Friday (1 March) Islington refused to go ahead with the second phase of the twomonth-old scheme, which is designed to bring local authority roads in line with the trunk roads.
By April the Dip hopes to have about 11. 5km of London's major roads operational as Red Routes, with truck drivers allowed to stop only at specified times, for limited periods on marked loading bays (CM 10-16 January).
"Originally the Red Route scheme was put forward as a complete traffic calming package, but it has been introduced piecemeal with the wrong bits first," says Andrew Bosi, chairman of Islington's transport sub-committee.
He criticises the Government for lack of co-operation, and for not introducing more loading bays on side roads before reducing main road bays. "Traffic calming" measures should have been introduced on the side roads before the Red Routes attracted traffic from them, he adds.
Bosi believes that if the traditional yellow-line system had been properly enforced it would be more effective than Red Routes. Islington Chamber of Commerce research shows that during the first four weeks of Red Route operation some local shopkeepers reported business down by 50%.
The DTp claims that Islington's decision will not harm its 18month pilot scheme. The initial 6.5km Red Route from Archway Road to the Angel already
includes a stretch of trunk road in Islington. It says that Islington's lack of co-operation on a 500m run from City Road into Commercial Road will have little effect — but Hackney Council says it will be forced to withold its section of City Road from the scheme if Islington sticks to its plan because it would be impractical to enforce only part of the road. It still plans to include 2.4km of other roads in the Red Route scheme next month.
Tower Hamlets also plans to go ahead with the scheme, which will affect Commercial Road and Commercial Street.
Up to the end of February the Metropolitan Police had reported more than 4,000 Red Route offences. Nearly 300 vehicles had been towed away; 2,000 parking tickets had been issued; and 1,000 drivers were given verbal warnings. There were 621 other traffic offences, including speeding, and 28 road traffic accidents; three of which resulted in injuries.
If the Road Traffic Bill is passed this summer boroughs could be forced to accept the Red Route scheme, which could eventually be extended to 480km of London roads.
Islington hopes to hold out until July, which will give it time to implement parking bays and traffic calming measures. "We are not going to lie down and let them paint red stripes all over us," says Bosi.