Is there an election on?

Actually there will be.  On May 22nd.  And St Peters Ward Councillors are already out on the campaign trail.  We had an excellent weekend's sessions on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, with support from  (l-r) Cllr Paul Smith, Jenny Kay (aspiring Mildmay Ward Cllr person), me at the back, Cllr Alice Perry (the human dynamo), Newell from Holloway, MEP hopeful Lucy Anderson, and Cllr Richard Watts, Leader of the Council.  You can't see Cllr Gary Doolan, because he was holding the camera.

Support on the doorstep is very good, but we also met several people who are being hit by the bedroom tax, who just don't know what to do, and are afraid of being driven out of Islington altogether, where they have lived for most of their lives. We referred them to Islington's Benefits Advice Line which we set up to try and give the best possible experienced help to people in this kind of situation.  It is hard not to see the Tory Government's benefit reforms as pretty vicious social cleansing of our inner city areas.

Cycle safety on the New North Road

The new improved cycle lane access into Arlington Avenue

It has been a long-standing campaign of mine to persuade cyclists in a hurry to use alternative routes to the canal towpath, where it is well-known that a small number of speeding cyclists are terrorising more peaceable users of the towpath: Pedestrians, parents with kids and buggies, older people, and recreational cyclists.

There are good cycle routes all the way through Hackney, and the Arlington Avenue area in St Peters ward is quiet and safe.  The big obstacle is the New North Road.  We need traffic signals outside Gainsborough Studios, which is in Hackney, and we need better permeability into St Peters side streets.

This week I have finally succeeded in getting Islington’s highways department to improve the turning into Arlington Avenue. Previously, the turn into the cycle path was so sharp that cyclists were forced to swing out into the middle of the road to make the turn, pushing them into the path of speeding cars and lorries coming up behind them.  At my request Islington Highways have now installed a smoothly curving kerb to the cycle lane, making it possible to turn into Arlington Avenue safely, and without having to swing out.

This is one small, but important part of the jigsaw to create safe alternative routes for cyclists, so we can restore safety,  peace, and tranquillity to the towpath.  Now we need Hackney and TFL to install traffic signals at Gainsborough.