On 19th April I received a supportive letter from Cllr Claudia Webbe at Islington Council (see below). The next step is for TfL to publish its proposal for introducing crossings here... watch this space! "I would like to start by saying that the Council fully supports your and the local community’s aspiration and request to improve the safety of Holloway Road junction with Drayton Park and Palmer Place by introducing much needed safe pedestrian crossing facilities. As you and those who signed the petition have clearly set out, this is a very busy junction on the A1 without any pedestrian crossing facilities across Drayton Park and Palmer Place, creating an extremely dangerous situation for pedestrians on a daily basis, which must be resolved as soon as possible. Improving this junction forms part of the Council’s commitment to the Mayor of London’s ‘Healthy Streets’ agenda; aimed at helping Londoners use cars less, and walk, cycle and use public transport more. I am grateful to have met with you on 29 January 2018 to discuss your concerns and those of the local community, to review your petition, and to discuss the many comments made by signatories expressing concerns about safety; including some extremely worrying reports of dangerous near misses and even accidents. In fact, 27 collisions were recorded within 50m of the junction during the three-year period ending 28/02/2017 (latest available data). A total of 38 casualties was recorded, emphasising the urgent need to make the junction safer. As you know, Holloway Road is managed by the Mayor of London, and therefore any improvements to this junction require the cooperation of the Mayor, through Transport for London (TfL). You told us that you presented your petition to TfL too, and that you have met with the TfL project team that is developing proposals for the junction; i.e. a design that would include the introduction of the missing pedestrian crossing facilities across Palmer Place and Drayton Park. I have been told that the Council will get early sight of the design proposals this Spring, and I will do everything I can to support TfL to take this to public consultation so that this dangerous situation is made safer as soon as possible. The Mayor of London has made a commitment to improving 33 dangerous junctions in London to address safety concerns of which four are in Islington. The Holloway Road junction with Drayton Park and Palmer Place is one of them. As I mentioned when we met, I have written to the Mayor of London in response to the draft Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS) to express that the Council is pleased that proposals are being developed to improve safety of junctions, with specific mention to the junction that you have so successfully petitioned for. In response to your petition, and following our meeting on 29 January 2018, I have again written to the Mayor of London, stating my in principle support for a proposal that would improve pedestrian safety at the junction of Holloway Road with Drayton Park / Palmer Place by introducing pedestrian crossings on the arms of the junction that currently lack such facilities. I expect this to incorporate much needed safer facilities for cyclists too. To further improve safety at the junction and on Holloway Road more generally, I have also asked the Mayor to make the 20 mph trial on Holloway Road that was recently introduced permanent. Islington was the first borough across London to make all its borough roads 20 mph, and we have since been lobbying the Mayor to extend this to the strategic road network managed by TfL too. The 20mph trial on Holloway Road (between Highbury Corner and Tufnell Park Road) commenced on 3 October 2017 under an experimental traffic order for 18 months, until April 2019. I have been informed that monitoring will take place during this 18-month period to inform the final decision. I have urged the Mayor to confirm his commitment to improving the 33 dangerous junctions across London, including along Holloway Road, by including this in the final version of the MTS. I have also asked him that a funding commitment be made in the TfL Business Plan to implement improvements to the Holloway Road junction with Drayton Park / Palmer Place, which I hope can be taken forward as soon as possible following public consultation. I have offered the Mayor of London some match-funding through the Council’s annual TfL grant to improve local roads or other funds, as I would like to see safety improvements in this location as soon as possible. In the meantime, as we discussed, we are in discussion with TfL about introducing some interim measures to alert people to the dangerous junction layout and the lack of pedestrian crossing facilities. I hope to see these introduced in the coming months. Ultimately, the responsibility to improve this junction lies with the Mayor of London, it being on the A1, which forms part of the strategic road network, which falls within his remit. I have therefore written to the Mayor to inform him that we have met to discuss your petition, urging him to prioritise the urgently needed safety improvements at this junction. We will work positively with the Mayor to bring this forward as soon as possible so that a public consultation can take place and safe pedestrian crossings can be introduced soon."