Barriers needed before someone gets hurt (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Barriers needed before someone gets hurt

4:11pm Monday 1st February 2010 in Waltham Forest

So, the Council’s much-trumpeted “traffic restriction” signs down Walthamstow High Street have been declared illegal and unenforceable (Guardian, Jan 28).

That won’t make much difference in practice, as many drivers ignore them and no barrier is placed across the eastern end of the High Street during prohibited hours to enforce them physically.

One strongly suspects that this is deliberate – instead of prioritising pedestrian safety, the council would rather confuse people with badly-worded signs so it could then pocket the money from the fines they incurred. Now that the adjudicators have put a stop to that nice little earner, maybe the council will do the job properly, including putting up some kind of gate or barrier, before somebody gets injured or worse - particularly on Sundays when the Farmers' Market is operating and many customers bring along their young children.

Graham Larkbey Carr Road, Walthamstow