Highgate Conservatives are calling on Transport for London (TfL) and Haringey Council to enforce the five-tonne weight limit on North Hill, where rat-running HGVs are making life miserable for locals. But one look at the muddled signs coming into and out of our village explains why lorry drivers feel they can ignore the weight limit with impunity.
For example, the five-tonne weight limit sign at the junction between the A1 and Church Road is only visible to traffic going northbound, while at Baker’s Lane there is a sign saying “Weight limit 5T 300yd ahead” followed 50 yards later by a sign showing a 16.5T weight limit. Just a little further along is a sign that bans lorries over five tonnes “except for access”, but by this stage there is nowhere to turn, and HGVs are forced to continue. Since 2005 there have been 30 accidents along North Hill, six of which were fatal. Conservative candidate for Highgate, Kay Carter, says: “There are numerous missed opportunities for more and clearer signage, which would make a big difference, but the 5T weight limit needs proper enforcement, with mobile CCTV cars positioned along the roads and CCTV road signs appended to the weight-limit warnings to make lorry drivers think twice about thundering through our ward.”