Finsbury Park Station/City North Development

Maximus · August 2016

A few weeks old, but here's confirmation of funding for City North with interesting analysis too. Article says loan size for City North is one of the largest property loans in the UK post-Brexit,

http://www.wsj.com/articles/lasalle-earmarks-big-loan-for-north-london-condominiums-1469516401

Sutent · September 2016

Today should be fun. Arsenal at home and dance festival in park

Arkady · November 2016

So this is really going gangbusters now isn't it? The shear amount of rubble being carted off the site is phenomenal. I must get some photos from somewhere up high soon.

verga · November 2016

there is an open day/sales pitch day soon somewhere. sorry can't remember where but am sure savills are involved due to launch 2019/2020 if i remember correctly

sg_mike · November 2016

Thinking more about the closure of Stroud Green Road under the bridges, do you think it'd be worth shutting the road to everyone apart from cyclists as an experiment for 3 months? There's no room for cyclists on the cycle path (as we all predicted but TFL told us they were sure wouldn't be the case) and for the sake of a very few cars in the northbound direction could make it a bit of a safer environment for everyone?

marko · November 2016

Enforcing the no-entry sign for southbound traffic would be a welcome first step, along with the no-waiting boxes at the two junctions. Taxis from the taxi office at the bottom of SGR being the worse offenders in both cases.

HolbornFox · November 2016

There's very few cars in the northbound direction because of the ridiculous bottleneck at St Thomas Road.

This was caused when the powers that be decided to reduce it from 3 lanes to 2.

They need a box on Seven Sisters Road which would reduce emissions massively on and around the gyratory, as buses could not sit across the main junction blocking the whole thing.

grenners · November 2016

Cycle path on a pavement along Stroud Green Road complete waste of time. Much safer to cycle in the traffic than risk someone sidestepping out in front of you. Very confusing for a pedestrian who won't look over their shoulder before side stepping out. Not their fault.

Papa · November 2016

@sg_mike I thought about the whole shutting the road thing the other day but the problem is that SGR is a main road - it's actually an A road. Shut it and you force traffic onto surrounding local roads, such as Fonthill and round the residential roads, which are smaller and shouldn't be taking it. As HolbornFox says one of the reasons people don't use Stroud Green Road (and that bottom stretch is pretty unpleasant) is because even before the closure the traffic flows so badly. Perhaps what would be a better idea would be to remove the non-station side pavement from the taxi office to the park entrance and push the two lanes of traffic to that side. This then frees up a wider space for pavement and a cycle lane on the station side. Would mean the road would weave slightly at both ends and be a pain for people wanting to walk from the taxi shack to the park entrance or Rowans, but realistically how many people do that and couldn't just cross the road instead. Having said that, seeing as this would mean work under the railway bridge, doing this could mean the whole road was closed for a about 50 years, so maybe not such a good idea. I can't remember whether there were plans to adjust the road in that local planning document that wanted to turn the bus station into a street drinker's plaza.

J_R · November 2016

This is a bit miss-threaded as the work is related to the lifts for the station platforms and not directly related to City North's development. It is related in that the railway workers had to use the road because access through City North was not possible once the City North work started. I do agree on the cycle path being a waste of time at the moment. Someone dropped the ball at Islington council because they closed the road to refurb it (looked good) and then had to almost instantly close it again for building works which have left it looking awful and completely useless! Would have been better to be organised... In any case, The council told me the license for the SG road closure was due to end mid December once the lift shafts have been dug. Guess this could drag on as a result of delays. Or have I got outdated information? At the moment the traffic in the area is awful because of the SG road closure, the road works on Tolington Road by the Sobell centre and Holloway road being closed/ severely disrupted because of the bridge works there. I do hope the council tried to delay the Sobell centre road works as these have severely impacted traffic on Seven Sisters and created a snowball effect elsewhere in places that were already congested by road works. Best to avoid driving from one side of the station to the other at the moment!

fabruce · November 2016

It's much better with less traffic on Stroud Green Road. I really hope that Islington / Haringey and London in general invest Much more in bicycle infrastructure as it's much needed when you start thinking of air quality, health and so on. Maybe it will never happen, but it's good to dream about it.

eerke · November 2016

I have literally never used that cyclepath, despite having cycled that way hundreds of times. The Highway Code only suggests using cyclepaths if they are safe. That cyclepath is not safe and has never been safe.

In addition, the government also recommend a speed limit for shared use paths. I know that officially that is a segregated path, but in the real world there is not enough room for pedestrians and they regularly spill out onto it. Cycling on that cyclepath isn't safe for pedestrians either.

It's not like traffic flow is so fast that a bicycle will hold a car up much in getting to the next red light.

fabruce · November 2016

on another note, does anyone know what will happen with Clifton house? I saw that the land is up for sale and that Liberty is ready to move to the new shop on SGR. does anyone else know anything?

Arkady · November 2016

Up for sale? Interesting. Where did you see the advert? I had thought that the whole site, save perhaps for the yellow shack and the car wash, were owned by City North and we're next in line for redevelopment.

Ali · November 2016

If they develop they will have to clean up the site. It used to be National. Petrol station so there muyst be old tanks to remove

Maximus · November 2016

Poor Creams Cafe - they only just opened their dazzlingly ugly purple shop and now the site is for sale.

Papa · November 2016

Banging the same drum as I have done before, but... The council, TFL and National Rail have shown themselves to be pretty inept on cycling with this combination of the cyclepath refurb and road closure and failure to put in any extra bike racks at the side of the station everyone now has to use. Do they think that daft paid-for bike storage area by the entrance to the park is a substitute for doing so?

miss annie · November 2016

Not only did they make Creams a hideous eyesore, they also opened it in mid October - not peak ice cream season, opposite a closed tube entrance. Woeful planning on all fronts.

Maximus · November 2016

Can someone please tell me what works they are actually carrying out under Stroud Green Road bridge?

Arkady · November 2016

TfL update. "Good afternoon, I am writing to update you about our improvements works at Finsbury Park station. Firstly, from Monday 28 November 2016, we will install an overhead gantry on the “station side” of Stroud Green Road to facilitate the delivery of materials to National Rail platforms 5&6. This is necessary as part of our works to deliver a lift that will serve these platforms, the London Underground interchange level and the Victoria/Piccadilly southbound platforms. Whilst we install this gantry, we will need around 3 weeks of overnight road closures, between 10pm and 5.30am, although pedestrian and cycle access will be maintained throughout. We have planned these works with Islington and Haringey councils, as well as the police, and gained the necessary permissions. Stroud Green road will continue to be operate as one-way for vehicles, as it has been since June 2016 due to out worksite on the ‘park side’ of the road. This worksite allows access for work on the lift that will serve the London Underground interchange level and the Victoria/Piccadilly line “northbound” platforms. Both worksites will be in place until Spring 2018. Secondly, as you know, since early 2016 we have been excavating a new lift shaft to the northbound platforms at Finsbury Park station, as part of our programme to deliver step-free access to the station in mid-2018. As part of these works, the middle stairs serving the northbound Piccadilly and Victoria line platforms has been closed. This work was due to be completed by December 2016 but has been pushed back by a few weeks to January 2017. We remain on track to deliver step-free access by mid-2018, and to complete the programme, with a new station entrance, in 2019. I hope this information is useful, and please do let me know if you have any questions. Kind Regards, Rob"

J_R · November 2016

Arkady, thanks for posting. I thought the councils license for the closure runs out end of the year (as posted to the temporary fencing) and presumably have some powers to refuse/ litigate. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I might think that TFL asked for a 6 month license but then proceeded as if that would be 2 years. Presumably a 6 month road closure is easier (cheaper) to get than 2 years and they wouldn't have to demonstrate/ spend money on alternatives. Once they are up and running it's harder for the council to back down. This work was planned with zero consultation with local residents. The other way of looking at this is that its just been very badly organised. That's only marginally better than the conspiracy theory. TFL don't have a good recent track record in Islington - looks like their approach is to do it the cheapest way they can get away with: [http://standard.co.uk/news/transport/plans-to-close-caledonian-road-for-eight-months-for-lift-replacement-work-axed-a3159636.html](http://http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/plans-to-close-caledonian-road-for-eight-months-for-lift-replacement-work-axed-a3159636.html "http://standard.co.uk/news/transport/plans-to-close-caledonian-road-for-eight-months-for-lift-replacement-work-axed-a3159636.html")

rjrjrj · November 2016

Finsbury Park station was particularly awful today. Parts closed due to flooding. Limited access. Hordes of people. Complete chaos.

Arkady · November 2016

I find myself staring into the arches as they are being refurbished and wishing that they would open them all up to create a big station under-croft like they are doing at London Bridge. One day.

Arkady · November 2016

The videos for City North are dreadful and hilarious. http://www.telfordhomes.london/microsites/city-north/video.cfm

gardener-joe · November 2016

...

Papa · November 2016

That lifestyle video is priceless. That's the one to watch people. You too could have a life like this. Brilliantly the meta description in the source code for that page says: 'Penthouse Apartments with views over the River Thames, Houses of Parliament and London Eye. Call 020 3538 3173'

kreuzkav · November 2016

That Lifestyle video was my five years ago premonition of the area in 2020. I thought I was being cynical but it's probably going to be true. That couple ahhhh. And London is being homogenised. Every area will be very similar. A sterile tapas bar and boulangerie in chrome where the rich can feast. In return, a modern tube station.

poxy · November 2016

The City North video is missing a soundtrack. I suggest this...

Similar colour palettes used throughout.

NorthNineteen · November 2016

Wait, i'm confused. Is this development in N4, Kings Cross, Leicester Sq or Mayfair...?

Ali · November 2016

Reminds me if the crappy airline tourists guides you get when approaching somewhere like Singapore or KL

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