Plans unveiled for ‘dramatic’ makeover of the Narrow Way
How the Narrow Way might look at night. Photograph: Hackney Council
Designs for a “dramatic reimagining” of the so-called retail heartland of Hackney Central have been unveiled by Hackney Council.
The council is consulting on a multi-million pound rejuvenation scheme for the Narrow Way, including a “pedestrian-friendly surface” and a new junction realigning the north of the busy shopping street with Clarence Road.
The council hopes the new surface will help solve the “perceived conflict between cyclists and pedestrians” on the Narrow Way by encouraging “slower, safer and more considerate cycling”.
Proposals also include infrastructure such as a public square by St Augustine’s Tower, space for outdoor tables and seating, more cycle parking and better seating, improved CCTV and more trees.
Designs showing how the bottom of the Narrow Way might look. Photograph: Hackney Council
Loading times will also be altered. Instead of vehicles being able to unload between 4pm and 10am Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday, unloading will be permitted between 6pm and 10am every day with no designated bays.
The council says it is working with lighting specialists to develop “innovative and energy efficient lighting” that will help support night-time activity on the Narrow Way.
The council’s redesigns of the busy shopping street have not always been popular with local traders.
Last year a group of shopkeepers protested after the council closed off the road to buses, arguing that the decrease in footfall was impacting on trade.
To read more about the proposals and to contribute to the consultation click here.
This is an excellent idea and I am so pleased the council is spending the money wisely. In the process of the make-over, I hope they get rid of the betting shops that over-populate the street and are a source of so many unruly people who plague it with their extreme anti-social behavior. Hackney Central is a great place and I hope this attracts more businesses and people interested in living in the area to make it a prime spot to live in London. Bring on Gentrification!
yes Berto bring on social cleansing – shove out the poor and feckless to make way for more yuppie boutiques
why not demolish all the social housing in the borough and replace it with “luxury” apartment blocks too
Great news! Traders in the area are suffering badly due to Westfield. Glad to hear that the council is making a real effort to attract new businesses which will bring jobs for local people.
Not sure why a ‘new look’ Narroway would ‘shove out the poor’? [puzzled?].
By ‘Yuppie Boutiques’ – do you really mean ‘small privately owned business’? What do you want….Poundland?
Do you seriously think any small business in Hackney is raking it in? Grow up! These SME’s struggle to to compete with large supermarkets who now sell everything from clothing, electricals, furniture etc..even local pharmacies and post offices suffer. Good for LBH trying to improve it, because a walk down there at the weekend tells you …it’s dead!
By closing the Narroway to all vehicles, does this mean that they will be taking the much longer route along Dalston Lane to the Pembury junction and then along Amhurst Rd to Hackney Station. Call me thick or something, but doesn’t that mean far more pollution caused by the exhaust fumes of all the vehicles going the LONG WAY ROUND. I feel pity for the people that live along those roads when all this happens………
A lot of the streets around the hackney end of Old Street have been cut off.The traffic is then all pushed into Old street.The pollution there was said to be one of the worst in London.
Ken
the narrow way was closed to motor vehicles in march 2014 – do you actually live in Hackney?
the back up of buses along this road led to a huge discharge in diesel fumes along the shopping street, despite concerns buses seem to be flowing more freely since they were diverted along amhurst road therefore less pollution