PROPOSED changes to a dangerous junction have received a frosty response from safety campaigners.

The junction of Hillmarton Road, Caledonian Road and North Road, in Holloway, has seen nine traffic accidents in the last three years, resulting in seven casualties, one of which was classed as serious.

Now the council has ordered the zebra crossings to be replaced by pelican crossings with traffic lights on North Road and Hillmarton Road and an extension of the width of the pavement at the junction of Stock Orchard Street and Caledonian Road.

In addition, right turns will now be permitted southbound from North Road to Caledonian Road and banned from Caledonian Road to Hillmarton Road.

Caroline Russell, chair of Islington Living Streets, said: “Removing the zebra crossing is an absolute nightmare. Zebra crossings encourage interaction between pedestrians and motorists. With pelican crossings, people get fed up of waiting and are more likely to make an unsafe crossing. More people die on pelican crossings than zebra crossings.

“The council clearly has not listened to the response to their consultation.

“Increasing the size of the footpath is a positive thing though, because it reduces the crossing with no detriment to the motorists.”

John Ackers, secretary of the Islington Cyclist Action group, said “These changes are fairly minor for cyclists, the big problem is the speed of the traffic coming down Caledonian Road and Hillmarton Road.

“To really make things safer, the two way system needs to be reinstated on all the roads.”