The Anonymous Widower

The Redevelopment Of Hackney Central Station

On Saturday night, I was passing through Hackney Downs station, as I came home from having supper with my son and his partner in Walthamstow.

As I needed some food for today, instead of getting the 56 or 30 bus home, I came down the walkway to Hackney Central station, with the intention of going to the Marks and Spencer by the exit from the station.

The shop was shut, but before I took a 38 bus home, I saw this notice, announcing the redevelopment of Hackney Central station.

The Redevelopment Of Hackney Central Station

When I got home, I searched the Internet and found nothing.  Even Hackney Central Library, which is hosting the exhibition on Tuesday, the 17th, has nothing on its web site.

But I did find this article on the Hackney Gazette entitled Narrow Way in line for multi-million pound revamp, where this is said.

Hackney Council has billed the works as a “dramatic reimagining of one of the borough’s oldest and most vibrant shopping districts”. The proposal is to change the former road and footpath in the Narrow Way with a more attractive pedestrian-friendly surface, with the new-look extending to the junction of Graham Road.

So it looks like the area from Marks and Spencer and St. Augustine’s Tower to Graham Road, is in for a substantial upgrading.

This is a Google Map of the station and the lower end of Narrow Way.

Hackney Central Station

If a decent architect can’t do something superb with the area, I’ll be very surprised. These are pictures of the buildings in the area.

One of the ideas in the Hackney Gazette article is a new public square in front of the Grade 1 Listed Tower.

But dramatic entrance squares like St. George’s Plateau in Liverpool need to be served by proper transport interfaces.

So the development of Hackney Central station is needed to complement the work done on the Narrow Way.

From what I read from the notice, the proposals will solve some of the problems of access to the station from the Narrow Way and other places to the North of the North London Line.

But I believe that there also needs to be an entrance to the station on the South side of the Line onto Graham Road, where there would be access to the buses.

November 15, 2015 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Hackney Central Station