There has been a more than fivefold increase in walking, and an even bigger increase in cycling, on Fox Lane since it became part of a low traffic neighbourhood (LTN), according to counts in 2018 and 2021.
Continue readingThere has been a more than fivefold increase in walking, and an even bigger increase in cycling, on Fox Lane since it became part of a low traffic neighbourhood (LTN), according to counts in 2018 and 2021.
Continue readingLast Monday we returned from a long summer escape in Utrecht to find our peaceful North London neighbourhood suddenly up in arms. Groups of upset neighbours had taken to the streets to protest, and this went on for a few days in a row. What caused the mayhem? The Bowes and Bounds Green area is one of a few neighbourhoods in Enfield about to get a Dutch style, area-wide low-traffic scheme intended to remove through-traffic from residential streets and redirect it back to the main roads.
Continue readingIn collaboration with Enfield Cycling Campaign, we wrote the following open letter to Enfield Council.
*Update: please find Cllr Barnes’ reply below our letter*
Dear Cllr Caliskan and Cllr Barnes,
We are writing to urge you, as leaders of Enfield Council, to make simple, temporary changes to our streets to prevent the predicted boom in motor traffic as lockdown eases, and to encourage people to travel sustainably and safely with enough space for social distancing.
We have witnessed an unprecedented drop in motor traffic in Enfield during the Covid-19 lockdown. While the cause of this drop is tragic, the benefits are undeniable: clean air, safe, quiet streets and a massive rise in people of all ages cycling both for exercise and essential journeys.
Traffic may come back worse than before
Yet as lockdown eases, this welcome rise in air quality and active travel would be lost if we allow traffic to come flooding back, while public transport is shunned and at low capacity. Particularly in Enfield, we could see a catastrophic rise in car use and the resulting negative safety impacts this would bring (see the modal shift in Wuhan below). This would badly affect walking and cycling – active travel rates are dependent on routes that feel safe and have lower traffic volumes. Many key workers currently cycling to work or residents to the shops won’t continue when motor traffic levels return to pre-Covid levels or worse.
Space for distancing
Also, councils around the country are recognising that the UK’s car-centric roads with narrow pavements and lack of cycle infrastructure make social distancing almost impossible for pedestrians and cyclists. And while lockdown restrictions might ease soon, social distancing measures are expected to continue in some form until 2022. In order to limit contagion, more space is needed for those walking and cycling to maintain a safe distance from each other without stepping into the road or cycling in heavy traffic.
Our asks
That is why, while traffic volumes are low, we are urgently calling for the following measures. They are in line with those called for by London Cycling Campaign, Living Streets and Cycling UK, to name a few, and a growing number of boroughs across London are adopting them. We particularly recommend reading Lambeth’s emergency transport strategy, which will introduce temporary cycle lanes, widen footways and create low traffic neighbourhoods.
Active travel improves public health
Not only are these measures essential to enable residents to socially distance while walking or cycling, prioritising active travel is a crucial strategy for improving public health. Active travel tackles obesity and air pollution. People with obesity and lung conditions are at a higher risk of getting sick, while air pollution has been linked to a higher death rate from Covid-19.
This public health crisis demands immediate, decisive and strong leadership from the council to assure the safety of residents during this pandemic. Enfield council needs to ensure residents have safe routes they can use to walk and cycle to work, the shops, or for exercise.
If there is one thing this crisis has taught us, it’s that the future is not a given. We’ve learnt that there are certain things we can change, very quickly, especially when public safety is at risk. We can choose how to reshape our public space and mobility. The coronavirus crisis has been like a crash diet for our streets. The question is, how many pounds do we want to gain again?
Although we can’t wait to go out and meet each other again, even at a safe distance, we don’t want or need to go back to those fume-filled, congested and hostile roads of the past. Let this crisis be a turning point for healthy streets in Enfield.
Many thanks,
Viola Rondeboom and Clare Rogers
On behalf of Better Streets for Enfield and Enfield Cycling Campaign
Reply from Cllr Ian Barnes on Wednesday 29 April:
Many thanks for your letter.
Cllr Ian Barnes
Some of the initial data coming out of Wuhan as the lockdown is relaxed is indeed disturbing with regards to a potential huge rise in private car use and the possible hit taken by public transport.
Enfield Council recognises the challenges ahead and at an informal Cabinet meeting last night (Tuesday) officers were tasked with examining potential mitigating measures to protect the residents of the borough and to bring details back to Cabinet.
You mention Lambeth in your letter and I do want to point out that their first phase only concerns footway widening [our sentence quoting £75,000 for the whole project was an error and is now removed from our letter – Clare]. They are very open about the fact that all other phases, including temporary cycle lanes and LTNs, rely on continued TfL funding and as they admit there is considerable uncertainty about this funding going forward.
Last week the Green Lanes Business Association (GLBA) wrote an extraordinary letter railing against the council’s Fox Lane Quieter Neighbourhood plans – and the residents who support them. Read it here.
Continue readingRecent local press would suggest that there is nothing but opposition to the plans for a low traffic neighbourhood in the Fox Lane area. This article, reposted with permission from Palmers Green Community website, gives another side to the story…
People living in Fox Lane and surrounding streets are welcoming Enfield Council’s idea of closing roads to create low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) throughout the area and are calling on other residents to voice their support.
Continue readingFollowing its decision to use a ‘low traffic neighbourhood‘ approach to the Quieter Neighbourhood programme this summer, the council has announced next steps for the Fox Lane, Bowes Park, Firs Lane and Bush Hill Road areas.
Continue readingThe council has released the results of the Fox Lane Quieter Neighbourhood trial. The trial used large planters at the entrances of residential streets to try to slow drivers and discourage them cutting through the area. But the data shows that instead, both traffic speed and volume increased (by about 3% on average) after the planters were installed.
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