Roadworks aren't usually popular with residents. So workers in Ridge Avenue, Winchmore Hill, had a surprise on Friday morning when local parents came to say “Thank you for the bike lanes”, bringing with them a cooked breakfast.
Palmers Green residents Clare Rogers, Claire Brady and Maggie Westhead, who all have children at schools in the borough, brought bacon rolls, pastries, tea, coffee and fruit juice for the workers' 10am tea break. They also displayed a homemade “Thank You” banner, created by their children. “We are very excited about the difference the Cycle Enfield scheme will make to our kids. We wanted to show our support,” said Clare Rogers, who has two daughters aged 13 and 9.
“We really appreciate this,” said Florin Cheregi, one of the Ringway Jacobs workmen currently on site. “Some people have come up to us to say they don't like what we’re doing and that no one wants the cycle lanes. But I think cycling is a healthier way to travel. I cycle myself.” He was joined by fellow workmen Ichim Ionut, Daniel Cheregi, Ion Blanariu and Andrey Ursut.
“I think people find the idea of change difficult, especially if they’re older,” said Maggie Westhead, who brought her baby William (7 months) to Green Lanes. “But this is the future. I'm delighted my children will be able to cycle safely. I want to be less reliant on the car, especially on the school run.”
Claire Brady currently cycles to school with her six-year-old on a tag-along bike, but looks forward to her daughter being able to ride her bike independently on the new lanes. ‘She’s going to have so much more freedom - and exercise,’ said Claire.
All three women belong to Better Streets for Enfield, a local group calling for less car-dominated, more people-friendly streets in the borough.
The work so far has included a kerb build-out to slow traffic and a stretch of kerb-protected bike lane near the Green Dragon Lane / A105 junction. A raised table will also be installed, to calm traffic as it turns the corner. The workmen are now building a “bus stop boarder” to allow cycles to pass the bus stop between Oxford and Cambridge Gardens.
Ringway Jacobs site supervisor Glen Heath said he expected the Cycle Enfield work to be completed “in two years”, while the A105 scheme is expected to take about seven months.
