The next round of public consultation about the Cycle Enfield ("Mini-Holland") scheme for the A105 will start with an exhibition in July. There will then be a 12-week period in which members of the public can give their views online or on paper.
Cycle Enfield West timetable
Business Event – 16th July 2015
Public Exhibition - 17th & 18th July 2015
Public Consultation - 17th July to 9th Oct 2015 (12 weeks)
"Pop-up" at Palmers Green Triangle - August
Stall at Palmers Green Festival - 6th September
Stall at Enfield Town Show - 12th & 13th September
Enfield Council Scheme Approval – December 2015
Transport for London Scheme Approval – March 2016
Detailed Design - December 2015 to May 2016
Construction – May 2016 to October 2016
At the start of the 12-week consultation letters will be sent to all businesses along the route and to all residents along the route and in "surrounding streets". It isn't clear how far away from the main route the "surrounding streets" will stretch, and it is inevitable that many people who will be affected by the scheme will fall outside the zone; however, the consultation will be advertised in newspapers, on posters, on buses etc, so everyone affected should become aware of it.
At the 3rd meeting of the Cycle Enfield West Partnership Board on 15th June, the PowerPoint slides used for the presentation included the following bullet points addressing various concerns that had been voiced during the earlier consultation phase.
Wny the A105?
- Enfield is one of five Outer London boroughs identified as having the greatest number of potentially cycleable trips. The A105 area has significant potential.
- Nearly 80% of car trips in Enfield are of cycleable length
- A large number of trips are made between Enfield Town and Palmers Green and between Enfield Town and Edmonton Green
- The A105 currently has a higher proportion of cycle accidents compared to the average for an outer London borough, despite the low cycle numbers
Concerns about parking and loading in town centres
- Palmers Green
- Loading 100% retained in existing locations
- Parking Net increase of approximately 13 spaces.
- On street reduced by 7 from 44, with 20 spaces added to Lodge Drive car park, with some short-stay free parking
- Loading 100% retained in existing locations
- Winchmore Hill
- Loading 100% retained, some relocation
- Parking Net increase of potentially 54 retail spaces
- On street reduced by 17 from 59, with the 71 spaces in Ford’s Grove converted to Pay & Display bays.
- Loading 100% retained, some relocation
Reasons for not choosing an alternative route away from A105
- To provide a successful borough-wide cycle strategy, it is considered essential to have a hierarchy of routes, which includes quietways/greenways, as well as routes on strategic corridors, such as Green Lanes.
- A successful cycle network must include direct access to key town centres such as Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill as this is where cyclists need and want to get to, as well as other users.
- By providing the route through Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill it gives us the opportunity to enhance the town centre, as well as delivering cycle schemes.
- Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill currently operate more as busy traffic corridors rather than places. This scheme gives us the opportunity to give both areas a greater sense of place, with these town centre improvements.
Keep the Triangle
- Options have been looked at that retain the Palmers Green Triangle, enhancing the sense of place, with improved public realm
Shared space
- The town centre designs use shared space principles with the cycle lane and footway at the same height with different materials to indicate separation, reduced kerb heights are also used between the parking and traffic lanes.
- There is also scope to consider 20mph zones at key locations along the route
Potential for cycling in Enfield
- Of those not cycling on the day of the town centre survey, nearly 40% said they sometimes cycle, or would consider cycling in the future, and this number will only increase as a result of Cycle Enfield
- Main barriers to cycling are concerns about safety, which will be significantly reduced by the proposals and no access to a bike, which has changed with the introduction of a wide variety of supportive measures
- Lots of support for supportive measures
- 80% of trips in the borough are of a cycleable distance
- On average 50% of households in London have at least 1 bicycle
Congestion on the A105 corridor
- It is accepted that the schemes will generate some level of congestion. But the designs have sought to minimise the impacts
- TfL have reviewed the results of the modelling as part of their design review
- We are changing the nature of the road, to make it more town centre focused, which will naturally discourage some through traffic onto e.g. A10.
- This effect may be increased with 20mph zones
- The reduction in traffic due to mode shift and the above the implications are unlikely to be significant.
Residential parking
- Surveys showed maximum occupancy on the A105 corridor of 57% of the available space, with an average of 34%.
- Formal spaces have been provided for 82% of the average
- The remainder would be relocated to spare occupancy on the side roads, which is approximately 21 vehicles on average.
The drawings to be used for the public consultation will be rather easier to understand than the black-and-white drawings that we published last week. An example is shown belown (click on the image to enlarge).
The consultants (Jacobs) have undertaken to consider the many points that were raised at the Partnership Board meeting and make appropriate changes to the proposals ahead of the public consultation. For instance, the section above indicates that the northbound Fox Lane bus stop would be removed - something that met with opposition from some attendees.
