The second Quieter Neighbourhoods scheme to be consulted on is for the "Connaught Gardens" QN - the triangular area bounded by Hedge Lane, the North Circular and Green Lanes. The deadline for responses is 22nd October.
I was hoping that Enfield Council's traffic planners would have studied how tremendously effective the "villages" in Walthamstow have proved, dramatically improving the liveability of residential streets by making it awkward, but not impossible, for cars to drive through residential zones. Instead, they seem to be simply bringing out of the cupboard the designs that were worked up two or three years ago and only deal with particular localised problems.
As with the "Wolves Lane" QN, the Council is not really doing much to create a zone with little or no through traffic, though the measures proposed for the eastern end of Oakthorpe Road and for Arnold Gardens and Chimes Avenue look as if they should be effective at stopping rat-running towards the North Circular in this locality. Unfortunately, the detailed drawings of the proposed "point no entry" build-outs are missing from the consultation document (presumably this is unintentional). Without seeing these, it's difficult to judge what exactly the build-outs will achieve.
However, the plans don't seem to do anything about another serious rat run: south along Connaught Gardens, right into Hazelwood Lane, left into Callard Avenue, left onto the North Circ. There is also a rat running problem at the top of Hazelwood Lane: cars enter from Green Lanes and turn right into The Grove, making both streets busier than they ought to be, and nothing has been done to stop this.
The proposed one-way system in Windsor and Osborne Roads and at the end of Lightcliffe Road is likely to increase traffic in Park Avenue, which won't be welcome to its residents. Currently, Park Avenue does not suffer seriously from through traffic, but some drivers go much too fast for a shortish residential street. Unlike Windsor and Osborne, there are no plans to install speed bumps in Park Avenue.
The one-way system will also create additional traffic along New River Crescent. In fact, as far as i can see, there's nothing to stop cars wishing to avoid the Hedge Lane/Green Lane lights from using New River Crescent and Park Avenue.
The consultation document mentions in passing that following an earlier consultation, the council is going ahead with installing width restrictions at the northern ends of Connaught Gardens and Munster Gardens and at the point where Hazelwood Lane crosses the New River. These are designed to stop HGVs transiting through the area and will be installed in the near future.
Overall, I'm deeply disappointed by these proposals, as they will only deter some of the rat runners and will create new rat running routes. A much more ambitious and effective scheme could have been developed.
