Update on the progress of the Fox Lane "quieter neighbourhood"

Letter to residents regarding the Fox Lane Quieter Neighbourhood

4 February 2019

Dear Residents of the Fox Lane area,

As you are aware, Enfield Council are in the process of delivering a series of measures in the Fox Lane area as part of the Quieter Neighbourhood project, funded by Transport for London (as part of Cycle Enfield).

The aim of this project is to address shared concerns between both residents and the Council on the speed and volume of ‘rat running’ traffic through these residential streets. At the end of 2017 Enfield Council delivered a consultation on a set of proposals to help address this issue. Following consideration of the responses the Council published a report on the actions it planned to take. The report is available to read here. A key feature of this was to trial the placement of planters at junctions throughout the area. The proposed location of these planters is shown on this map. The concept of the planters is that they will slow traffic passing through the area, creating a less attractive route for ‘rat running’.

Before Christmas, we put out planters on The Mall and Selborne Road as an initial trial and then added two further streets, Old Park Road and Derwent Road, as a result of which we have had a lot of feedback. Some residents have told us that they feel that the planters are reducing traffic. Others have said that they don’t feel that the planters are having any impact at all. Some have said that whilst they’ve discouraged a number of drivers, those that continue to cut through then drive even faster between the planters. Others think the positioning is wrong. Lots of different residents, lots of different views.

In determining the particular positioning of each planter a number of factors need to be considered, which may mean that the exact positioning varies from street to street. Issues to consider include dropped kerbs, utility covers and the extent of existing yellow lines (we have committed to installing planters within the existing yellow lines to prevent a reduction in parking spaces). We also need to ensure that both refuse vehicles and fire appliances can access each residential road and as such we have visited some of the early sites with the London Fire Brigade. Of course, maintaining access to these vehicles does mean that other vehicles of a similar size could still use the road as a cut through. We want to ensure that, for vehicles that do use these streets, the planters are visible and so each planter has a large reflective sign on its front, and reflective strips on each edge.

What we need to do is to collect some additional data on traffic speeds and volume, so we can then compare to the data we collected prior to placing the planters. Before we do this, we are going to install a further set of planters on Amberly Road, The Ridgeway, Oakfield Road, Burford Road and Lakeside Road.  This will result in approximately 50 per cent of the original proposed planters being in place. We will then conduct some interim monitoring to generate further data on speed and traffic volume. We are scheduling this work with our contractors, but hope to have these planters in place within the next four weeks. We will then wait a further two weeks before conducting the surveys. At the same time, we will also be implementing measures at the junction of Greenway and Meadway to address concerns about speeding traffic cutting the corner.

This will enable the Council to have more detailed data in order to consider the next steps. As we outlined in the report, we remain committed to trialling other ideas if the data we gather suggests the planter approach is not having the desired effect.

I appreciate there is frustration with some residents over the time taken to deliver this project, which has included discussion prior to the 2017 consultation. I understand this. However, I would ask for continued patience as we deliver this trial incrementally to best understand the level of impact it is having. At the same time as looking to help address the ‘rat running’ on your streets, we are delivering a series of projects across the Borough, including major investment in the Edmonton area – re-designing some of our streets to ensure they’re fit for the future.

What I hope is clear by the work that we’re doing, is that Enfield Council is committed to tackling the problem of excessive traffic on our residential streets. I hope we can continue to work constructively with the community as we work towards delivering this shared goal.

If you have any questions, in the first instance please send these to my colleague Liz Rhodes, our Community Relations Officer via .

Yours sincerely,

Richard Eason
Cycle Enfield Programme Lead

Note: the baseline data with some improved accompanying explanation will be uploaded here in the next couple of days.

[Source: cycleenfield.co.uk/cycling-news/letter-residents-regarding-fox-lane-quieter-neighbourhood]