Connaught Gardens low-traffic neighbourhood - why is it needed?

Enfield's Council's announcement of its plans for a low-traffic neighbourhood in the Connaught Gardens area comes in response to complaints over many years from long suffering residents of streets in the area that have increasingly been used as cut throughs between Hedge Lane, Green Lanes, the North Circular Road and the Cambridge Roundabout.

When assessing whether there was a need for a scheme that would block through traffic, the council commissioned an "origin and destination survey", using cameras to record the number plates of vehicles entering and leaving at the ends of 13 streets leading into or out of the area. The survey recorded the number of vehicles that entered the area and left within five minutes, counting these as instances of drivers using the area as a cut-through, rather than visiting an address in the area.

The survey reveals a complex network of routes used by through traffic. It will come as no surprise to find that the worst affected streets are Connaught Gardens, Hazelwood Lane, Oakthorpe Road, Chimes Avenue, Arnold Gardens and Callard Avenue - the last three in particular are completely unsuitable for through traffic, as they are narrow with right-hand corners. Residents are subjected to danger, noise and fumes and have had their parked cars wrecked by drivers who have gone round corners too fast. In Arnold Gardens and Callard Avenue cars queuing in the morning to await a gap in traffic on the A406 completely block the street.

The last map shows another through-traffic problem afflicting the north-west corner of the area - Windsor Road, Osborne Road, Lightcliffe Road and New River Crescent. Here the traffic flows were not quite high enough to register as among the worst, but they nevertheless were creating problems for these narrow streets. They have in fact had some relief from these problems because of the temporary one-way system that has been in operation since April. The council will be bringing in a slightly different one-way system for these streets before the end of 2020, using proper signage, rather than the temporary signs that have been there since April, some of which have been removed by persons unknown who object to the scheme. Like the rest of the scheme, for which there is unfortunately no date as yet, there will be a six-month consultation with the changes in situ.

The survey was carried out between 7am and 7pm on Wednesday 6th November 2019.

The map at the start of this article and those below are extracted from the report on the findings of the survey - you can download the complete findings here.