Enfield Council is consulting residents about options for changing traffic behaviour in the area to the south of the North Circular Road and east of Green Lanes. This has been prompted by complaints from residents of Grenoble Gardens about the volume of traffic using their road and the queues that build up at the junction with Green Lanes.
These problems have arisen as the result of earlier changes - the introduction of one-way streets to the east of Green Lanes and the blocking of the left turn from the North Circular into Melville Gardens. Drivers who are "rat running" to avoid the North Circular are now using Grenoble Gardens in increased numbers because Princes Avenue and Tottenhall Road are eastbound only between Green Lanes and Wolves Lane.
Two of the five options involve placing permanent barriers across roads further east (Chequers Way and Pasteur Gardens) to stop them being used as through routes. However, these closures would affect the W4 bus and potentially delay emergency services.
The third option would prohibit left turns into Wolves Lane (prohibitions which might prove difficult to enforce), forcing traffic to turn north along Melville Gardens and emerge onto the North Circular instead of continuing directly west.
Option 4 would not close any roads but would widen the junction of Grenoble Gardens and Green Lanes in order to reduce queuing; however, this would make it more difficult for pedestrians walking along Green Lanes and, because of faster traffic flow, would make it more hazardous for pedestrians to cross the road in Grenoble Gardens itself.
The fifth option, by contrast, is intended to slow down traffic along Grenoble Gardens and also to deter motorists from driving along it, as it would involve narrowing of the carriageway, planting of trees and generally making the street more pleasant for pedestrians.
For more details of the options download the consultation document.
