The Cycle Enfield website includes the official responses to various criticisms of the A105 scheme. However, because people may not be aware of these, we are reproducing them here both to make them more widely known and to give readers an opportunity to comment and discuss them in our forums.
The following text is taken directly from Cycle Enfield without any amendment.
Why not use a different route?
Why put the route on the A105, why not use an alternative?
Some people have suggested that we should consider alternative routes. Here are some reasons why the A105 has been selected as a key part of the programme:
- 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 people want to go, however they travel.
- 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.
Alternative route along the new river
The New River has been mentioned specifically. However, the additional investment secured from Transport for London is intended to make cycling a more practical transport option for people of all ages. TfL deem a cycle path along the New River to be a leisure cycling route rather than a transport route for everyday journeys and therefore would not fund the building of such a route.
Alternative road route parallel to Green Lanes
We do intend to incorporate this quieter route into our wider network of cycle routes. However it does not give people cycling direct access to the high streets along Green Lanes or provide a direct and convenient link between Palmers Green and Enfield Town.
[Source: cycleenfield.co.uk/have-your-say/a105-scheme-consultation]
