26 August 2020
Hal Haines draws a parallel between last week's protests against Enfield's first low-traffic neighbourhood and the situation in the Netherlands 50 years ago, when Amsterdam's streets too were dominated by cars. The Stop the Child Killings campaign that began in 1971 has shaped road design in the Netherlands ever since, making it unthinkable not to design out the possibility of taking a short cut through residential areas. The UK solved the child deaths problem by turning streets into no-go areas for children, but at a cost in terms of health, both physical and mental.
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19 August 2020
Work to create the Bowes Primary Area low-traffic neighbourhood has begun amid protests from people calling for prior consultation about the scheme, designed to prevent through traffic from using the area while retaining access by car to all addresses. Enfield Council should know next week whether or not funding will be provided for a bus gate in Brownlow Road. Haringey Council has informed residents that it is proposing low-traffic neighbourhoods in Bounds Green and in the Bowes Park area. (This article has been amended to correct information about the demonstration and the aims of the petition.)
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11 August 2020
An award of £748,000 from the Mayor of London plus £425,000 from the Forestry Commission will enable Enfield Council and Thames21 to start work this autumn on creating a large new woodland area in the north west of the borough. The new trees - up to 100,000 in total over a three-year period - will play an important part in Enfield's plans to achieve 'net zero carbon' by 2040 while providing a major new public utility. The project will also allow the council to progress its long-term scheme for a walking and cycling route across the entire width of the borough.
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04 August 2020
London's top traffic cop has reminded us that August is National Road Victims Month and asked us to watch a short film made by the charity RoadPeace. In the UK five people a day are killed on the roads and more than 60 seriously injured. Scandinavian cities, pursuing a Vision Zero policy, have almost eliminated road deaths.
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21 July 2020
Leaflets have this week been dropping through letterboxes in streets which come within the planned Bowes Primary & Surrounding Streets Quieter Neighbourhood Area - ie streets in Bowes ward west of Green Lanes and a few in Southgate Green ward that are south or east of the North Circular Road. They show the council's plans to exclude through traffic from streets in the area - one of several emergency Covid-19 Streetspace schemes in the borough that are being funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) either directly or via Transport for London (TfL).
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09 July 2020
Enfield Council's revised plans for the Fox Lane quieter neighbourhood, which were published today, will dramatically reduce traffic and associated pollution, noise and road danger over a large area of residential streets stretching from Palmers Green to Southgate. Subject to approval by the deputy council leader, the proposals will be implemented on a trial basis for six months starting this summer.
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01 July 2020
Enfield Council has published information about its progress in obtaining funding for urgent Streetspace schemes, designed to enable more walking and cycling post-lockdown in a situation where people will be unable or reluctant to use public transport. A document recently published on the council's Let's Talk website also includes updates about the status of planned low-traffic neighbourhoods in the Fox Lane, Connaught Gardens and Bowes Primary areas.
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10 June 2020
A new poll has found that: the majority of Londoners support moves by the Mayor, Transport for London and local councils to give more space to pedestrians and cyclists; Londoners are finding it difficult to keep socially distant from other people; there is support for face masks on public transport being compulsory; a third of Londoners expect to cycle more, but almost as many expect to use their cars more..
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07 June 2020
Enfield Council has submitted a bid to TfL for funding for a number of Covid Streetspace measures: pop-up cycle lanes, quieter neighbourhoods, modal filters to block through traffic, school streets and temporary footway widening. A revised design has been developed for the Fox Lane Quieter Neighbourhood and will be shared with the community prior to implementation.
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03 June 2020
Two campaigning organisations have issued urgent appeals to respond to the Mayor of London's consultation on temporary changes to the Central London Congestion Charge and support the proposals, in order to help prevent the return of heavy traffic with consequent implications for air quality and increased road danger. The appeal has been made by Mum's For Lungs, a group set up to try to protect schoolchildren from toxic traffic fumes, and London Living Streets, which brings together London members of the charity which campaigns to rebalance the interests of road users.
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03 June 2020
In response to a spate of anti-social behaviour in the vicinity of Alexandra Palace and in the surrounding park, in particular dangerous and noisy driving and pavement parking by 'boy racers', Alexandra Palace Way will be closed at night until further notice. All parking bays will be closed throughout the day and night. The W3 bus will be diverted during the road closures.
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03 June 2020
Viola Rondeboom of Healthy Streets Bounds Green introduces the new group and its ideas for creating a healthier environment in the residential streets between Bounds Green Road and Bowes Road.
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26 May 2020
Residents of streets to the south of Bowes Road, particularly those living in Brownlow Road, Warwick Road and nearby streets, have come together to launch a campaign to prevent traffic in the area building up to the unacceptably high levels that were normal prior to the Covid-19 lockdown. Their proposal is to create a low-traffic neighbourhood to prevent use of roads in the area as a cut-through. The campaign, under the slogan 'A Bus Gate for Brownlow?', has won the support of Better Streets for Enfield, who promote the idea of creating people-friendly streets across the entire borough.
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26 May 2020
Find out everything you need to know on how to ask your council for a School Street to a) reduce air pollution exposure and b) overcrowding at the school gate.
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11 May 2020
The government has told local authorities that it expects them to take urgent measures to reallocate roadspace away from cars to provide more room for walking and cycling 'as swiftly as possible, and in any event within weeks'. They are to include 'pop-up' cycle lanes with light segregation features, more school streets, lower speed limits, pedestrian and cycle zones that exclude motor traffic, low-traffic residential neighbourhoods, and bus and cycle corridors along key routes into town and city centres. Enfield Council's 'Streetspace Plan', announced last week, will incorporate measures of this sort - residents are able to upload their own suggestions on the council's Consultation Hub.
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06 May 2020
Transport for London's Streetspace Programme, announced on Wednesday, is intended to rapidly transform the capital's streets to accommodate a possible ten-fold increase in cycling and five-fold increase in walking when lockdown restrictions are eased. Many boroughs have already started on their own similar schemes - Enfield's was announced on Tuesday. Measures of this kind have already been endorsed by the prime minister and business secretary.
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28 April 2020
'We don't want or need to go back to those fume-filled, congested and hostile roads of the past' - the message concluding a letter sent by campaigners to the leaders of Enfield Council concerned about what might happen once the coronavirus lockdown ends. They urge the leaders to to take steps to ensure that, as restrictions are gradually relaxed, high levels of car usage do not return, hindering social distancing and discouraging active travel modes - walking and cycling. Their suggestions include 'pop-up' cycle lanes along corridors for key workers, widening of pinchpoints that present hazards when walking or cycling, and re-allocation of road space at places where queues outside shops make it impossible for pedestrians to maintain safe distances.
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28 April 2020
The top end of Hedge Lane will be closed for Thames Water work from 29th April to 26th May, though the Yasar Halim store will still be accessible by road from the Green Lanes end of Hedge Lane. Through traffic will be diverted either to the north (via the A10 and Church Street West) or to the south (via the North Circular Road). A temporary one-way system will be in force in the area comprising Park Avenue, New River Crescent, Lightcliffe Road, Windsor Road and Osborne Road.
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22 April 2020
'Social distancing' has drawn attention to how narrow many pavements are and what a small percentage of the space on our streets is devoted to walking - which is theoretically at the top of the transport mode hierarchy. London Living Streets has published an important discussion paper about how streets should be re-evaluated in the face of Covid. As the authors point out, the ideas reflected the situation in mid-April, and the situation will undoubtedly evolve. At national level Living Streets is suggesting that we contact councillors with suggestions for reallocating space for people on foot where social distancing is proving difficult.
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13 April 2020
Footage on Twitter of the police chasing a drug driver from near Ritz Parade, then along the A105 through Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill, eventually ending in the chased car crashing outside St Stephen's Bush Hill Park.
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