Friern Barnet and Whetstone
residents know all about the
effects of the roadworks currently
taking place on the
Bounds Green section of the
North Circular Road. They
see very clearly the congestion
when they go to Tesco
and wonder as the line of
traffic stretches back towards
Finchley Central.
 |
| A view of the traffic jam from the Colney Hatch bridge |
Frequent users of the North
Circular, who are heading
towards Southgate or
Winchmore Hill or Enfield,
have learnt to exit at the intersection
with either Colney
Hatch Lane or the
Finchley High Road.
Some drivers on their journey
east, wanting to skip a
few hundred yards of crawling
traffic, use the Tesco slip
road, cross over Colney
Hatch Lane and take the slip
road towards the retail park,
before re-joining the North
Circular.
 |
| A new footbridge at Telford Road, Bowes Road and Wilmer Way |
For years, the Bounds Green
section of the North Circular
has been an anomaly, as it
went from six lanes at the
intersection of Pinkham
Way and Station Road (by
the New Southgate gas
holder) to three lanes along
Telford Road. The next
stretch east from the dog leg,
at the intersection of Telford
Road and Bowes Road, to
the Clockhouse intersection
at Green Lanes accommodated
only four lanes in total.
The politicians dithered for
years about providing funds
for road widening. Over
the years there have been
many Ministers of Transport
of different political parties,
who as far as Friern Barnet
residents were concerned,
were all useless. Houses
along the North Circular
were purchased, the occupants
were moved on, the
houses started to disintegrate.
With a change of plan,
these houses were refurbished, and
are now being sold
off.
 |
| Telford Road, during the roadworks; traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction. |
The funds having eventually
been found to provide three
lanes in each direction, and the
widening road-works started
in March 2010. One of the
first effects of the roadworks
was to reduce this major
arterial road, in certain sections,
to just two lanes in
total. This has inevitably
caused even greater traffic
chaos in Friern Barnet (and
places beyond). Since the
roadworks started, even more
regular drivers of the North
Circular have learnt to get
off the North Circular and
head towards their destinations
via Finchley High
Road, Colney Hatch Lane
and the narrow roads of Friern
Barnet.
Thanks to the North Circular
Road congestion, local residents
are familiar with the
gridlock around Tesco’s car
park, when it is difficult to
get in and impossible to get
out.
Along the roadworks from
the intersection with Station
Road to the Clockhouse/
Green Lanes intersection
there is much building, rebuilding
and modifications
taking place at the same
time. Most of the work is to
widen the road, but there are
other projects—a new footbridge
is being built; existing
electrical and water supplies
are being diverted; and the
culvert handling Bounds
Green Brook is being modified.
 |
| The bridge over Bowes Road, carrying Hertford North railway line |
The new footbridge is being
constructed close to the dog
leg where Telford Road,
Bowes Road and Wilmer
Way intersect (see above).
It is near to the existing footbridge
by Bowes Road
school. There was talk of
having a push-button traffic
light system at this point to
provide disabled access to
the school. Such a scheme
on this busy part of the
North Circular would inevitably
lead to one or two
schoolchildren being flattened.
Hopefully, the on-demand
traffic light scheme
has been abandoned, and
access across the road will
be provided by the new footbridge.
Hopefully, sense has
been seen.
The bridge carrying the Piccadilly
Line is one of the 'pinch points' on this section
of the North Circular.
There are three arches to the
bridge; the central arch can
take four lane of traffic, and
the two outer arches could
take at least one lane each.
It is not clear, at the moment,
how the bridge may be reconfigured
to take three
lanes in each direction.
The railway bridge carrying
the Hertford North section of the
railway line is another of
the 'pinch points'. However,
it is easy to see that, by
using the previous green
space, as well as the second
arch of the bridge, three
lanes can be created in each
direction.
Before Spring 2012, various
sections of the roadworks
will be completed
and opened up, and so the
days when the road can
take only one lane of traffic
in one direction will come
to end. And, the lives of
Friern Barnet residents, as
far as traffic is concerned,
should begin to improve.
Telford Road, during the roadworks, traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction.
Harry Gluck
(in a recent article in the magazine of Friern Barnet and Whetstone Residents' Association.)
No comments:
Post a Comment