A parent of children at Bowes Primary School spent two years urging Transport for London to improve safety at the North Circular crossing

Local parents are celebrating improvements to a North Circular pedestrian crossing in Bowes Park.

The signalled crossing is used by many parents and children attending Bowes Primary School and previously allowed only nine seconds to cross three lanes of traffic on the south side of the road. It meant parents often had to hurry with their children to avoid the red light, and there were said to be a number of “near misses”.

However, following a two-year campaign led by local parent Steven Adderley, Transport for London (TfL) has now increased the crossing time for pedestrians and also confirmed it will draw up plans for installing ‘countdown’ indicators, which show the time remaining to cross, subject to funding being secured.

Steven, who is also a campaigner with the Liberal Democrats, said: “I first raised this as an issue with TfL in November 2022, and have been campaigning about this since then. It shouldn’t have taken this long to secure a minor improvement, but I’m very pleased that TfL has finally increased the crossing time, meaning that parents and children can now cross safely over this incredibly busy road.

“I’m grateful to the TfL engineers for meeting me, so that I could explain the problems, and for developing plans for the improvements. I’d also like to thank my fellow members of Enfield Liberal Democrats for supporting me in this campaign, and the Liberal Democrat London Assembly members who took this up with TfL and arranged the meeting.

“It’s a good example of community politics and action that has achieved a real benefit. I will keep pressing TfL on their plans for installing ‘countdown’ indicators, which will further improve safety.”

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