Residents 'ecstatic' after Pike Road by Apex Corner reopens

Pike Road, near Apex Corner, Edgware, was reopened by Transport for London and Barnet Council last night (May 17) to the joy of locals.

TfL was inundated with complaints with hundreds of drivers who live in and off Ellesmere Avenue claiming to have been "trapped" by the closure of Pike Road, by KFC, that leads to the A41.

The road was being used to store maintenance vehicles working on bridge repairs on the A41 that started in April and last until August.

See more: Drivers hit out at 'horrific' roadworks causing miles of gridlock

Pike Road pictured when it was shut. It has now reopened to residents

Since the beginning of April, residents' only exit has been onto the A1 to towards Borehamwood, before turning back on themselves if they're needing to travel via Apex Corner.

But since May 10, the situation became "horrific" because lane closures at Apex Corner have led to long delays on the A1 southbound between Stirling Corner, Borehamwood and Apex Corner.

Tina Tailor, who lives in The Fairway, said: "We’ve felt like we’ve been locked in. It has impacted schools, elderly people, it has been horrific.

"It’s fantastic that Pike Road has reopened. We're ecstatic - it feels like we have finally been listened to."

Residents are frustrated by the traffic delays roadworks at Apex Corner are causing

However, Ms Tailor warned not all of the problems have been resolved.

She said: "We are still really impacted by the traffic which is all on our doorstep. Five minute journeys are taking 45 minutes. I feel as if the lane closures are exaggerated."

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling for the lane closures on the A41 and A1 to be reduced because of the "severe disruption" it is causing to thousands of drivers who travel through Apex Corner, Mill Hill, and Edgware. Hendon MP Matthew Offord described the roadworks as a "disaster".

See more: More than 1,500 sign petition calling for 'traffic chaos' to end

One lane is closed in both directions on the A41 bridge that runs over the M1. There are also lane closures on all approaches into Apex Corner which is causing major traffic delays

TfL says the lane closures are in place to ensure the Apex Corner roundabout is running at "safe capacity". The current lane closures are scheduled to remain in place until late July with the whole project due to be finished in late August.

However, in a sign that further changes could be coming a Barnet Council spokesperson said on Tuesday: "On the A41, TfL is urgently looking at reducing the length of the coned taper blocking two lanes and at modifying the traffic management system currently in place.

"We have been liaising with local residents and schools to help manage the disruption caused and would like to thank everyone affected for your continued patience while TfL completes these essential works."

Roadworks at Apex Corner

Nick Fairholme, TfL's director of projects and programmes, said last week: "This essential maintenance work is vital to ensuring that the road network and infrastructure here can continue to operate safely for years to come.

"Our construction teams are working hard to ensure work is completed as quickly as possible. All temporary changes to roads have been designed to support the rapid completion of this work.

"We’re sorry for any disruption that this work has caused to people in the area and are working to complete this on schedule later this summer."

A full schedule of the Tfl work can be found here.