As I walk through the streets of North London on a cool Sunday morning the air is still, the skies are blue and all feels calm. That is until I stumbled into an unassuming road traffic sign a couple of minutes’ walk from my flat. The original message informs road users that this particular road provides:
“No through route, expect [for] cycles”.
What should be a fairly unextraordinary, yet informative sign has since attracted several amendments, contributed to by my neighbours. It has morphed into what I can only describe as a real-life aggressive twitter post, which makes sense when seen online but appears somewhat alien situated in this leafy suburb.
The first statement in black marker pen, situated directly above the highways approved message shouts:
“DIVIDING THE COMMUNITY”
This has then been struck through by another eager contributor replacing “DIVIDING” with “UNITING” (not quite sure the second contributor realised the irony of this word, but let’s leave it for now).
Further messages then encouraged by the animated sign includes:
“Prioritising white cyclists over the needs of the elderly, the infirm and minorities” followed by,
“Grow up” and,
“ooh angry white cyclist!”.
Only a short 2 minute walk away an another active member of my community has spray painted “THE WALL” onto the tarmac right in sight of the newly constructed traffic enforcement camera which I must confess has a feel of the Sauron Watchtower about it (apologies to those of you that are not Lord of The Rings fans).
So, what explains this local reaction? Well you may have heard the acronym LTN (Low Traffic Neighbourhood) being discussed in raised voices over the last year in many communities throughout England. These conversations follow the implementation of a series of traffic reducing measure (referred to as LTNs) introduced by local authorities throughout England and are a result of a £250m ‘active travel fund’, which was pushed through by Government in response to the Covid pandemic in May of last year[1]. 10 combined authorities and 68 local authorities from Cornwall up to the North East have since benefited from the scheme.
The first tranche of a longer-term £2bn investment plan, the LTN movement seeks to reduce air pollution by limiting motor vehicles usage in certain areas by adopting measures such as bollards, planters or even traffic cameras to stop rat running and minimise traffic on the roads. In theory it aims to reduce air pollution and encourage cycling, walking and other types of low carbon emitting transportation. Which sounds great! Right? I can already see in my own neighbourhood that the side roads are quieter and altogether feel much safer. So why the anger?
Well is doesn’t take much further investigation to see some of the immediate negative effects of the newly adopted LTN. As I walk onto the main arterial route running near my home (which incidentally holds the majority of our local shops in addition to a number of lower value residential homes) there is standstill traffic in both directions. I should at his point remind you that this is on a Sunday morning!
What this demonstrates is that LTNs implemented on their own will likely displace traffic, exactly what appears to be happening in my local area. However, studies show that if introduced as part of a wider transport strategy plan then over time there is a shift towards walking and cycling and subsequently a reduction in traffic[2]. So perhaps my local Council (Islington) have just poorly planned the LTN and not considered the wider transport strategy.
What supporters of LTNs would point to though (if introduced as part of a considered plan) are all the amazing benefits LTNs bring, including traffic reduction, public health and air quality improvements (including lowering mortality rates, particularly for the working classes and ethnic minority groups), a reduction in street crime and economic benefits from walking / cycling to name but a few[3].
However, despite these benefits there are still those who strongly disagree.
A report by the Guardian in September of last year who interviewed Labour deputy leader of Lambeth Borough Council (Claire Holland) [4] refers to a “culture war – between those who want to drive wherever they want, whenever they want, at whatever speed they want – compared to the right of everybody else to get around peacefully and effectively”.
Some very divisive language there by Councillor Holland.
Yet residents in Lambeth point to a similar situation to my neighbours who receive the displaced traffic, and explain how they are now “in a cloud of pollution”, and that LTNs “are not representative of working classes, BME communities, of the disabled, of local businesses”.
In addition to the traffic displacement argument other common themes of those who oppose LTN’s include:
- A lack of consultation (with many LTNs schemes introduced without proper notice or consultation as an emergency measure)
- Disinformation being spread about the benefits of LTNs
- People feeling cut off, particularly the vulnerable, and
- The impact on businesses (for example taxi and delivery drivers have to take much longer route)
The toxicity of the debate has spilled over into protests throughout communities, with large demonstrations in Brixton[5], Oxford[6], Ealing[7] and Hackney[8]. It has also reached the courts, with the Mayor of London in June of this year overturning an original High Court decision at the Court of Appeal to block the Greater London Authorities Streetplace plans[9]. Hackney Councillor Jon Burke, who is a vocal advocate of LTNs, has even received a death threat, which is disgraceful to say the least.
The brilliant Today in Focus podcast managed to interview the very same Councillor Burke. He admitted that he “favours experimental traffic orders – because it allows for more meaningful engagement in the consultation process”.
Councillor Burke goes onto say that “when you undertake prior consultation noisy vocal groups of people who are opposed to change will, as we’ve experienced, engage in campaigns that border on the dissemination of misleading information to people”.
He explains that the experimental schemes allows “for everyone to have an opportunity locally to experience how a low traffic neighbourhood functions”.
And I see his argument to a degree, but when pressed by the interviewer about whether the LTN will be removed after the consultation period should the majority of respondents oppose the scheme, Councillor Burke says “Absolutely not. We will make the decision whether or not to retain LTNs based on a variety of factors of which public opinion is only one”.
Now I should say the interview goes on (click here to listen to the interview), and Councillor Burke makes some other really valid points in support of LTNs. However, the rhetoric before he reaches this point is very divisive. I would disagree with him and say that the concerns of local communities should be heard and admitting publicly that LTN’s will be introduced regardless of public consultation to me feels reckless.
I am genuinely supportive of LTNs, however I do feel those reasonable and considered people who are opposed to LTNs are not being heard. I understand that you won’t have the support of every local constituent and there will be those who will oppose the measures regardless. However, proper consultation would go a long way to properly address issues such a traffic displacement through bad transport planning, listening to those who are vulnerable, ensuring proper access for the disabled and to look to provide better support to business impacted by the introduction of LTNs.
What I fear is happening is that the LTN debate goes beyond a local transport issue. Perhaps, as Councillor Holland points out, it represents a wider culture war in our society.
Looking back at the road near my flat I wonder whether my neighbour who took the time to write “The Wall” message will take the same time and care to listen to the other side of the debate. In the meantime I’ve got my black marker pen ready to add my thoughts to the local message board.
[1] Active travel fund: local transport authority allocations – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
[2] ME-12772 13..22 (nacto.org)
[3] 5. A guide to the evidence around low-traffic neighbourhoods – Sustrans.org.uk
[4] The new road rage: bitter rows break out over UK’s low-traffic neighbourhoods | Road safety | The Guardian
[5] In photos: Residents protest against Lambeth’s Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes – Brixton Buzz
[6] Oxford anti-LTN protesters call for public meeting on traffic plans | Oxford Mail
[7] ‘Thousands’ march on Ealing Council HQ in opposition to controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – MyLondon
[8] Protests outside Hackney Town Hall over road closures and low traffic neighbourhoods | Hackney Gazette
[9] Mayor of London wins court battle over controversial Streetspace scheme | Evening Standard
Shapes + Place 