An estimated 5,000 residents took to the streets of Ealing Broadway last Saturday in protest against the increasing number of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods recently implemented by the London Borough of Ealing Council.
While LTNs have been present in London since the 1970s, the past year has seen many London councils, in partnership with TfL, add to the existing number in an effort to make London a ‘healthier, safer, more inclusive, cleaner and greener city’ (according to TfL).
This involves the placing of bollards or planters at strategic points on residential roads to prevent cars from using them in an attempt to escape the heavy traffic on main roads. The LTNs are designed to reduce pollution in residential areas, and to allow residents to walk or cycle down roads with greater ease.
However, the introduction of these roads has been met by a major backlash from Ealing residents, with many upset by the council’s lack of consultation prior to rapidly implementing LTNs.
Mandy Lurie, an LTN resident, noted that, while the council’s intentions are “laudable”, the introduction of LTNs is “ignorant of the reality of people’s everyday lives”. Lurie went on to mention the increased strain put on other roads as a result of a reduced number of available routes, with the main road “permanently clogged with traffic”.
In addition, residents have complained of the increased traffic on other residential roads, simply used as alternative cut-throughs to LTN roads. Issues have also been caused for emergency services whose journeys have been extended unnecessarily as a result, (though the council has recently made changes to allow emergency vehicles through).
When asked about the council’s response to complaints, Lurie mentioned an interim assessment in December of 2020, during which the council described complaints as “negative or opposed...as is usual”, which she felt was “both unhelpful and disingenuous”.
For a scheme intended to reduce pollution, it seems ironic that the resultant idling traffic and circuitous routes have had the opposite impact. However, with May 6th elections approaching, change may be on the horizon.
