First stage of engagement on London Fields and Hoxton West LTNs to end on 1 August
Residents are being urged to have their say on two of Hackney’s trial low traffic neighbourhoods, as the first 11-month stage of engagement draws to a close on 1 August.
The trial low traffic neighbourhoods in London Fields and Hoxton West were implemented in September as part of plans to rebuild a greener Hackney after the pandemic. They have seen each area transformed, supporting people to walk, shop and cycle locally.
Since September, residents and businesses have been able to have their say online on the Council’s Commonplace page or in writing to ‘Freepost Streetscene’, with thousands of comments received on each of the schemes.
When this engagement process closes, conversations with residents will continue through independent polling and focus groups. The Council will then consider all residents’ comments alongside traffic and air quality data before making a decision on whether or not to make schemes permanent.
Initial analysis already released of traffic levels in the London Fields and Homerton low traffic neighbourhoods has shown early signs of traffic reduction in each area, with traffic down on roads inside LTNs by between 40 and 44%, and on boundary roads by between seven and 22%.
The Council has now completed an initial analysis of traffic levels in the Hoxton West low traffic neighbourhood, which shows broadly similar trends of traffic reduction inside and around the area, with traffic down by an average of 42% inside the LTN and traffic on boundary roads down by an average of 30%. This shows early indications of the ability of low traffic neighbourhoods to reduce traffic, support people to walk, shop and cycle locally and help rebuild a greener Hackney in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The analysis uses traffic counts taken in two separate counts during November 2020 and then March 2021, when schools were open but overall traffic levels in Hackney were lower than pre-pandemic levels, and considers the impact of lockdown alongside reductions in traffic after the introduction of the low traffic neighbourhood. The counts were then compared with data from before the pandemic.
A benchmarking exercise to understand the impact of lockdown on traffic over the same time period shows there were traffic reductions of 16% nationally on urban roads, 15% on the A12 and an average of 14% reductions on main roads in the borough. The initial traffic surveys show that within the LTN, traffic reduced, on average, by more than these benchmarks.
Hoxton West low traffic neighbourhood
Traffic inside Hoxton West low traffic neighbourhood was down by an average of 42%, with traffic on boundary roads down by an average of 30%.
The figures below show the changes in monitored levels of traffic on roads inside the low traffic neighbourhood:
- Shepherdess Walk (North of Murray Grove) -43.7%
- Micawber Street (West of Taplow Street) -73.6%
- Shepherdess Walk (South of Nile Street) -54.9%
- Westland Place (South of Nile Street) -39.7%
- Nile Street (East of Shepherdess Walk) -70.8%
- Britannia Walk (South of Nile Street) +4.5%
- Murray Grove (East of Provost Street) -50.2%
- Provost Street (South of Murray Grove) +6.8%
- Vestry Street (North of Provost Street) -53.1%
The figures below show the changes in monitored levels of traffic on boundary roads outside the low traffic neighbourhood:
- City Road (East of Cayton Street) -26.7%
- East Road (North of Bevenden Street) -38.4%
- New North Road (North of Murray Grove) -37.7%
- Old Street (East of Roundabout) -16.6%
The Council is currently repeating traffic monitoring of its low traffic neighbourhoods to ensure it is monitoring the full effects of schemes as the capital emerges from lockdown. This data will be published for residents to review.
Since I started my role, I’ve been clear that I’m here to listen to residents’ views - which is why we extended this engagement process back in March.
The low traffic neighbourhoods in Hoxton West and London Fields have transformed each area, and, alongside 40 new School Streets, are supporting people to walk, shop and cycle locally.
Now this first stage is coming to a close, I’d urge anyone who hasn’t already had their say on these low traffic neighbourhoods to do so. We’ll then be carrying out further targeted engagement before deciding whether or not to make these trials permanent.
Residents can have their say on the London Fields and Hoxton West low traffic neighbourhoods by 1 August at rebuildingagreenerhackney.commonplace.is.
As part of its commitment to transparency, the Council will release further analysis on traffic data around other schemes in the coming weeks, when completed. Traffic counts will be released for the Hackney Downs low traffic neighbourhood in the coming weeks, which it will publish alongside a closing date for the first stage of engagement on that scheme.