Hackney,
04
November
2020
|
13:03
Europe/London

Rebuilding a greener Hackney: new School Streets and filters in Upper Clapton, Hackney Central and Dalston

Three new School Streets and four traffic filters are set to be introduced from next week in Upper Clapton, Hackney Central and Dalston as part of the Council’s plans to rebuild a greener Hackney in the wake of the pandemic. 

The schemes are aimed at supporting children to walk and cycle to school safely, and preventing drivers from using narrow residential streets as shortcuts. 

All are being introduced on a trial basis using experimental traffic orders, ensuring residents and businesses can have their say online or in writing during implementation. 

As lockdown restrictions continue and people spend more time in their local area, the measures will also support people to walk, shop and cycle locally, and help prioritise public transport for those who need it. 

In Upper Clapton, a School Street is set to be introduced at Harrington Hill School, along with a type of road closure, known as a traffic filter - where planters placed in the road prevent cars from driving through - introduced on Mount Pleasant Lane to reduce through-traffic and make streets safer. To support these measures, a left turn restriction will also be introduced on Southwold Road at its junction with Upper Clapton Road. 

In the Hackney Central/Mare Street area, new traffic filters are set to be introduced on Marcon Place, Shore Place and Wayland Avenue - areas with longstanding issues caused by rat-running traffic. 

School Streets are also set to be introduced at Queensbridge School and the Olive School to help children walk and cycle to school. The introduction of a School Street at Queensbridge School follows a consultation earlier in the year. 

The Council will monitor traffic around each area, which it will consider, alongside resident feedback, before deciding whether to make the schemes permanent.

Cllr Jon Burke, Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste, Transport and Public Realm
Between this week and last, it’s impossible to miss how much traffic congestion is caused by the school run, which accounts for up to a quarter of cars on the road at the morning rush hour.

Nearly 87% of children in Hackney walk, cycle or take public transport to school. We want to encourage even more to walk or cycle by improving road safety and air quality.

In 2019, 40 million miles more were driven on Hackney’s roads than in 2009 and most of these journeys took place on the residential streets where our schools are often located. New School Streets - and the new filters in Hackney Central, Dalston and Upper Clapton - are part of our plans to rebuild a greener Hackney in the wake of the pandemic, supporting people to walk, shop and cycle locally and prioritising public transport for those who need it.
Cllr Jon Burke, Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste, Transport and Public Realm

Residents and businesses can have their say online at: https://rebuildingagreenerhackney.commonplace.is/ 

In line with guidance from the Department for Transport, on-street measures will be implemented under experimental traffic orders, which give residents an opportunity to have their say on how measures work in practice before any decision is made on whether or not to make them permanent.

Department for Transport guidance states that: ‘The government therefore expects local authorities to make significant changes to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians. Such changes will help embed altered behaviours and demonstrate the positive effects of active travel.’

Transport for London has also issued guidance to local authorities in their Streetspace for London plan, which has three main objectives: reallocation of road space, delivery of strategic cycle routes and low traffic neighbourhoods.