A new low traffic neighbourhood is set to be introduced between London Fields and the A10/Kingsland Road in early September, as part of radical plans to rebuild a greener Hackney after the pandemic. 

The low traffic neighbourhood will join two more - Hoxton West and Hackney Downs - in supporting people to walk, cycle and shop locally as lockdown eases and public transport capacity remains low, securing the benefits - like cleaner air, less traffic and higher levels of active travel - that lockdown brought to the capital. 

Each will see quieter streets and estates created for tens of thousands of residents across the borough, with non-local through-traffic eliminated from each area. 

As part of the plans to rebuild a greener Hackney, the Council is also implementing 40 new School Streets, helping over 14,000 children walk and cycle to school more safely. It is also set to implement new protected cycle lanes on Queensbridge Road and Green Lanes, and is seeking funding to reduce polluting traffic from two of its town centres. More details will be announced in the coming weeks and months. 

The implementation of the new London Fields Low Traffic Neighbourhood will start from 7 September, and will take about two weeks to implement. 

It will see a type of road closure, known as a traffic filter - where planters or bollards on the road prevent motor vehicles from passing through - introduced at the following locations: 

• Forest Road to the east of the A10
• Richmond Road to the east of the A10
• Middleton Road/Haggerston Road to the east of the A10
• Stean Street to the north of its junction with Dunston Road
• Lee Street to the east of the A10
• Pritchard’s Road (on the Cat and Mutton bridge). This filter will continue to allow access for local buses. 
• Wilton Way at its junction with Greenwood Road
• Richmond Road at its junction with Eleanor Road. This filter will continue to allow access for local buses. 
• Richmond Road at its junction with Greenwood Road. This filter will continue to allow access for local buses.

These filters will encourage walking and cycling, promote social distancing and reduce non-local through-traffic on these streets, which residents have told the Council is an issue. 

The measures include filters in the Richmond Road area, which have been designed following a series of workshops with local residents, where they expressed concerns about fast vehicle speeds, non-local traffic, unsafe conditions for walking and cycling and expressed support for strategic closures to limit rat-running traffic. 

Residents or businesses in the area will still be able to drive to their home or business, but this may be via a different route.

Cyclists, emergency vehicles and refuse vehicles will be able to pass through the traffic filters.

All of the measures will be implemented under experimental traffic orders, with residents and businesses able to have their say online at rebuildingagreenerhackney.commonplace.is or in writing before a decision is made on whether or not to make them permanent. The Council is working on further measures across the borough and will share these with residents as they are finalised.

The implementation of the measures is in line with Department for Transport guidance, which 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 have 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. 

Experimental traffic orders are designed so residents and businesses can see how traffic measures work in practice before having their say.

Implementation of the Hoxton West and Hackney Downs low traffic neighbourhoods will begin on 24 August.

Implementation of the London Fields Low Traffic Neighbourhood will begin on 7 September.

Residents can have their say at rebuildingagreenerhackney.commonplace.is for up until six months after measures have been implemented - with letters sent to all residents in the local area prior to implementation, outlining how they can have their say.

The Council will monitor traffic flows in and around each area during implementation. 

New low traffic neighbourhoods in London Fields, Hoxton West and Hackney Downs are part of the Council’s plans to rebuild a greener Hackney after the pandemic. These will also see: 

• School Streets introduced at nearly all primary schools in the borough
• Further measures to reduce through-traffic on residential streets around the borough
• Measures to reduce polluting traffic in two of the borough’s town centres, which the Council is currently seeking funding for 
• New protected cycle lanes on Green Lanes and Queensbridge Road 
• More cycle training made available for residents in the borough