Stoke Newington LTN: what you can expect during launch week
A cleaner, greener and safer Stoke Newington Church Street is set to become a reality next week as a new low traffic neighbourhood launches in the area.
Over 10,000 vehicles currently use Church Street every day. The new low traffic neighbourhood is aimed at reducing traffic, tackling pollution and supporting people to walk, cycle and shop locally.
A bus gate outside the Red Lion on Church Street will operate from 7am to 7pm, when only buses, registered companion badge holders, cyclists, waste and emergency vehicles will be able to pass through. All homes and businesses in the area will remain accessible by car, van or lorry.
A further five traffic filters in surrounding residential streets will help to stop new short-cuts opening up. These will allow cyclists and emergency vehicles to pass through.
The measures will be installed during Monday 20 September, with the five surrounding filters coming into force first, followed later in the day by the bus gate on Church Street. This is to ensure that drivers who need to avoid passing through the bus gate take designated routes only. The Council is removing some parking spaces along these roads to help ease any disruption. This will be kept under close review. As the scheme beds in, some waiting and parking suspensions will be removed.
While there is likely to be some disruption in the first few weeks, this is expected to reduce as drivers get used to the changes. The Council has notified sat-nav providers of the new scheme.
From day one, Transport for London will monitor traffic signal timings in the area to ensure that these are supporting traffic flow in surrounding areas as the changes bed in.
The Council will also be monitoring traffic levels in the area - with traffic on Church St, Albion Road and the surrounding residential streets expected to reduce gradually over the first few weeks. Modelling shows the potential for some increases in traffic on Manor Road and Crossway as a result of the Church St scheme. However, the Council will monitor and publish its traffic data, and tweak the scheme if necessary to ensure it is working as best as possible.
On Manor Road, the removal of a number of parking spaces will help to improve traffic flow and improve bus journey times.
Advanced warning signs have been in place in the area since last week to alert drivers of the changes.
This new low traffic neighbourhood will transform Stoke Newington by drastically reducing polluting traffic in the area, and encouraging more of us to walk, shop and cycle locally.
We’re doing lots of preparatory work to make sure the scheme goes in smoothly, but, as with any traffic changes, there could be some disruption as drivers get used to the new LTN.
I’ve been meeting hundreds of residents and businesses over the past few weeks to hear what they think about the plans, but we want as many people as possible to have their say, which they can do online or in the post from Monday.
Residents and businesses can have their say at hackney.gov.uk/stoke-newington-ltn or by writing for free to Freepost Streetscene.