LTNs Don't Cause Congestion
24th November 2020
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) do not cause congestion, reports Carlton Reid on Forbes.
Traffic counts in London demonstrate that this objection to LTNs is not
factually correct.
Opponents of LTNs believe that traffic is a fixed volume that must be accommodated; they claim that restricting through traffic in residential streets means greater volumes on main roads.
Hackney introduced LTNs in early September 2020. Traffic counts at junctions by the LTN locations demonstrate that traffic volumes did not increase on main roads. The data show:
- A significant fall in motor traffic during the first lockdown (March/April 2020)
- A rise in traffic levels from May 2020, nearly reaching 2019 levels by August 2020 (before the introduction of Hackney LTNs)
- At one junction (Mare Street/Brenthouse Road) traffic has remained below 2019 levels throughout the year
- At another junction (A10/Richmond Road) traffic has remained the same as in 2019, with no impact from the London Fields LTN
'While we're encouraged by the initial findings on five key main roads in the borough - which show no significant change in traffic levels after the introduction of the new low traffic neighbourhoods - there is more work to be done to measure traffic levels on other roads to identify if changes have taken place.'
Councillor John Burke, Transport Lead at Hackney Council
A number of traffic counters and cameras in Hackney have been vandalised. The council will be installing more monitoring equipment, some of which may be added to police watch-lists.