PM's war on drivers: Boris plans MORE low traffic neighbourhoods
Boris Johnson’s war on drivers: PM plans to INCREASE number of hated car-free ‘low traffic neighbourhoods’ in UK cities and build THOUSANDS of miles of segregated cycle lanes under net zero drive
- Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener says there will be more LTNs in future
- 200 were created during lockdown, with paths widened and new cycle lanes
- LTNs accused of making little impact on pollution and simply moving congestion
Boris Johnson plans to increase the number of controversial low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNS) under his green drive despite claims that they do not work.
The Prime Minister’s long-awaited net zero strategy today set out an ambition for more LTNs along with thousands of miles of new segregated cycle lanes in UK towns and cities.
It includes a ‘vision’ to make cycling and walking amount for half of all journeys made in urban areas by the end of the decade to improve congesting and air quality.
However the scheme is likely to spark fury as LTNs have been accused of making little impact on pollution and simply moving congestion and emissions to other areas.
Emergency services have also said they impact on their ability to respond to incidents quickly, although studies have also shown they have helped to reduce injuries to pedestrians and car passengers in areas where they have been introduced.
Some 2000 have been introduced during the pandemic, involving installing cycle lanes, closing off roads to through traffic and widening pavements.
The PM’s report, Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, today declared: ‘We will deliver the Prime Minister’s bold vision for cycling and walking, investing £2 billion over five years with the vision that half of all journeys in towns and cities will be cycled or walked by 2030.
‘We will also deliver thousands of miles of safe, continuous, direct routes for cycling in towns and cities, physically separated from pedestrians and volume motor traffic along with more low traffic neighbourhoods and school streets.’
The Prime Minister’s long-awaited net zero strategy today set out an ambition for more LTNs along with thousands of miles of new segregated cycle lanes in UK towns and cities.
It includes a ‘vision’ to make cycling and walking amount for half of all journeys made in urban areas by the end of the decade to improve congesting and air quality
LTNs and cycle networks introduced during the pandemic lockdown in London
Last month Ealing Council announced plans to axe seven of London’s LTNs after they were found to increase local congestion and caused ‘no material change in air quality’.
The LTNs were brought in during lockdown last year to redirect traffic away from residential areas, which involved installing cycle lanes, closing off roads to through traffic and widening pavements.
A separate review by Wandsworth Borough Council last December found that levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were higher at 11 streets as a result of nearby road closures but dropped when seven LTN schemes were halted.
The announcement today came as a ‘desperate’ ex-police officer claimed he was being forced to lock his children indoors with the windows and doors shut as clean air initiatives are funneling four-hour traffic jams past his home.
Ediz Mevlit says his daughter Melissa, 12, and son Dilan, eight, have even been hospitalised from ‘choking’ on the fumes from the ‘disgraceful carnage’ outside his home in Palmers Green, Enfield, North London, almost every afternoon.
The 46-year-old explains his 20mph-limit street is now being used as a ‘rat run’ between the congested A105 and a parallel main road since Enfield Council introduced LTNs nearby.
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Ediz Mevlit, 46, says he has been forced to lock his children, Melissa (left), 12, and Dilan (right). eight, indoors to protect them from car fumes
Mr Mevlit says there is ‘disgraceful carnage’ outside his home in Palmers Green, Enfield, North London, almost every afternoon as a result of LTNs
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