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news
Railton LTN (Sarah Berry)Car traffic down by almost two thirds inside one south London low traffic neighbourhood
Lambeth Council says that a low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) centred on Railton Road between Herne Hill and Brixton has seen car traffic fall by almost two thirds and goods vehicle traffic slashed in half on roads within it, as well as a big increase in cycling, according to independent monitoring.
The LTN was introduced in June as part of Lambeth Council’s emergency transport response to the coronavirus pandemic.
An independent traffic assessment was conducted over a seven-day period during October, comparing traffic levels then with a baseline that was calculated using data from previous years and also taking into account background traffic data for the wide London network.
Describing the findings as “startling,” the council said that there had been an overall reduction in traffic of 27 per cent across the area as a whole.
Unsurprisingly, the biggest falls in motor traffic were found on streets within the LTN itself, with one of the chief goals of such initiatives being to prevent rat-running drivers from taking short cuts through residential areas.
Car traffic on those streets fell by 62 per cent, while goods vehicle traffic was down by 51 per cent.
There was also a reduction in car traffic on roads on the boundary of the LTN, down 18 per cent on Effra Road, 14 per cent on Milkwood Road, and 9 per cent on Dulwich Road, although an increase of 6 per cent was found on Coldharbour Lane.
Meanwhile, levels of cycling rose by 36 per cent in the area monitored, including rises of 74 per cent on Shakespeare Road and 50 per cent on Railton Road.
According to the council, “the traffic assessments have shown that some improvements to the scheme are needed to ensure that it is a fully functioning low traffic neighbourhood.”
It said that the following changes will be implemented next month:
Adding no entry restrictions into Trelawn Road from Effra Road
Adding no entry restrictions on Rattray Road and Dalberg Road at their junctions with Jelf Road, meaning motor vehicles cannot travel southbound.
Improvements to the signal phasing of the Coldharbour Lane /Atlantic Road junction to improve traffic flows along Coldharbour Lane.
Lambeth Council added that it will shortly bring in an experimental traffic order to replace the existing temporary traffic order for the LTN and that a second review, including a further and analysis of air quality, will take place later in 2021.
> 130 groups unite in open letter supporting Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
“Prior to any decision on whether the low traffic neighbourhood will be made permanent or not, the council will conduct a public consultation to gather feedback, which will be considered alongside the available data collected,” the council added.
LTNs have been opposed by a small but vocal minority in a number of boroughs in London and in towns and cities elsewhere that have introduced them, and there have been instances of planters used to block off streets being moved or even vandalised.
> Oil poured on roads and vandalism as protests against low-traffic neighbourhoods turn nasty
However, the government has repeatedly given its backing to them, including rejecting a petition calling on it to scrap emergency active travel funding for them.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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11 comments
i've always thought that it would be easier to work with the sat nav companies to adjust the algorithms that determine where vehicles go, with so many using sat nav a lot of routes that were quiet have become busier due to clever routing by sat navs...without it most drivers would have stuck with knoweldge or signage. It should be relatively simple to demarkate areas as not through routes and this can be time/date adaptive.
in any case displacing traffic is not entirely helpful...reducing it is the target. certainly there is more traffic now becasue of the reduced use of public transport (in London)
Cycling along Railton Road or Shakespeare Road is now very pleasant indeed. However, Coldharbour Lane is now akin to a car park and I pity anyone who lives along it. Perhaps a study of pollution levels there would reveal the issues of dispalced traffic.
Dulwich Road is as bad as it's always been for traffic and has long queues of traffic in the morning. Traffic is terrible in Norwood Road, but that's largely because the space under the bridge at Herne Hill has been narrowed to allow a widened pavement for pedestrians. Milkwood remains a particular problem with regard to speeding and close passes and especially when cycling towards Herne Hill Station.
How far up Cold Harbour does it go? Juts asking as Google traffic has the worst by the lights at Brixton Hill and as a main road joinng on to another bigger one I suspect that was always a bottle neck.
Obviously the increase they state of 6% of traffic will have an effect in a small road but as you point out and the study shows, Milkwood Road is relatively empty so why are all the cars cutting not able to cut through the LTN now not using the skirting roads or were they further rat racing past it?
Google streetview does show a large Goods Lorry driving along Railton Road prior to the LTN. I wonder if he was delivering or rat running.
I rode my motorbike over to a friend to drop off a Christmas card the other day and she lives just off Coldharbour Lane, near the barrier block. Coldharbour Lane was completely gridlocked for four wheeled traffic from the junction beside the Ritzy to the junction with Gresham Rd. I didn't head down as far as Loughborough Junction, but I often cycle along the other end of Coldharbour Lane and while it's busy, it isn't completely jammed.
What really bugs me is that the LTNs have done nothing to improve safety for cyclists along Milkwood Road. People still drive like nutcases along there and it's the road where I experience more close passes at speed than anywhere else. If you look at the stats, speeding is the biggest single cause of death and serious injury on London's roads by some margin. But the LTNs do zero to address this on other roads. Measures to cut speeding can be cheap and simple and proper speed bumps (and enough of them) will do the job. But councils and TfL have done absolutely nothing in terms of installing proven measures that would improve safety.
I wouldn't have thought that Coldharbour Lane would be majorly affected by this, it's more the link between Brixton and Camberwell. I think Lambeth are maybe looking at the wider picture of roads surrounding the measures, which is probably a good thing; particularly when you see so many people making false claims about displacement. To see overall motor traffic reduced by so much is impressive. I cycle along Coldharbour Lane regularly and haven't noticed the minor increase in motor traffic - it's always been busy at peak times and it still is. The increase in cycles and electric scooters, however, is impossible not to notice.
The Camberwell end of Colharbour Lane isn't too bad but the Brixton end is terrible on two wheels. I avoid it. The LTNs mean I can at least.
Completely agree that the Brixton end is terrible. My point was that it always has been; my guess is that any minor rise in motor traffic is unrelated to the Railton Road LTN measures. The collapse in use of public transport is likely to have a bigger effect.
Well, this is a surprise.
Not sure I've ever seen neoclassical art used to such great effect! Rich_cb, I salute you.
I had to google it, but yes it made me chuckle
Lol. I wonder if the resident twat, sorry I mean troll, got it.