The Streatham 'low traffic neighbourhood' scheme was supposed to reduce traffic but left buses taking two hours to travel three miles. Claire Cohen asks - are LTNs compatible with cities?
Within days of its launch, it had been clear to many local people that what was intended to reduce the volume of cars on residential streets near Streatham High Road was having a serious knock-on effect.. With once vital through-roads closed off to vehicles, they were being pushed onto the main arteries through Streatham. At times there were 20 buses stuck back-to-back, with nowhere to go. Transport for London data showed that one bus took 121 minutes to travel 2.
Tensions ran high elsewhere. On Valley Road, one of those formerly important cut-throughs newly deemed a LTN zone, vigilantes in hi-vis jackets patrolled the tarmac, warning anyone who hadn’t spotted the tiny laminated sign at the entrance that going any further would incur a £130 fine. I saw elderly locals out there, in all weathers, handing out leaflets to drivers. LTN signs were regularly vandalised and locals feel that crime has increased on the quieter roads.