Frequently asked questions - West Greenwich Low Traffic Neighbourhood (2020/21)

Who are you consulting?

We are writing to all households in the area shown on the map . The consultation is open to anyone geographically, but we are most keen to hear from the people in the consultation area who are directly affected by the changes.

Why are you opening the Hyde Vale traffic filter to vehicles?

During the last consultation period there were concerns and written objections about the perceived impact on relevant neighbouring roads.

What happens if I drive through the Hyde Vale traffic filter outside of the hours 7am to 9am, Monday to Friday?

You will receive a penalty charge notice (PCN) except for refuse trucks, emergency services and black cabs (not private hire vehicles such as Ubers or mini cabs who are not exempt).

What happens if I drive through the traffic cameras situated on Crooms Hill and Winforton Street?

You will receive a penalty charge notice (PCN) at any time except for refuse trucks, emergency services and black cabs (not private hire vehicles such as Ubers or mini cabs who are not exempt).

Don’t low traffic neighbourhoods stop emergency services from getting to where they need to go?

Emergency service vehicles were always able to access the area. We now have adjusted the experimental traffic closures on Crooms Hill, Hyde Vale and Winforton Street by widening the distance between the planters and installing cameras to improve access to emergency services vehicles.

What are proposals for allowing local residents access through the filters?

The Council considers that the case for this has not been made out as it is deemed that this create two tiers of motorists. Also, very local residents say they benefit from modal filters and therefore it is believed that allowing local residents through would be viewed as a double standard and, above all, not helpful in the move towards reduced traffic.

What happens to the revenue collected by the Council from penalty charge notices?

The first call on any income from revenue resulting from the issue of Penalty Charge Notices by the cameras, is the costs of providing and running the service. Any remaining revenue is controlled by Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. In Royal Greenwich surplus generated has been used to fund the Council’s obligations for the Older Persons Freedom Pass – helping and encouraging older people use public transport (and at no cost or discounted cost to themselves).

How will the Council monitor the impact of Hyde Vale being opened to through traffic?

A series of monitoring measures, including area wide data collection on traffic volumes at different times of the day/week, queue lengths, air quality monitoring, collision data analysis, impact on surrounding road network, analysis of comments received will be undertaken to better understand the operation and impact of the scheme, along with considering all representations and objections received.

What happens if the Council’s data collection equipment is vandalised?

The deliberate destruction of public property is a crime, as well as a waste of public money, and we will take action against those who commit it. The Council will maintain the equipment to keep it operational.

What is a low traffic neighbourhood (LTN)?

LTNs are designed to stop motorised traffic taking shortcuts through residential roads by using temporary or permanent barriers, called modal filters, such as planters, bollards or cameras.

Residents and businesses can still access their homes and premises, but their usual routes may be different.

This prevents rat-running traffic and can provide longer term benefits to the local community. A quieter, more attractive network of streets is opened up in the LTN. This encourages people to travel on foot, bicycle, by wheeling or by bus.

Will residents and businesses still be able to access their homes and premises?

Some people who drive will have to slightly change their routes.

The camera enforced modal filters allow unrestricted access for the emergency services, taxis and people travelling by foot, bicycle, wheeling or bus.

The permanent planter or lockable bollard filters stop all motor vehicles at all times while maintaining continued access or travel through the area on foot, bicycle or by wheeling.

Forty per cent of households in Royal Greenwich don’t have access to a car. Yet, motorised traffic can disproportionally affect all residents’ quality of life due to air and noise pollution, speeding and illegal parking.

We will listen to local feedback to maximise the benefits as much as possible.

Don’t low traffic neighbourhoods just push traffic on to main roads and into other neighbourhoods?

Changes to the road network in one area may affect traffic in adjacent neighbourhoods initially but roads in residential areas are not designed to carry non-local through traffic which is better accommodated on main roads.

We continue to work with TFL that manage the main routes and monitor the traffic levels on this network. They are fully aware of and support of our scheme, which is well aligned the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy.

It takes time for people to change their behaviour to adapt to new traffic calming measures but significant reductions in overall traffic levels across an area can happen over time.

The scheme is also part of London-wide efforts to get more people walking, cycling and using public transport. The ultimate effect of these efforts will be fewer people driving: making all of our roads cleaner and safer too. Without introducing any measures car journeys will continue to rise. This will have a knock-on impact on air pollution, road safety and climate change while navigation apps will continue to route drivers through residential neighbourhoods.

Will blue badge holders be able to travel through at closure times?

Blue Badge parking permits let drivers and passengers who are disabled park in specific on-street parking places.

As badges are issued to an individual’s address, and not registered to a vehicle, the camera enforced filters are unable to exempt them.

Like other residents who use cars badge holders will still be able to access their homes but they may have to slightly alter their usual routes.

However, blue badge holders will benefit like all residents from the longer-term improvements that LTNs can bring. By encouraging those residents who are able to walk, wheel or cycle to do so should mean quieter streets for everyone.

And this includes those who need to make any essential journeys by car.

Having a car gives people, particularly those who have mobility issues or are worried about using public transport, more independence

Data shows that people feel walking and cycling gives them more freedom and independence than driving. Walking and wheeling are the most commonly used mode of transport for disabled Londoners. For example, the proportion of disabled Londoners who drive a car to get around London is 28%, compared to 45% for non-disabled Londoners.

Outdoor spaces free from traffic are vital to maintaining good mental and physical health. Research shows that those who regularly walk and cycle have a significantly lower risk of feeling stressed, anxious and depressed.

How were the low traffic neighbourhoods selected?

Potential LTN's were identified as part of the technical work undertaken to support the delivery of the Local implementation Plan (LIP) , based on borough-wide traffic data. The LTN's being delivered build on that analysis, combined with what we have learned about travel during the COVID-19 emergency and the new pressures that has bought.

How would the proposals affect local businesses?

Evidence shows that those who walk to a high street spend 40 per cent more than those who drive. Per square metre, cycle parking delivers five-times higher retail spend than the same area of car parking .

Converting car parking spaces to a place with seating and planters where people enjoy spending time, can improvement retail performance. A study found shop vacancy rates were five times higher on streets with high levels of traffic. And, retail turnover in pedestrianised areas generally out-performs the spending in non-pedestrian areas. Reduced motor traffic can increase the amount that people spend in their local shops.

Emergency vehicles access

We work closely with emergency services to address their needs in LTNs and when developing cycle routes. Preventing a car-led recovery is vital to keeping traffic moving and allowing emergency vehicles to make their crucial – life saving - trips.

Are the photographs on the engagement site showing children playing in the street meant to portray what a Low Traffic Neighbourhood will look like?

This is not designed to depict the exact scheme benefits but give a general impression of the improvement to environments and safety when less vehicular traffic is in a given residential area. This is exactly the reason we are trying to keep through traffic on main routes and not use residential streets to reduce journey distance or time.

If you aren’t changing the pavements already available for walking and wheeling, how do Low Traffic Neighbourhood make places better for walking or cycling?

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are better places to walk and cycle. The reduction of traffic levels in a residential setting is one of the key elements to making areas safer for cyclists of all ages and abilities, and makes walking easier and more attractive. It significantly reduces poor air quality that high traffic levels can cause. Reducing traffic also opens up opportunities to improve pavements, cycle facilities and public transport facilities if changes are made permanent – creating even greater benefits.

How will these measures improve people’s health?

In addition to contributing to climate change motor vehicles are a major source of air pollution that harms human health. Vehicles emit a range of pollutants including nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. P ublic Health England has called poor air quality the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK as long-term exposure to air pollution can cause chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer, leading to reduced life expectancy.

Why do we need to reduce traffic levels, the Covid-19 Pandemic must already have reduced traffic levels in 2020 when compared to previous years?

Tackling rising levels of traffic in the area was a key part of the authorities stated aims as part of the ‘ Local Implementation Plan ’ and the ‘ London Mayors Transportation Strategy ’ before the Covid-19 Pandemic. Both of these documents outline the need to address and reduce traffic levels in residential areas and seek to change vehicular behaviour to help tackle the poor air quality and climate emergency that we all face. These proposals are being put forward for an area that historically had higher traffic levels (as it falls between the A2/A206/A102) so vehicles often ‘cut through’ the area to link the main routes.

Traffic levels in the area were monitored and showed that, in-line with Transport for London data, as the first Lockdown ended in the summer of 2020 (which was coincidentally just before the West Greenwich scheme was introduced) traffic levels into London and surrounding areas rose by 17% compared to pre-lockdown average levels. This was replicated in the data for Westcombe with an overall 17.4% rise noted from traffic count data at that time.

Whilst it is hard to say for certain, it is likely that both the general traffic level increase and that within the Westcombe area were due to people returning to work but being reluctant to use public transport, which showed continued reduction in usage throughout the period.

Are the Westcombe Park and Maze Hill, Woolwich and Horn Park surveys formal consultations?

Once a scheme is put into place, considering the feedback we receive during this initial informal engagement, a six-month public consultation period on the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order that creates the Low Traffic Neighbourhood would begin. This will allow you to provide more feedback, based on your experience of the trial. It is provided in addition to the consultation we are legally required to undertake, to help us make sure the experimental scheme developed is the best possible one for Royal Greenwich.

Will the Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) just be made permanent at the end of the 6 month period?

Once a scheme is put into place, considering the feedback we receive during the initial engagement exercise, a six-month public consultation period on the Experimental Traffic Order would begin. This will allow you to provide more feedback, based on your experience of the trial.

Once that consultation closes, officers will analyse the responses we receive and consider other data that shows how the scheme has worked in practice. A report will then be produced recommending a way forward: by removing, amending or making permanent the Experimental Traffic Order.

Until we have seen how the experimental scheme works we cannot say what the outcome is likely to be.

How will these measures help climate change?

The threat to our climate is real and it is now indisputable that the changes to our environment are rapid, accelerating and a threat to how we live. That’s why we declared a climate emergency in 2019 and agreed to set an ambitious target to reach net zero carbon emissions 20 years ahead of the national target.

With miles of riverfront, the risk of floods is particularly real for us in Royal Greenwich. But droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather conditions will also have a massive impact on the health and wellbeing of our residents.

In our borough a third of all of emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, come from transport – car, vans and trucks. These gases trap heat and make the planet warmer, causing climate change. But, the number of miles driven on our roads continues to increase: by one hundred and thirty million between 2014 and 2019.

To achieve our carbon neutral target we will need to see a 45% reduction in car use in the borough due to modal shift to public transport and active travel and a 10% decrease in van and truck use relative to current projections.

Read the Council’s draft Carbon Neutral Plan