‘Traffic has reduced on main roads in various other London LTN trials’

• RICHARD Smith is nostalgic for the “normal streets” he seems to be missing in our low-traffic neighbourhoods, LTNs, (Some are not hearing the birdsong, April 2).

These “normal” streets have meant over 9,000 Londoners a year dying prematurely because of air pollution. Furthermore road traffic accidents are a major cause of death to children in the United Kingdom.

The “I’m all right Jack” attitude Richard Smith cites hasn’t been emanating from the many non-car-owning council tenants in Aubert Court and the Blackstock Estate or the majority non-car-owning social housing tenants and home owners in Highbury West, Islington, a borough where less than 30 per cent of residents own a car.

It’s been coming from drivers driving with ever-growing frequency along our major roads and minor roads. The number of miles driven on London’s roads in the last 10 years has increased by 3.9billion.

Since 2009 London’s neighbourhoods have absorbed the full increase while, since 2006, the number of miles driven on London’s main roads annually has fallen by 800 million.

Locally Richard Smith implies those of us who are in favour of people-friendly streets don’t care about the disabled, a wholly unfounded thing to say. We have seen disabled neighbours making great use of the roads.

The recent Transport for All – a disabled transport campaigning group – survey on the impact of LTNs on the disabled has rightly called for the disabled to have a say in the design of our streets.

We are in a consultation period. Transport for All is not calling for people-friendly streets to be abandoned.

Conservative central government insisted local authorities who were interested in LTNs set them up quickly or risk losing future funding.

Cunning of the Tory party to get environmentally-committed Labour authorities hurrying in this way! It’s hard to consult properly in a hurry.

As for “displaced” traffic having to go on the main road and cries of anguish from Richard Smith and David Barnes (Much pollution is due to gridlock on main roads, April 9), let me hold up a big stop sign!

Traffic has reduced on main roads in various other London LTN trials, and on all of boundary roads in St Peter’s here in Islington, bar one.

You can’t displace traffic that has already itself been displaced from the main road network. LTNs merely put it back on the main roads built to carry through-traffic.

The pollution David Barnes mentions in his letter is not containable. But this is because – let’s dare to say the emperor has no clothes on – there are too many cars on all of London’s roads.

You are traffic if you’re driving; you’re not stuck in traffic. LTNs are one measure. The ULEZ, ultra low emission zone, is arriving. We equally need measures for main roads.

D BYRNE
Gillespie Road, N5