I am strongly opposing LTNs and I am also aware that the majority of residents oppose it too. It is a scheme that was started without any consultation, it was imposed on the residents and it was supposed to be a trial that should have already have ended and removed.
These new LTNs, that have ‘conveniently’ appeared during the Covid lockdown, are a huge nuisance to communities and commuters alike. They are certainly not delivering what they are officially being implemented for. Cyclists only make up less than 10% of the daily commute around London. While their needs ought to be considered, they are still a minority and not the ones that must be prioritised over others.
The ‘strategy’ behind LTN is nonsensical and asinine at source: ”By removing through traffic from networks of minor roads, LTNs reduce the space available for traffic. Just as adding an extra lane to a motorway leads to an increase in traffic (induced demand for driving), removing neighbourhood streets from the strategic network leads to a decrease (reduced demand for driving)”. Maybe the Council and TFL might like to explain why over 111,092 minicabs have recently been approved to operate in London.
Maybe, an analogy within the field of medicine will make more sense: Plaque (fatty deposits) build up in your arteries. (We can call it traffic). As plaque builds up, the wall of the blood vessel thickens. This narrows the channel within the artery – reducing blood flow. That lessens the amount of oxygen and other nutrients reaching the body. In other words traffic (pollution) is a recipe for early deaths.
The scheme was based on dangerous lies – In September 2020 Julian Bell reassured the residents that all emergency services had been consulted before the road shake-up began. Cllr Bell and transport boss Mik Sabiers apologized on Friday, September 25, admitting that, in fact, the London Ambulance Service had not been involved in talks just like they had not talked to the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade.
There is nothing positive about LTNs and it is causing my family and I a lot of aggravation. Shopping for the family or for the pets cannot be done on a bicycle. Most of the shops are in South Ealing (bakery, butcher, chemist) and even the laundrette is over there. Our weekly washing consists of four very big and heavy laundry baskets. Driving and shopping at Waitrose or Iceland or Wilko takes a lot longer now. We are now wasting much more time and money by sitting in traffic jams or by finding uncomfortable alternatives by bus or tube. Not everyone can cycle, by the way.
Within the last few months the traffic on the Boston Road has been particularly heavy. I started coughing but only if I sit in the lounge, which is at the front of the house. Pollution could very well be the cause.
Research has shown that Heathrow pollution can travel up to 20 miles from the airport. Traffic gridlock in Boston Road is causing heavy pollution that can easily travel all the way to the residential streets all around. Thanks to LTN we are now breathing in more pollution.
Surveys of the general population suggest that approximately 12.7 million people in the UK (approximately 1 in 5) have a history of asthma, COPD or another longstanding respiratory illness. Some is due to smoking but a 2015 study published an updated by King’s College London shows that in 2010 there was the equivalent of up to 5,900 premature deaths across London associated with NO2 long term exposure. Nearly half the health effects of long term exposure to air pollution were caused by pollution from outside London, as well as 75% of cardiovascular hospital admissions associated with PM2.5. (Yet there are strong efforts to open bigger runways at Heathrow airport ??).
On several occasions I need to go and pick up my daughter at Northfield station as this is very late at night. Thanks to LTN you are obliging me to take longer journeys.
In a few days, thanks to your policies, Hounslow Council is closing the only minor road still open to go to Northfields and South Ealing. What is the traffic going to be like then? One of the Ambulance depots is also on the Boston Road. How can you not think that you may end up being responsible for someone’s death?
Deliveries and suppliers are being affected, with couriers getting lost, taxis unable to pick up or drop off their clients and lorries unable to drop off supplies because the road blocks are taking up parking spaces. It’s not safer if cars and lorries are stuck, and having to reverse back out on to the main roads, and in areas without cars going up and down, you have effectively created mugging hotspots.
LTNs will cause an increase in prices because the plumber, the builder, the delivery company will take longer to reach us. LTNs are the last straw for some small businesses that have already been affected by the pandemic. There is also the issue that our roads as less safe, no cars in the side streets, darkness and no people about makes it an ideal ground for criminals.
One small (one lane) road work at the end of Boston Road caused three miles of traffic queues only a few days ago. Bus stops and refuse collection also slow traffic down. Boston Manor is becoming completely isolated, making this, probably, the best modern version of a Ghetto.
The question to ask is – what is LTN for?
Making money for the Council it seems. As the Congestion Charge was created to keep pollution out of Central London, why from 2025 all electric cars will have to pay for the Congestion Charge?
Ealing Council is only interested in collecting fines from those that “jump” the LTNs restrictions. Lies and propaganda, for many years, have made us believe that 20mph speed limit is safer (but pollutes more) when studies have revealed that it is not safer at all. Electric cars pollute less, they say. Another massive lie as mining for lithium and disposal of batteries are causing more pollution than current vehicles.
Cycles lanes – they want! Over £1 million spent on the cycle lane in Boston Manor Road and cyclists are mainly using the road. In fact, cyclists are now preferring the pavement and that goes for scooters too. Just more accidents waiting to happen.
Mini-Holland is another big lie. Studies want us to believe that the Dutch scheme is better and safer for everyone. Holland has the highest death rate in Europe for cyclists. This part of reality is conveniently left off. Residents prefer to believe in lies than seeking information.
People don’t use their cars for cruising and LTNs are simple stupidity in any shape or form.
