Boris Johnson promised a big expansion of low-traffic neighbourhoods today despite criticism from some grassroots Conservatives. The prime minister criticised those who opposed the programme and said that “trying to squeeze more cars and delivery vans on the same roads” would lead to gridlock in towns and cities. Today a government report said that there was a gap between “real and perceived public opinion” on low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), roads where through traffic is blocked. Support for the schemes is more than twice as high as opposition, it said. The authors said that many claims about the schemes — including that they shift traffic on to surrounding streets, harm local businesses or increase emergency services response times — were simply “not true”. The report analysed 50 roads surrounding 12 LTN schemes and found that traffic was lower on 35 streets and higher on 15. The conclusions will be used by the government to support more schemes.
Times 30th July 2021 read more »