Cremer Street

After considering traffic and air quality data, alongside responses provided by residents to this Commonplace page, the Council has made a decision to make the Cremer Street traffic filter permanent. See hackney.gov.uk/cremer-street-ltn for the full decision report, including the engagement report which includes the results from this Commonplace page.

We will continue to monitor the effects of the filter and listen to feedback about the scheme. You can email comments to: streetscene.enquiries@hackney.gov.uk.

Please note : The new filter on Cremer Street will be introduced at its junction with Nazrul Street from 23 February. This is a week later than scheduled due to urgent Thames Water work taking place in the area.

We are committed in our Transport Strategy to making Hackney’s roads safer for everyone living, working and visiting the borough. We aim to create an environment that will encourage more walking and cycling, improve air quality and reduce emissions in the borough. For further background to these measures, see the About the project page. To find out more about how we're maintaining access to properties, why we're acting so quickly and more, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

In Cremer Street, we know that levels of non-local through-traffic are at times too high. As a result, we have introduced a type of road closure, known as a bus gate which only allow buses and emergency vehicles to pass, at the following location (see drawing below):

This will encourage walking and cycling, promote social distancing and reduce non-local through-traffic on these streets, including traffic trying to avoid queues along Hackney Road and Old Street. Cyclists, emergency vehicles and refuse vehicles will be able to pass through the bus gate.

If you are a resident or business in the area and you have a motor vehicle, you are still able to drive to your home or business, but this may be via a different route.

We introduced this bus gate from 23 February using a solid planter on one side of the road to reduce the carriageway width, but allowing enough space for cyclists and emergency and refuse vehicles to go through. We only used one planter because the road is too narrow to use planters on both sides of the road. The bus gate is camera enforced.

Signs and road markings make it clear that regular vehicles cannot pass through. Like any transport scheme, there could be a couple of weeks of disruption before the full benefits to walking, cycling and traffic levels are seen. We thank you for your patience during this time.

The bus gate was being introduced using an experimental traffic order for a maximum period of 18 months, which means you can see how it works in practice before having your say.

The views of residents and businesses, including any suggested changes to how schemes operate, will be taken into account before any decision on whether or not to make the measures permanent. This process is in line with specific guidance from Transport for London, and the Department for Transport, whose guidance states that: 'authorities should monitor and evaluate any temporary measures they install, with a view to making them permanent, and embedding a long-term shift to active travel as we move from restart to recovery’.

The experimental traffic order was advertised in the London Gazette and the Hackney Gazette on 22 January 2021.

The initial engagement period on this scheme ran until 15 August 2021, however we are extending this until 31 March 2022 to allow as many people as possible to have their say.

To have your say, please complete the survey below or email streetscene.consultations@hackney.gov.uk. You can also write to us by sending your comments to ‘Freepost Streetscene’.