Homerton

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 Homerton LTN permanent. See hackney.gov.uk/homerton-ltn for the full decision report, including the consultation report which includes the results from this Commonplace page.

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

We are committed in our Transport Strategy to make 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.

Barnabas Road links Wick Road and Homerton High Street, and is a key route for residents using Homerton Station, workers at Homerton University Hospital and cyclists using protected lanes on Wick Road.

During the past 18 months the Council has been conducting a feasibility study analysing traffic speeds and traffic volumes and accidents in the Wick Road area where through routes are frequently used to avoid the main road network. The study showed there are a number of routes heavily used by traffic – which include Barnabas Road – to bypass the main road network for a quicker through route in and out of Hackney.

A type of road closure, known as a traffic filter (planters or bollards on the road, which prevent motor vehicles from passing through) in Barnabas Road between Oriel Road and Berger Road, adjacent to Alma Apartments , as shown on the drawing attached below has been installed.

The scheme eliminates through traffic and, as a consequence, road safety and air quality will be improved locally. Local residents are still able to access their homes, however they are not able to drive through the traffic filters.

The filter still continues to allow pedestrian, cyclist and emergency and refuse vehicles access.

The filter has been achieved using solid planters on either side of the road and reducing the width of the road, but allowing enough space for cyclists and emergency and refuse vehicles to go through. Signs and road markings will make it clear that regular vehicles cannot pass through. The filter is enforced by cameras in order to deter vehicles driving through the filter.

Barnabas Road

A type of road closure, known as a traffic filter (planters or bollards on the road, which prevent motor vehicles from passing through) at Ashenden Road junction with Glyn Road and Meeson Street junction with Kingsmead Way, as shown on the drawing attached below, has been installed. The traffic filter eliminates through-traffic, including rat-running traffic trying to avoid queues on Homerton High Street, to improving road safety and opportunities for social distancing for residents, pedestrians and cyclists on Ashenden Road and Meeson Street.

Local residents are still able to access their homes from either side of the filters, however they are not able to drive through. The filter still continues to allow pedestrian, cyclist, emergency service and refuse vehicle access.

The filters have been achieved using solid planters on either side of the roads to reduce the width of the roads, but allowing enough space for cyclists and emergency and refuse vehicles to go through. Signs and road markings make it clear that regular vehicles cannot pass through. The filters are enforced by cameras in order to deter vehicles driving through the filters.

Ashenden Road

Meeson Street

The filters have been introduced using an experimental traffic order for a maximum period of 18 months, which means you can see how the filters work 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 initial engagement period on this scheme ran until 11 December 2020, however we are extending this until 31 May 2021 so residents have the opportunity to see how it operates as we emerge from lockdown and 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’.

An initial analysis of traffic counts around Hackney’s trial Homerton low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) showed early signs of traffic reduction, with traffic down both in the neighbourhood itself and on most of the boundary roads.

Traffic inside Homerton LTN was down by an average of 40%, with traffic on boundary roads around the LTN also down by 7%, showing early indications of the ability of low traffic neighbourhoods to reduce traffic, support people to walk, shop and cycle locally and help rebuild a greener Hackney in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Among the boundary roads, there was a rise in traffic in Homerton High Street of 6.5%, which is thought to be partly attributable to the 12,000 key worker parking permits that the Council has distributed during the pandemic, many of which were focussed around Homerton Hospital. However, the Council is continuing to monitor traffic in the area and will continue to publish this data.

The analysis uses traffic counts taken during November’s lockdown, when schools were open but overall traffic levels in Hackney were lower than pre-pandemic levels, and considers the impact of lockdown alongside reductions in traffic after the introduction of the low traffic neighbourhood. The counts were then compared with data from before the pandemic.

The figures below show the changes in monitored levels of traffic on roads inside the low traffic neighbourhood:

The Council is aware of increases in traffic on Glyn Road and will continue to monitor these streets so it can address issues there.

The figures below show the changes in monitored levels of traffic on boundary roads outside the low traffic neighbourhood: