Hoxton West Low Traffic Neighbourhood

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 Hoxton West LTN permanent. See hackney.gov.uk/hoxton-west-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 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.

In Hoxton West, we know that there are areas where levels of non-local through-traffic are at times too high. In late 2018, we carried out a consultation on proposed closures of parts of Provost Street, Nile Street and Ebenezer Street. Some of the concerns expressed through this consultation included that traffic would be diverted onto residential roads such as Murray Grove and the roads to the north and we decided not to proceed at the time. The measures outlined below include an additional closure in Shepherdess Walk to address this issue.

We have therefore introduced a type of road closure, known as a traffic filter (planters or bollards on the road, which prevent motor vehicles from passing through), at the following locations (see attached drawings):

● Shepherdess Walk south of the junction with Micawber Street

● Micawber Street junction with Shepherdess Walk

● Ebenezer Street and Nile Street junctions with Vestry Street

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 City Road and Old Street roundabout. Cyclists, emergency vehicles and refuse vehicles will be able to pass through the traffic filters.

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.

The filter at Shepherdess Walk south of the junction with Micawber Street still allow access for local buses and a priority give way system has been introduced to facilitate this.

We introduced these measures on 24 August 2020, using solid planters on either side of the roads to reduce the carriageway width. At Micawber Street, Ebenezer Street and Nile Street, a lockable bollard has been placed in the middle of these planters.

The filter at Shepherdess Walk just south of the junction with Micawber Street does not include a lockable bollard and is instead being enforced by cameras in order to deter vehicles driving through the filters. Signs and road markings make it clear that regular vehicles cannot pass through.

Like any scheme, we would expect that each scheme takes a couple of weeks to settle in before the full benefits to walking, cycling and traffic are clear.

The filters are being 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 experimental traffic order was advertised in the London Gazette and the Hackney Gazette on 17 July 2020.

The initial engagement period on this scheme ran until 24 February 2021, however we are extending this until 1 August 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’.