Thread by @AndyHull79

THREAD: Can’t wait for @IslingtonBC's People Friendly Streets programme to come to our ward this autumn. Highbury West will become a Low Traffic Neighbourhood. By preventing through-traffic cutting across the area, it'll make our streets cleaner, healthier and safer for everyone.

Our winning @IslingtonLabour 2018 manifesto said: ‘We see the need to close certain roads to through-traffic to prevent rat-running, make neighbourhoods more liveable and improve cycling routes. We will investigate doing this in consultation with local residents and businesses.’

Our online consultation on People Friendly Streets, which began in May 2020, drew 24,610 unique visitors, making 5,693 comments, with 39,000 agreements to those comments. 12 months after the #LTN goes in under an Experimental Traffic Order, we'll ask residents for feedback on it.

Less than a third of Islington households have access to a car - the lowest in London. The less well-off people are, the less likely they are to have a car. Residents who do have a car will still all be able to access their home or business in it.

Air pollution in Islington is currently at dangerous levels, causing an estimated 252 deaths per year in the borough. Evidence from Waltham Forest shows a marked reduction in air pollution after the introduction of #LTNs.

The filters in the #LTN will preclude any vehicle with a registration plate passing through in either direction, except emergency services. The fine for a breach will be £65 if paid in a fortnight, or £130 thereafter. Any proceeds will go on transport and highways in Islington.

Initially, there will undoubtedly be some displacement of traffic onto main roads, which are better suited to carry it. Evidence from elsewhere in London and further afield suggests that much of this increase is short-term, evaporating over time, and especially during rush hours.

We've done a Resident Impact Assessment on the People Friendly Streets programme, taking (eg) the needs of disabled residents into careful account. Meanwhile, we hope making cycling safer and easier will mean more people of all backgrounds have a go at getting around by bike.

An upturn in people walking and cycling is documented to bring a host of economic benefits, including to small businesses, who sometimes overestimate the amount of custom they get from drivers. The council will liaise with business premises to help them make the most of the #LTN.

The approach we are taking locally here in Islington is supported by Transport for London regionally and by the Department for Transport nationally. If you'd like to know more about it, there are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions here: islington.gov.uk/-/media/sharep… #OnYourSide

As someone who lives, works and represents in Highbury and who walks the breadth of Highbury West beside an asthmatic toddler on his bike twice daily, all the rat-running motor traffic, made worse by satnavs and Waze, harms my constituents and their families. Time for change.

The commonplace website is still open: …npeoplefriendlystreets.commonplace.is Comments will be analysed before the imminent delegated decision to proceed with the LTN. A year in, we'll write to everyone in the area for views. In the 6 months after that, the council will decide the LTN's future.

The emergency services have all been consulted on the scheme. Where they had any specific issues with our plan, we've made changes to address them. If, once the LTN's been implemented, blue-light colleagues raise any further issues, we will respond to them constructively again.

Local residents have been clear with us that the People Friendly Streets programme should approach Highbury in a joined-up way. Careful work is currently underway to ensure that this scheme meshes with neighbouring arrangements.

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