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I get the general idea about LTNs, however I'm relaying the perceived response to a specific scheme and this
preferably get those people on board before you start implementing LTNs
very much appears not to have happened.
Of course not all local people are on facebook groups or twitter or write to their councillors/MPs, but there is a surge of dissatisfaction and what I notice is that it's a range of people - not just those who complain about no longer being able to drive to Lewisham town centre in 5 minutes, but also those who say they no longer feel safe to walk or cycle on their own road with their children, and those who say air pollution has made living on their road miserable, and that at least my perception prior to this was that as an area it was fairly pro-walking and cycling, pro local amenities etc and whether it's the actual scheme which is a problem or whether it's terrible PR/communication, it seems to have backfired.
I don't think the clean air campaigners misunderstand the intention, they are responding to short-term increases in slow-moving vehicular traffic on residential main roads. Perhaps there is no less painful alternative, but those that live on the affected roads reporting worsening asthma etc have not been persuaded that this will, in the long term, get better.
@amey is doing a valiant job of being a vocal supporter. An adjacent neighbourhood to the first cell is trying to implement their own LTN as quickly as possible in response to increased vehicular traffic routing around the first - which is at least leading to discussion. Let's hope some of that traffic evaporation happens soon.
There is some concern about what happens if/when the school run starts again - this would be a great target for some good PR.
hoefla-
The trouble with a lot of these things, and I'm seeing it in my area too, is that they are piecemeal schemes with a lot of sorting out the traffic in one area but without huge consideration re: where it's going and how it impacts the other areas nearby.
Without a joined up approach you have little cells trying to get the best for their area and the problem just being shunted off elsewhere. You will get some traffic disappearing but probably not all of the extra traffic.
There's the extra issue that a lot of these schemes are pushed by active resident's associations, etc and these are often in wealthier areas with a higher number of homeowners.
There's something akin to that going on near me at the moment with plans in Crouch End to minimise traffic that will likely push traffic further east to the less wealthy areas in the borough.
Without proper, large scale, joined up plans covering whole boroughs it's likely that this will continue to be an issue. However, those plans are likely to take a long, long time to happen (particularly in boroughs like Haringey where there is minimal political will to do anything) whereas small scale plans can sometimes be pushed through fairly quickly. It's a dilemma.
aggi
A few responses:
To get past this you really need to understand which part the clean air campaigners have misunderstood and carry out a suitable charm offensive to persuade them otherwise. And preferably get those people on board before you start implementing LTNs.