An overview of the scheme

The London Boroughs of Newham and Waltham Forest worked together to develop and submit funding bids to Transport for London (TfL) for improvements in the Forest Gate, Maryland and South Leytonstone areas. A proposed Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) was included in the 2018 and 2019 joint-borough TfL Liveable Neighbourhoods bids, however due to the Covid-19 pandemic TfL has suspended and redirected funding towards emergency interventions to support social distancing.

Even though the Liveable Neighbourhoods funding is currently suspended, both boroughs have allocated funding towards the LTN as part of their commitment to delivering better streets for walking and cycling.

With many residents from both boroughs not owning a motorised vehicle and ongoing concerns about using public transport, we need to ensure that walking and cycling is a safe and attractive option.

We all need to do our bit to improve our health and the quality of the air we breathe. By making small changes to how we travel for short journeys we could see huge personal benefit to our health, our wellbeing and our pockets.

Londoners make 7.3 million car trips as a driver or passenger in London on average per day, and of these trips over 50% are made for shopping, leisure and personal business purpose, 5% for schools and education and 19% for work.

We understand that there are many reasons why people feel they need to travel by car, such as time saving, weather, distance, safety, convenience and so on, however, driving is not always the quickest, easiest, or best option for all journeys, especially when travelling locally.

A report on the “Health impact of cars in London” from the Greater London Authority (GLA) highlights that a third of car journeys in London are less than 3km and two thirds are less than 5km. We also know that many journeys are not in fact made for work or commuting but are for other trips such as shopping, leisure, seeing friends and family or the school run. On average, it can take up to 12 minutes to walk 1km and 3km can take around 15 minutes to cycle. If we made a change and chose to walk or cycle for journeys less than 3km, then we could see a huge reduction in the number of people driving daily, and at the same time improve our personal health by being more active, and help reduce congestion and air pollution in our neighbourhood.

While there will be many residents happy to join the walking and cycling revolution, there will be some people who may not have the confidence or are unable to make the switch. If the majority of people make the switch for some journeys, then roads will be freed up for the people who have greater need to use them.

The scheme uses modal filters (roads closed to motorised vehicles) to create a Low Traffic Neighbourhood. The modal filters have been installed on an experimental basis, initially in two areas, which are called Area 1 and Area 2, and are shown on the map below.

Area 1 - falls mainly within the London Borough of Newham and is bounded by Crownfield Road, Leytonstone Road and Leyton Road. Six modal filters have been installed in this area.

Area 2 - is bounded by Cann Hall Road, Dames Road, Woodgrange Road, Forest Lane and Leytonstone Road. A total of 14 modal filters have been installed in this area.

The majority of modal filters have been created by using large planters placed in the streets at various locations to restrict access for motorised vehicles but will still allow enough space for pedestrians and cyclists to travel through them.

Following engagement with the emergency services, some modal filters are enforced via CCTV and there is no physical barrier in place. This is to allow access for emergency vehicles only. All other motorised vehicles are not allowed to travel through these modal filters and will be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) if they do.