Prebend Street is home to the most complained about low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) measure in Islington.
On the council’s feedback website for LTNs, there are over 80 complaints against the CCTV enforced ‘Buses & Cycles Only’ filter – more than any other Islington traffic measure. The filter was among Islington’s first LTN measures introduced in July.
Jody Graber, a campaigner against LTNs and spokesperson for the ‘We Are Islington’ community platform, told Islington Now: “The people it has affected the most are the elderly and vulnerable.”
He worried that people may “get less quality time with NHS services”, such as district nurses who may now have to take detours between patients, due to increased travel times caused by the Prebend Street filter.
One resident complained online: “The new traffic measures are farcical. They effectively trap local residents into small pockets of streets, forcing us on to long detours.”
Another resident, and carer to a disabled person, described the filter as “appalling and incredibly short-sighted”. They said that the filter “makes it so much more difficult for the disabled, who are dependent on their cars, to get around”.
But not everybody has had a negative reaction. One online commenter said: “People were walking and cycling. The air was fresh… From what I’ve seen PFS [people friendly streets] are the way forward.”
The council’s press release announcing the Prebend Street filter explained that it would close a shortcut between New North Road and Essex Road, and Upper Street and City Road.
Yet Jody argues that: “It just pushed the problem somewhere else.
“It created a rat-run through Packington Square, where you can get around the roadblock. That’s going past a children’s playground and people’s houses.”
The council’s feedback website itself is controversial, as it is the only form of consultation residents have had.
“I want a proper, official consultation,” said Jody.
None of the LTN measures introduced in 2020 have been subject to an official council consultation. The council has said that the LTNs are in a trial period and that there will be official consultations next year.
