Cover-up allegations amid heated debate over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in the UK

Shortly after new research underlined the importance of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to the economic and health benefits of active travel interventions, these LTNs find themselves at the heart of fierce debate and political wrangling in the UK.

The Guardian newspaper carries the significant allegation that the government attempted to cover up a study it commissioned, which reportedly demonstrates the popularity of LTNs among the general public, while anonymous government sources separately briefed The Telegraph that the report highlighted risks of disruptions to emergency services.

Meanwhile, one such LTN in London has had to be suspended due to consistent disruption stemming from utilities roadworks, provoking Mayor Sadiq Khan to suggest it was a one-off as anti-LTN campaigners used it as fuel for their cause.

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, as the name suggests, are areas where motor vehicle traffic is restricted, in a bid to make streets safer and quieter, while also encouraging levels of active travel across walking and cycling. A long-term study into the effectiveness of the ‘Mini-Holland’ schemes in London showed that LTNs made the biggest difference in the findings of a 10-fold return on investment in terms of health economic benefit versus cost of intervention.

• Read more: 'Mini-Holland' projects in London pay for themselves 10 times over, new study finds

However, LTNs are ever-controversial, and they have risen up the news agenda at a time when environmental campaigners champion the active travel cause but the current Conservative government pushes its ‘plan for drivers’. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently described traffic-calming interventions as “hare-brained” and vowed to combat what he described as a “war on motorists”.

The Guardian reports that Sunak’s government commissioned a report into LTNs that it hoped would support its cause, but instead painted a positive picture. The Guardian says the report was scheduled for publication in January but ministers asked it be shelved, which the government “categorically” denies.

It has not been made public but the Guardian reports that it shows significant public appetite for LTNs, with an average of 45% in support versus 21% in opposition from a survey of 1,800 residents in four sample schemes across the UK. Furthermore, it appeared to quell concerns over congestion, indicating LTNs are “effective in achieving outcomes of reducing traffic volumes within their zones while adverse impacts on boundary roads appear to be limited.”

However, the morning following The Guardian's story, The Telegraph carried a story about a ‘risk to lives’ posed by LTNs.

The Telegraph – a Conservative-leaning paper as opposed to the left-leaning Guardian – did not have access to the report but was citing an anonymous government source who was apparently briefing in response and contrast to the Guardian's story.

The source said the report carried the following passage: “[Emergency services] reported that the implementation of LTNs has caused certain hindrances to emergency services such as delays due to physical barriers and lack of access keys. They stress this could potentially risk lives because ‘this adds precious seconds and minutes when seconds do really count.’”

• Read more: The Dutch turned the Netherlands into a bicycle utopia. Here’s how we can do the same in other countries

Meanwhile, one such LTN, in Streatham Wells in the Lambeth council of London, has had to be suspended amid disruption in the area. There were repeat instances of public utilities companies having to dig up roads in the area, leading to increased congestion on the surrounding roads and forcing the council to suspend the scheme “in response to concerns about public transport delays”.

As cycling advocates complained of a ‘backwards step’, London Mayor Sadiq Khan acknowledged that it was the “right thing” to suspend the Streatham Wells LTN, but suggested that the problems there shouldn’t be taken as universal to all LTNs.

“Not every single scheme will be perfect. Some schemes will be begun, and there’ll be consequences that aren’t always positive,” he said, according to London’s Evening Standard newspaper.

“In the short term, there are often are challenges […] I think the council has got really good experience of other LTNs that have worked really well.”