Image: Islington Council
Islington Council has made the Amwell low-traffic neighbourhood trial permanent, after monitoring data and resident feedback showed how it has helped create greener, healthier, more welcoming streets.
The scheme is one of seven low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) to be introduced by the council as trials since 2020 to help make it easier to walk, cycle, and wheel, to improve air quality, and to unlock a range of health and wellbeing benefits for local people.
The neighbourhood also complements the Cycleway 27 scheme, which runs from Amwell Street and Margery Street towards Bloomsbury.
Following its introduction in November 2020 as an 18-month trial, the council has been monitoring the Amwell LTN’s impact closely and listening to local people’s feedback.
In a public consultation on the neighbourhood, 42% of respondents said it was easier to make the trips they need by walking and cycling since the scheme’s introduction (17% disagreed), while 43% said they felt the air was cleaner (10% disagreed), and 45% said it was easier to cross the street (17% disagreed).
As well as this positive feedback, the council’s own monitoring has shown a fall in traffic on roads within the neighbourhood between September 2020 and May 2023, and an increase in cycling over the same period.
The introduction of low-traffic neighbourhoods is just one of the ways that the council has been reimagining streets to create greener, healthier spaces for local people. The council has worked with local people to introduce 35 School Streets, a network of cycleways, and more accessible pavements – all of which has contributed to Islington ranking as the Healthy Streets Scorecard’s top inner-London borough three years in a row.
Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s executive member for environment, air quality, and transport, said: “For many years, local people told us they wanted to see action to create greener, healthier, more welcoming streets – and that’s why we’ve been delivering low-traffic neighbourhood trials since 2020.
“Three years on, we’re delighted with the impact of the schemes. Making the Amwell neighbourhood permanent is another positive step, and it’s clear that the scheme has delivered huge benefits for local people.
“We know, though, that there’s still much more for us to do. We’re going to be working to improve our low-traffic neighbourhoods further and have ambitious plans to continue to work hand-in-hand with local people to transform the borough’s streets in pursuit of a greener, healthier, more equal Islington for all.”
Amwell is the sixth Islington LTN to be made permanent.
12 October 2023