Lewisham council spends more than £250K on low traffic neighbourhood
Lewisham Council has spent £276,409.67 on its Lewisham and Lee Green low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) to date.
The details have come out after the council partly rolled back the LTN on November 9 to help relieve traffic congestion in neighbouring areas.
The changes include allowing vehicles, except HGVs, through the camera-enforced barrier in Manor Lane and adjusting the existing cameras on Ennersdale Road and Dermody Road to allow vehicles to travel one-way west to east.
Blue Badge holders and drivers with SEND passengers are now able to register with the council and drive past cameras without being fined – though some are still waiting to hear back about their application.
Lewisham’s cabinet member for environment and transport supplied the figures in response to a public question on funding and expenditure relating to the LTN ahead of full council on Wednesday (November 25).
Councillor Sophie McGeevor said: “The money spent on the Lee Green LTN is £276,409.67, which covers all elements of the scheme such as infrastructure, scheme design and implementation, traffic orders, letter drops and monitoring.
“Additionally, Lewisham staff time has also been invested in developing, managing, communicating and monitoring/maintaining the scheme.”
On top of the money from TfL, the council has spent £20,000 it received from the Department for Transport (DfT).
The Lewisham and Lee Green LTN was funded through a combination of the DfT Emergency Active Travel Fund, the Mayor of London’s Streetspace programme and some – the figure has not been released – council funding.
Lewisham was awarded £347,294 from the Streetspace pot, just under 12 per cent of the £2.9 million it applied for.
The second round of funding has yet to be announced.
LTNs, where roads are blocked off to prevent through-traffic, are being rolled out by councils as part of emergency transport measures to promote active travel and make it easier to social distance in the wake of Covid-19.
They have been controversial and the majority of public questions submitted ahead of full council relate to the Lee Green LTN.