Oxfordshire is seeing a proliferation of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), but they may be causing illegal pollution levels on boundary roads.

Three new LTNs opened last Friday - in the Divinity Road area, ST Clements area and St Marys area – collectively known as the East Oxford LTNs.

The changes are designed to bring a wealth of benefits to selected neighbourhoods, including improved safety for children and active travellers, a heightened sense of community, fewer cases of loneliness and social isolation and a reduction in air pollution and respiratory diseases.

However, one of the challenges with reducing traffic flow through one neighbourhood, is that it inevitably leads to a spill over of traffic on nearby roads.

These roads are known as ‘boundary roads’, and one residents group claims that the increased traffic flow on these roads – particularly surrounding the first LTNs introduced in March 2021 in Cowley - is causing pollution levels to exceed the legal limits.

Richard Parnham, Head of Research at Reconnecting Oxford, said: “it is almost always the case that LTNs make pollution and traffic worse.

“They are designed to push traffic onto boundary roads, and across the country the same thing happens. People with LTNs get quiet enclaves, but all traffic is displaced onto the boundary roads where other people live. Which is unfair.”

Richard submitted a Freedom of Information request to Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) asking to see air quality monitoring data for the Cowley area of Oxford.

He wanted to evaluate the impact of the ending of lockdown and the Cowley LTNs on local air pollution levels, specifically Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).

He discovered that on Oxford Road, Hollow Way and Between Towns Road, which border the LTNs installed in 2021, NO2 levels between January and March of this year were exceeding legal limits.

On a yearly average, they were not exceeding these limits through 2016 to 2019.  

Richard said: “The pollution data is showing that numbers are consistently higher this year, and if these results are verified then the council has questions to answer.”

Green Party Councillor, Emily Kerr, said: “We don’t know what’s going to happen with the new East Oxford LTN trial.

“But data from other LTNs in London for example, shows that in the short term we will see an increase in traffic, a in the long term it evens out.

“The main thing is that they make roads quieter and safer. People can cycle, kids can play and car use is reduced.

“On the boundary roads, I would urge drivers to turn their engines off when in stationery traffic.”

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1