Deeply unpopular LTN in Exeter that blighted the lives of locals with longer commutes and extra congestion is axed after 82% object

An unpopular Low Traffic Neighborhood (LTN) in Exeter, which has angered locals due to increased traffic congestion and longer journey times, has been scrapped after more than 80 per cent objected.

The controversial plan, introduced nine months ago, aimed to encourage cycling and walking in the city of Devon by blocking some streets to cars.

But instead it caused an increase in traffic, less passing trade for businesses and massive delays.

Now the project has been shelved after 82 percent of residents voted against in a recent survey of more than 9,000 people by the municipality.

Locals have welcomed the decision, which some say “created inequality in the area.”

Bollards pictured at Heavitree, near Exeter, as part of an unpopular LTN. The plan, which has angered locals due to increased traffic congestion and longer journey times, has been scrapped after more than 80 percent objected to it

Locals in Exeter protest against an LTN that has blocked roads to cars, holding up signs reading ‘Stop The Block’

Protesters pictured outside St. Mark’s Church in Exeter. The project has now been put on hold after 82 percent of residents voted against it in a recent survey of more than 9,000 people by the city council.

Tracy Courtney, a specialist diabetes nurse, told The times that the LTN forced her to drive extra miles on her way to work at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, often after 12 or 14 hour shifts.

Meanwhile, Shannon Mac said: ‘Some elderly people became isolated, shops didn’t get the same level of passing trade, doctors couldn’t make home visits, carers had to limit the time they spent with patients, and the list goes on.

I still cannot understand how those who wanted the LTN can turn a blind eye to obvious suffering.”

Labor chairman of Exeter’s highways and traffic orders committee, Carol Whitton, grudgingly accepted that the research was difficult to ignore, but vowed to continue driving climate action in the area.

She said: ‘I believe passionately that we need to change, we need to move towards more sustainable forms of travel, whether that’s about climate change or about Exeter as a city.’

A study by Demos, a cross-party think tank, into LTNs has criticized councils across the country for misrepresenting evidence about their impact and failing to communicate effectively with communities.

The report also attributed confidence in local government to the traffic reduction programs.

Demos also rejected the common accusation that locals’ concerns about LTNs were often based on conspiracy theories.

The think tank found that residents’ lives were often heavily affected by the confrontation plans, adding: ‘[Our findings] expose the inability on the part of councils to understand and engage effectively with their communities, amounting to a democratic divide; and they make clear how the actions of national politicians have made this worse.”

Demos found that councils had misled the online debate with their use of data, citing a 2021 Twitter post from Hackney Council as an example.

Locals have welcomed the decision, which some say ’caused inequality in the area’

The controversial plan, introduced nine months ago, aimed to encourage cycling and walking in the city of Devon by blocking some streets to cars

But instead it caused an increase in traffic, less passing trade for businesses and massive delays

The council had claimed that its LTN had reduced traffic on border roads, just outside the LTN, by using average results for a number of roads in the area.

In reality, traffic levels differed depending on the road.

The report added that in areas such as Oxford, Enfield and Rochdale, the council had shared more misinformation than online debaters.

The decision to abolish the LTN came after months of dissatisfaction with the scheme.

In February, an irate van driver plowed through a group of ‘human bollards’ as they defended the traffic reduction program on a leafy street in Exeter as activists held a protest in support of one of the city’s new ‘low traffic neighbourhoods’ (LTN).

Armed with a banner, the group of activists stood among the planters at the bus gate on Ladysmith Road during school pick-up times.

But a video recorded by ‘Safe Streets Now’ activists showed a Ford Transit van driving towards the banner and the five protesters guarding the new traffic calming measure.

The driver continues to pass the banner, with one activist appearing to grab his hand against the driver’s side window. The banner is torn off and a traffic cone is pushed aside as the van plows through.

An irate van driver pictured plowing through a group of ‘human bollards’ in February as they defended the controversial traffic reduction scheme

The van driver is seen plowing through the banner. A protester later appears to hit the vehicle as it drives through

Days earlier, on February 19, the group shared this image on X (formerly Twitter) saying the road was ‘a little safer for people to use’

The group had organized a number of street demonstrations in support of the LTN, which they said had helped make the road safer.

But the campaign is not supported by everyone. Other residents have formed a counter-protest group, frustrated by the impact the plan is having on them.

The group, called ‘Stop the Block’, claims the now axed LTN caused traffic chaos, increased journey times and affected the trading of local businesses.