As more protests take place this week against the installation of the liveable neighbourhood scheme we spoke to residents in one Bristol street who are thrilled to see it come into force. Beaufort Road, which runs alongside Avonview cemetery, was one of the first streets to see traffic restrictions introduced and three weeks later those who live on the street say that road safety has improved dramatically.
While this week has seen construction workers installing bollards obstructed by protesters against the trial on Marsh Lane and Barnes Street, along Beaufort Road and neighbouring streets several posters can be seen in windows in support of the scheme.
“My car was written off and several of my neighbours’ cars were written off. It was really, really dangerous,” said Pretio Herrera.
For years the residential street was used as a rat run and residents like Pretio found their parked cars damaged as a result of the through traffic that would pass through at a high speed. The father of three who lived on Beaufort Road for eight years before recently moving to Jubilee Road nearby said that he still walks the length of Beaufort Road on the school run to Redfield every morning but the difference in his personal experience has been ‘absolutely unbelievable.’
Before the scheme was introduced, he feared for his children’s safety while walking to school because cars would often mount the pavement. “The road has been quite anxiety-inducing walking the kids to school for the past few years.
“The speed was a real problem and the air quality wasn’t great. Now we see people coming out and talking on the road, there’s so much more of a community feel already and it’s only been a few weeks.
“I can speak for a lot of the residents who live close to me that they are loving the scheme as well. I appreciate that there are probably going to be some teething problems with traffic but as far as I can see it’s been a brilliant first stage,” added Pretio.
Liz, who lives just off Beaufort Road, used to have to cross the road every morning to get the bus to work and said it had always been a challenging task. Having recently retired, she now looks after her grandson on a Friday and since the measures were introduced it feels a lot safer to take him for walks without having to worry about him getting knocked by a speeding car.
Adam Corner, who currently cycles or walks his children to Whitehall Primary School everyday from Beaufort Road, is also supportive of the scheme. He said that he has already noticed a lot more families using the street for cycling now that it is ‘safe’ to do so.
Adam said that he is not ‘anti-car’ and will use one when he needs to but appreciates that not everyone can just stop using their car. He said: “Whenever there is a change like this there is always a lot of worry and concern and negative noise at the start but that does quieten down when some people – not everyone – see that it’s not actually as bad as they thought.
“I think it’s important to hear the stories of people who have been impacted in different ways. Generally the people who support stuff like this don’t say anything and just stay quiet.
“I think it’s important once we get past the initial anger and confusion that we compare it to what it was before. It’s not like we had some kind of beautiful system that’s been broken by this.
“Safety means a lot of different things- it means not being driven into while on the pavement as well as being able to access your own home if you have a large vehicle and it does need to go hand in hand with cheaper, more reliable public transport. It’s about sharing the space in the city in a way that works for everyone.”
While those against the scheme often argue that restricting access to some streets will just increase congestion elsewhere. A new Facebook group against the scheme has recently been inundated with photos of traffic, particularly on Church Road.
Like others in favour of the scheme, Adam argues that while nobody is being forced to stop using their car, those who habitually use their vehicle for short journeys where they could easily walk or cycle will be encouraged to change their habits which will decrease road traffic overall.
According to a recent study of 46 LTNs introduced in London between 2020 and 2021 there was a 46.9 per cent reduction in through traffic with traffic on boundary roads increasing by just two per cent. In the London Borough of Hackney which has seen a huge increase in LTNs,the Council found reductions in nitrogen dioxide levels in 329 of 388 monitoring locations and an increase in the amount of walking, running and cycling among local residents.