Bath residents express concern about policy to end rat running
Some say Low Traffic Neighbourhoods could make some areas "unliveable"
A Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) Council plan to reduce traffic in parts of Bath, could leave some areas impossible to live in.
That's what some residents have said about the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods Policy - but defending the idea Councillor Joanna Wright says everyone needs to act differently to address the climate emergency.
Over the next year the council will start rolling out measures aimed at ending rat running in residential areas and making it easier to walk and cycle.
In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the joint cabinet member for transport addressed issues raised by residents.
Why do you need to change anything?
âThe earth is in a catastrophic situation,â said Ms Wright.
âAll we hear is how you shouldnât be doing X, Y and Z to the motorist. We need to think differently about how weâre moving around.
âWeâre in a climate emergency. The people that suffer the most are the poor. The wealthiest drive the fastest, drive the furthest, have more road mileage than anyone else.
âThe loudest people make the most noise in this city. They seem to endlessly get what they want. That isnât helping the people having the hardest time.â
She added: âItâs not about a road traffic scheme, itâs about social justice, the climate emergency and public health.
âIf youâre telling me where we are now is a good place to be, that itâs OK for the amount of traffic to be moving around in the way it is, creating issues around air pollution, danger, if thatâs what you want in your community, Iâm surprised â there are very few residents I meet who arenât angry about that.
âWe have to do something. What weâve done for 40 years is no longer working.â
What is a low traffic neighbourhood?
According to a report by the councilâs consultants, Jacobs, low traffic neighbourhoods are âtypically considered in predominantly residential areas, where several streets are grouped and organised in a way to discourage through-vehicle traffic or ârat-runningâ.
âImportantly, residents remain able to drive on their streets, park on their streets and receive deliveries although it is noted that strategies should be in place to help reduce car ownership and usage by residents within any low traffic neighbourhood area.â
LTNs use measures like speed restrictions, partial or full road closures, modal filters and reallocating road space to improve walking and cycling infrastructure.
Conservatives on the council have said they are supportive in principle but the Liberal Democrat administration had ânot sufficiently demonstrated that this loss of freedom, which contributes to a liveable city, is a price worth payingâ. Others have branded the Lib Dems âanti-carâ.
How would you respond to the charges leveled by the Conservatives?
âItâs not anti-car,â said Cllr Wright. âYou will still be able to move around the city as you need to, but your journey will be more circuitous. We all have to reduce our vehicle movement by 50 per cent by 2030. We need more active travel methods in place to make that seismic leap.
âThe reason people say they donât walk or cycle is because itâs too challenging, itâs too difficult, itâs not very nice, thereâs no infrastructure.
âWeâre in a real bind. Weâve got to think differently. This LTNs is an approach we think takes the community with us, and at the same time delivers for everyone. If you still want to use your car, you can.
âWe all have to act differently. People will say âyouâre active, youâre fit but some people arenât and there are hillsâ. Iâm not doubting that.
âWeâre going to have to look for some infrastructure to help with that. There isnât a magic wand. Itâs going to take time.
âItâs not like youâre going to wake up tomorrow and the whole of Bath is going to be impossible to get across or around â itâs going to be a gradual journey.
âThere will be positives for other people and your own physical and mental health.â
Wonât shutting side streets force more traffic onto main roads?
Cllr Wright said traffic had already been displaced by the advent of satnavs that send drivers down the most direct route, often resulting in rat-running in residential areas.
She said the council would test changes through experimental traffic orders in place for 12 to 18 months to give time for behaviours to change.
Chris Major, the assistant director for highways and transport, previously told a webinar the proposals would displace traffic onto trunk roads and there was âno easy answerâ for how the council will support people who live on them.
But he added: âWeâre going to get more traffic if we do nothing. Weâre trying to put forward opportunities for people to change the way they travel and reduce the overall numbers of vehicles, which should reduce the impact on distributor roads.â
How much money will be available for the changes I want to make in my area? Will I be able to get a pedestrian crossing or just a planter to slow down traffic? What happens if a neighbouring LTN creates issues in my area?
Residentsâ associations drawing up submissions for LTNs have reported feeling like they are being âpitted against each otherâ, and said the rollout had caused anger and anxiety.
Cllr Wright said that is not what the council wants from communities: âWeâre trying to get people to tell us their problems, not come up with their solutions. Itâs a different question.
âWe arenât islands â weâre a whole. If you do something over there, of course itâs going to affect things over here.â
The work of designing schemes and considering how they interact will be done by council officers.
The authority has budgeted up to £2.2million for its broader liveable neighbourhoods programme in 2021/22 and Cllr Wright said LTNs will be the âbasic way of working for the highways department for the foreseeable futureâ.
As well as the councilâs funding, the West of England Combined Authority has £10million available for active travel, and LTNs are also being pushed by central government.
âIâm not waving a Liberal Democrat flag here,â added Cllr Wright. âThis is a central government flag.
âWeâd like to do all of the schemes but thereâs only so much money, and there isnât a magic wand. We arenât going to just make it better everywhere in the short term.
âThereâs going to have to be a process. The funding is as much about engagement as it is about putting in the infrastructure â the infrastructure is the cheapest part.â
How many LTN requests have been submitted?
Some âreally eager beaversâ who have been working on proposals âfor agesâ have already submitted their requests. Applications have come in from North East Somerset as well as Bath, and not just from Lib Dems.
Cllr Wright is yet to submit a bid as she has been getting the policy in place. She has asked residents in her ward of Lambridge what issues they want to be addressed.
Which areas will go first?
How the various schemes are prioritised is still being decided. The process will consider factors such as work going on in the city and indices of deprivation.
âItâs going to be a challenge, I canât deny that,â said Cllr Wright. âIâm going to have to be able to define why we take something forward first and not something else.
âWe also recognise itâs not going to be easy to take anything forward straight away.â
When will the first LTNs be in place?
âItâs going to take months to get to the delivery stage,â said Cllr Wright.
âI would hope weâll see something by the end of next March.â
She said issues elsewhere were caused by the DfT forcing councils to spend money quickly, but she thinks B&NES Council has taken the right approach.
âIt takes ages to do anything on the highways. That makes people frustrated. Thereâs so much legality.
âThere have been moments where Iâve been frustrated at how long itâs taken.â
But Cllr Wright said the authority had taken the right approach: âThe pandemic has shown that our route to our destination will be bumpy, but hopefully wonât be as bumpy as other areas. Our foundation stones are in place.â