The review into low-traffic neighbourhoods, which British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ordered last month, has yet to reach first gear amid a backlash over the threat of the return of neighbourhood rat-runs.
An LTN is a street that is closed off, either by automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, bollards or large wooden planter boxes.
The thinking behind LTNs is that they shut off quick through-routes or “rat-runs”, making streets safer and the air around them less polluted because fewer cars pass through.
The idea is to keep traffic on main roads and prevent vehicles cutting through quiet residential streets, something which has happened increasingly since the advent of satellite navigation in cars and on mobile phones.
The term LTN was first coined during the Covid pandemic and many were set up by local councils using money from the government's active travel fund.
One aim is to change behaviour by making local car journeys longer and more inconvenient, thereby encouraging people to walk and cycle more.
As a government study in 2020 claimed: “A successful LTN makes walking and cycling more convenient than using a car for short trips, while maintaining essential access and enhancing the quality of the area, reducing local air and noise pollution, and road danger.”
In some areas, LTNs have been controversial and the bollards and planters have been the subject of violent attacks from disgruntled businesses.
And there has been opposition from some local businesses, who claim that when traffic is reduced, so too are customer numbers.
Ian Snowdon is a local Conservative councillor in Oxfordshire, who also owns a business in the east of Oxford.
“What they should do now is actually remove some, if not all, of the LTNs,” he told The National.
“Let traffic move again.”
As part of a move to placate some of his fellow Conservative MPs, Mr Sunak announced the review in part to convince the public that the government was not “anti-car”.
“I just want to make sure people know that I'm on their side in supporting them to use their cars to do all the things that matter to them,” he said. The intervention has raised concerns of a "climate change culture war" seeping into government policy and adversely affecting the UK's net-zero goals.
Broader implications
But after three weeks, the Department of Transport has announced little beyond the definition of what an LTN actually is.
It now says an LTN is any scheme under which traffic on residential streets is halted either by the use of ANPR cameras, or by physical barriers such as bollards or planters. No date has been given for when they were installed.
This changes the game somewhat.
About 200 or so LTNs were created on England's residential streets between 2020 and 2022. But they have existed in one form or another for decades.
As such, if a review finds that local councils should remove some LTNs, “rat-runs” could re-establish themselves on residential roads that have enjoyed low traffic for 30 years and more.
“While the term LTNs was popularised during the pandemic, we need the government to show greater understanding that similar schemes have been around for years, that many people already live in them and are happy to do so,” Tim Burns, head of policy for UK walking and cycling charity Sustrans, told The Guardian newspaper.
“Local authorities have, since the 1970s, worked to reduce through-traffic on residential roads, including things we’re all used to seeing: bollards, one-way streets and cul-de-sacs. In fact, LTNs are older than our current Prime Minister and are routine for new housing developments.”
LTNs and other traffic measures such as London's ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) have become hot political issues since the Conservatives narrowly retained Boris Johnson's old parliamentary seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Many observers claim Labour failed to win the seat because of London mayor Sadiq Khan's plan to expand the Ulez to cover most of the capital.
“The problem is that we have high levels of car dependency in the UK,” Rachel Aldred, professor of transport at the University of Westminster, told The National.
“And therefore, if you restrict the ability of people to drive, whether it's a question of bollards, the reduction of car lanes or congestion charges, all these policies are often very, very controversial, because the way that transport and urban planning has developed postwar, it's been very focused around the car and the assumption that we protect and prioritise car mobility.
“So, unsurprisingly, it's often quite controversial when policies challenge that.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
Company Profile
Company name: Fine Diner
Started: March, 2020
Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and food delivery
Initial investment: Dh75,000
Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp
Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000
Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
If you go…
Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
