People are driving less and cycling more in Stoke Newington compared to this time last year, a Hackney Council report has revealed.
The data, published last Friday to mark a year of the Church Street bus gate, showed that vehicle numbers along the street fell by 53.3% from 10,605 per day in September 2021 to 4948 September 2022.
This was accompanied by a 30.3% increase in cyclists from 2250 per day to 2932.
The bus gate, which permits only buses, cyclists and pedestrians to pass from 7am to 7pm, was introduced in October 2021.
Chris, a member of Low Traffic Hackney, a group of local residents who support traffic-reducing measures, said that the bus gate was just one way of reducing traffic in Hackney.
“The report is a positive reflection of what’s been happening in the last year,’ he said. ‘But this is just the start – it’s all about long-term behaviour change.’
‘We need road user pricing where you pay a small amount to drive,” he said. “We also need far more parking bays for cyclists.”
“We have to adapt – we can’t have cities choked up by air pollution and children dying from it.”
Stoke Newington Councillor Gilbert Smyth, said the bus gate was part of plans to “stop the dominance of the car.”
“More people are cycling and walking and shopping is going up,’ he said. ‘New shops in Church Street are opening up.”
“I’d say 70% of people are in support of the Church Street LTN,” Smyth added.
“On average, it is between 15 to 20 minutes extra [journey length] if people have to go ‘around the houses’. For what the community gets out of it, better quality air and quality of life, it outweighs the negatives.”
Traffic has, however, increased on roads that surround Church Street. There was a 67.3% increase in the number of motor vehicles recorded on Mildmay Road between September 2021 and September 2022 and a 22.7% increase on Matthias Road.
Some business owners on Church Street have criticised the scheme, saying it has caused problems with deliveries, whilst not increasing footfall.
Serena Sarnataro, who opened Vicoli di Napoli Pizzeria on Church Street in 2017, alleges she wasn’t consulted about the introduction of the bus gate last September.
“It’s right outside my shop and I heard about it only a month before it was implemented,” she said.
“They could have put in a loading bay at least – most of my delivery drivers get fined every time they deliver to me.”
“I’ve got nothing against trying to reduce pollution but this is another scheme to get money into the council through fines.”
Paul Grout, who works at Meat N16 on Church Street, questioned the accuracy of some of the statistics in the report.
“They said Mastercard is recording more transactions on the street but that’s because people are still not using cash after Covid,” he said. “Any of the traders on Church Street would tell you that their business is down by 15 to 20%.”
“It’s dividing an extremely strong community.”
Stoke Newington Business Association declined to comment.
