Air quality fund pays for traffic restrictions

Schemes to restrict fossil fuel-powered vehicles feature in London mayor Sadiq Khan’s latest £6m Air Quality Fund awards.

Four new Low Emission Neighbourhoods (LENs) are among 15 projects to receive funding. The London Borough of Hackney will consider a range of options “for reducing polluting vehicles” on Church Street in Stoke Newington. 

Camden’s LEN will focus on Camden Town and includes trial closures of the High Street during summer and around Christmas, as well as a ‘low emission route’ to the market. 

Barking and Dagenham’s scheme focuses on Becontree Heath and includes traffic calming, road closures, and trial schemes to allow only cyclists and pedestrians to use some streets. 

Southwark’s LEN on Walworth Road includes measures to stop traffic rat-running and the provision of electric vehicle charging facilities. 

Other schemes to receive funding include:

• a Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) in the ‘City Cluster’, the eastern corner of the City of London. which will restrict access to “polluting vehicles”

• Zero Emissions Network (ZEN) phase 3 – establishing ZENs in Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets. ZENs provide support, advice, events and small grants to help businesses reduce emissions

• Hammersmith Zero Emissions Network – support for businesses to switch to zero/low emission vehicles?

• Enhanced street cleaning to cut particulate pollution – researching new approaches to tackling highly polluted streets and pollution hotspots

• Redbridge ‘School Streets’ – timed road closures outside five schools in Redbridge 

• Camden cargo bike network – extended loans of cargo bikes to  businesses 

• A project to take action on idling (including enforcement) spanning 27 boroughs?

• a South London Construction Consolidation Centre serving six boroughs, with all trips made by Euro VI HGVs

• ‘Healthy Streets Everyday’ – a car-free and pedestrianisation project spanning 16 boroughs that will deliver 250 car-free and pedestrianisation initiatives or events over three years.