Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN’s)

During the Covid chaos Greenwich council introduced LNT’s into the equation to control traffic for some unknown reason. This I cannot fathom out as when we were all in lockdown it was noted how the air quality improved dramatically as no one was driving. So why did we need low traffic neighbourhoods or LTN’s for short.

Greenwich seem to have jumped on the bandwagon that other London boroughs were partaking in.

You may be shouting at the screen right now shouting “you anti-social right wing petrol head” but you could not be more wrong. I am all for well thought out reasonable LTN’s but Greenwich council plans to cut off traffic flowing from the top of Greenwich Park along the A2, down to Trafalgar Road and the centre of Greenwich, during rush hour  will have to travel as far as the  of Greenwich South Street or Greenwich High Road and come back on yourself.

Anyone wanting to get to anywhere within the forbidden zone during peak rush hour will have to be registered with the council as a resident within the LTN.

Forget your early morning or evening delivery for your online shopping site if you live in the LTN. You will have to wait. They want to deliver to you but can’t do it within your rules.

I’m sure most of the people living within the LTN’s are all for it, If I lived in one so would I, but it does have a downside to other people and I’m not just talking about the local commuters who may have no choice but to take their vehicles with them. Not everyone can just hop on to public transport.

The other people that I am talking about are the people that live to the west of the A102 otherwise known as the Blackwall tunnel approach. The traffic that would have probably have gone by Coombes Hill, Royal Hill, Westcombe Hill, Vanbrugh Hill, or Maze Hill will have to find new rat runs originating in or around Charlton.

Unfortunately, I am one of the people affected by the Charlton rat runs and at the moment the traffic that uses Victoria Way is manageable and not too bad, unless it is a Charlton Athletic match day, then it becomes hell.

Even when there is no match on, during the rush hour it can get busy and one of the things that make it a nightmare to drive down is the weak railway bridge that was made into a single lane road between the barriers.

The rules of the road dictate that cars driving up a hill will always have priority of vehicles coming down the hill, and this is how the signage on the road is set out. This rule is also regularly ignored by arrogant drivers who either do not know this or are of the opinion that the rules only apply to other people and not them.

With regular frequency you will get road rage and a belligerent arsehole who will drive down ignoring the signs and when his path is blocked by the vehicle in the right will shout obscenities and threaten the other driver and occasionally it gets physical.

This will only get worst when all this diverted traffic is pushed down roads like Victoria Way or Charlton Church Lane, which are roads that cannot cope with mass two-way traffic.

The council know this will happen as they have stated that they will be monitoring the situation. This is council speak for, they know what will happen but are not going to do anything and cannot be bothered.