Researchers have discovered that levels of the dangerous nitrous oxide emitted from vehicles was reduced when a low traffic neighbourhood was removed in London.

The Telegraph says the emissions measured dropped significantly just days after road closures were scrapped, explaining that the Wandsworth Council research suggests traffic congestion and pollution is being shifted from more affluent neighbourhoods to main roads, often the location of poorer housing and estates.

The paper also says a survey of councils reveals one in four town halls have scrapped or reduced road closures and pop-up cycle lanes after public opposition.

Meanwhile it also reports that a Freedom of Information request to the Royal Borough of Greenwich has revealed that London Ambulance Service “cannot support any scheme that involves the closure of a road using static bollards, lockable bollards, gates or physical barriers like planters,” because paramedics do not carry the specific keys required to unlock such blockades, adding that “existing schemes already create us problems … and not generally routinely maintained … and are difficult to unlock anyway.”

(Picture – Yay Images)