Its time to make the Mill Road Modal Filter Work

There was an interesting local Council by-election result from Tottenham Hale last week - fought by the Conservatives entirely as a campaign against a local Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN). The Conservative vote share fell from 8.3% to 5.8%. To make it abundantly clear, this means opposing LTNs is not a strong election winning tactic - it damages support. 

My views differ from friends in the Conservative party on the merits of the recently agreed bus filter on Mill Road in Cambridge (a form of LTN) - this will close Mill Road bridge to private motor vehicles (with a few exceptions like taxis and vehicles used by blue badge holders). To summarise where we are now:

• A big study of LTNs in London shows no significant increase in traffic on boundary roads around LTNs - some journeys are longer, other journeys are replaced by more sustainable options, overall these effects approximately balance on boundary roads, and traffic is much lower inside the LTN. There is no reason to believe the results from the Mill Road filter will be significantly different.
• There is a difference of opinion over the impact on trade on businesses on Mill Road. But the risks have been significantly overstated by opponents of the filter. For most shops, there was no (legal or safe) option to stop off outside the shops. Studies have shown shop owners systematically overestimate the contribution to their trade from cars. Most vehicles on Mill Road are just passing through. Mill Road is great, but it is much more pleasant to visit the shops, restaurants and cafes without the hideous levels of car use on the road we currently see.
• All the evidence is that there is strong public support for the filter - the Conservatives made no electoral impact with a campaign against the filter at last year's local elections, and winning Council candidates in the area strongly support the filter, two official surveys have also shown clear net support. The decision to approve the permanent Traffic Regulation Order was made by the Highways Committee of the County Council, with Councillors voting in favour, including all the Councillors closest to the filter. If the plans with strong local support in Cambridge had been blocked mostly by Conservatives from distant parts of the rural County, it would have made it harder still for any kind of Conservative recovery in the City.

At the meeting, the Conservative group tried to delay the decision and kick the can further down the road, by calling for more studies and a public enquiry. There has been more than 2 years to consider traffic modelling, and lots of evidence from elsewhere - the conclusions of any further work would have been as above - broadly neutral impact on boundary roads, much lower congestion on and near Mill Road. Taking the decision away from democratically elected Councillors to a public enquiry would have needed taxpayers money being taken from other areas to pay the cost of making a less democratic decision. The cost and delays to seemingly every government decision of giving people endless rights to appeal, object, veto or delay controversial decisions is having a catastrophic impact on economic growth and the public finances - it does not reflect well on the Conservatives that they proposed engaging in these tactics here.

So my main message to the Conservatives and those traders who have opposed this decision - or regardless of what you think of the Mill Road bridge bus filter - a popular, considered, democratic decision has now been taken to introduce a permanent TRO. It is time to move on, and work constructively to make the most of the obvious benefits of a lower traffic Mill Road, and continue to enhance the street to attract in more people. There are new opportunities like adding spots of short-stay shopper parking, blue badge spaces, removing the now-unnecessary traffic lights at Gwydir Street, and removing peak-time delivery restrictions - all of which are not possible when there is so much through-traffic.

Any time and effort spent trying to undo a fait accompli is effort that distracts from the campaign against the GCP's congestion charging plans - which all the evidence suggests aren't popular over a wide area, do not have a democratic mandate and will do a lot of harm to people who will have no viable options to paying a large new additional tax. To defeat the congestion charging plans will require a broad coalition - it won't be helped if campaigners constantly veers towards an extreme general campaign to oppose all measures to help and encourage people to use their cars a bit less, and more sustainable options a bit more.