LOW Traffic Neighbourhoods across the city have cost more than £100,000, the Oxford Mail can reveal.

LTNs are a traffic calming measure, that seeks to reduce motor vehicle traffic on residential streets and promote active travel.

Traffic is reduced by the installation of temporary or permanent barriers, such as bollards or planters, or by installing ANPR cameras.

The controversial scheme was first installed by Oxfordshire County Council in the Cowley area in March of last year.

Yet last month, the council approved for a second LTN to be created in East Oxford, which will result in traffic filters being installed off the side-roads of Iffley Road, Cowley Road, and St Clements.

A Freedom of Information Request, submitted by the Oxford Mail, has revealed how much the LTNs have cost since they were first proposed.

 Data reveals that the Cowley LTN trial scheme and the East Oxford LTN consultation phase cost the council at least £108,404 up to the date of November 20 2021.

The Cowley Area Experimental LTN had cost £97,404 to date, however, this excluded the cost of staff, as well as consultancy and consultation activities, such as handing out leaflets.

The council said it could not reveal the total cost as consultation activities had been combined with other projects and therefore, the full cost was not distinguishable between projects.

To pay for the LTN scheme, the council received almost a £3 million ‘Active Travel’ grant from the Department of Transport – this pot of money is being used to fund schemes such as the LTNs, as well as improved cycling routes across the county.

The FOI further revealed that monitoring costs of the LTNs in Oxford had cost £59,663.76 as of November 20 2021 – with the monitoring costs of the Cowley LTN area alone costing £16,363.62.

The cost of installing ANPR cameras in the Cowley LTN area cost £32,604 to date and the cost of changing road signs in the Cowley LTN area costs £3921.

Although the East Oxford LTN trial is not expected to begin until spring this year, the scheme has already been through two lengthy consultation processes.

In July, results of the first public consultation revealed that the majority of respondents did not support the scheme.

Following this initial rejection, the council then carried out targeted consultations to key stakeholders, such as schools that would be affected in the area, places of worship, and local businesses.

Despite a number of stakeholders and the leaders of Oxford City Council, calling on the county council not to approve the installation of the East Oxford LTNs, the plans were approved.

Leader of the council, Liz Leffman, said it was ‘vitally important’ this step was taken to be in line with ‘what our government wants’ and the goals set at COP26.

Up to November 2021, the council had spent £9,150 on the consultancy of the proposed East Oxford scheme – excluding initial development costs, which were part of a wider package of works and were not distinguishable from other projects.

A spokesperson for the county council said: “The council received funding to support the implementation of low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) from the Department for Transport’s active travel fund.

“The costs outlined for consultancy and monitoring refer to services procured for a range of projects across the city and county, and therefore the proportion of money spent specifically on LTNs is lower.”

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