Petition to keep the Antill Road Vehicle Filter

 

Please sign this petition on the council's website if you would like to keep the Antill Road Scheme which is locally popular:

Sign to Keep the Antill Road vehicle filter

Many residents of Antill Road and surrounding streets, welcome the vehicle filter which has been a great success by:

(i) dramatically reducing the vehicle traffic rat running down the street.

(ii) reducing pollution resulting in much cleaner air.

(iii) making walking, scooting and cycling safer and more welcoming.

(iv) making it safer for children to cross the road.

What is this to do with us in MEOTRA?

• Antill Road is literally just the other side of the tracks to us and they need their neighbours' support.
• The rat runners pass through the Coborn Road Bridge and this affects us directly.
• Meotra parents walking their kids to Malmesbury/Olga and Chisenhale Schools have noticed an improvement.
• The council say they are reversing the road closure - but it isn't closed: ALL EMERGENCY VEHICLES CAN DRIVE DOWN ANTILL ROAD WITHOUT ANY OBSTRUCTIONS. Don't let them make you think otherwise!
• What a waste of money to rip it out within a couple of months. Will TfL ever give the borough a grant again?

Below are some maps showing the rat run used by out of borough vehicles driving in on the A11/A12 of a morning. They rat-run along Alfred Street, Malmesbury Road and Coborn and then along Antill in order to by pass the Mile End/Grove Road Junction.

Some coming via the A12 along Tredegar Road even do a U-eey at the Coborn railway Bridge to circumvent the no right turn into Coborn from Tredegar Road.

These two rat runs have caused Coborn Road to become quite an accident spot. (That is an article for another day).


What is there not to like about the existing scheme?
Well those wanting an exemption have to pay £20 per year. Some have an issue with that. I guess all borough residents could be given free access to all these ANPR-controlled routes? But why should residents who don't drive subsidise drivers?

How else can you help?
Please circulate the petition info to WhatsApp groups you belong to (perhaps from your local schools etc).

Below are some roughly put together route maps (thanks Google traffic) that illustrate some of the routes.

The classic dog-leg need to get to Hackney/Bethnal Green/ Old Street and beyond of a morning having come along the A11:

The Alfred Street-Malmesbury-Coborn/Antill Zig Zag which by-passes that pesky Mile End Junction:

The sneaky avoid the "No Right from Tredegar Road" U turn:

Antill Road - Removal of [short-lived] closure scheme

 

Today many MEOTRA residents received a letter from Tower Hamlets Council stating that the Antill Road closure is to be removed on 18th July 2022. Less than four months after it went live. (a copy of the letter is below)

You may remember getting the scheme up and running has been quite a journey (see and Making a Mountain out of Antill and Liveable Streets - Antill Road Exception Scheme). It never ends.

So we have a new Mayor and his manifesto includes some admirable pledges:

1. Work with the Mayor of London to tackle air pollution in Tower Hamlets.
2. Only introduce traffic reduction measures through consultation with, and by the consent of the people of this borough.
3. Reopen our roads, and abolish the failed Liveable Streets scheme, which has seen emergency services and vulnerable residents' access blocked.
4. Monitor the effectiveness and safety of cycle lanes, such as on Bow Road.
5. Avoid penalising those in our community who drive, who in many cases are not responsible for the bulk of air pollution.

But the letter we have received isn't consultation?  It is just stating what is going to be done. 

The emergency vehicles are not inconvenienced by this scheme at all. - There are none of those notorious road-blocking planters. It seems it is being ripped out just because the Liveable Streets/LTN brand is toxic.

I have requested a copy of the paperwork relating to the review that was carried out. 

MEOTRA would very much like to hear what you think of the changes. Please take a couple of minutes to complete a very short online form. It might well be the thing has driven you mad or you've found it helpful. Please let us know.

A copy of the letter is below.

Making a Mountain out of Antill?

 

Application Date: 28/03/2022 | Launch Date: 28/03/2022

The MEOTRA inbox has had quite a bit of traffic related to the forthcoming Antill Road changes.

The key issue is that residents can't apply for an exemption permit until the day the scheme launches. MEOTRA have tried and tried to get this madness rectified by emailing and speaking to our councillors, the borough's executive Mayor, the council officer in charge of Liveable Streets and RingGo, the private company responsible for the permit scheme. We've even had our MP, Rushanara Ali, explaining it to residents on their doorsteps!

It doesn't seem to be through a lack of political will, but more a case of "Computer Says No". Whether that is a particular council officer's computer or RingGo's computer is something MEOTRA couldn't possibly guess, though RingGo do seem to manage to look after the details for some 16 million UK cars and handle over 2 million transactions a month without much problem.

The good news is that the council is giving everyone TWO WEEKS GRACE, so you won't get fined at the scheme launch. So I'd recommend putting a calendar reminder in your diary or on your phone calendar to apply sometime after the 28th of March. This is the link to the council page in case you've lost it.

And don't forget, even without a permit, the scheme still let's you drive to anywhere you want, though you might have to go around the houses a bit.

Today I found this snippet from an old MARCH 2000 newsletter, which gives an idea of how long rat-running through our area has been discussed:

"Rat-Running in Mile End Old Town

Since the opening of the M11 link, MEOTRA has viewed with growing concern the increase in traffic that is cutting through our area from Mile End Road up to Tredegar Road and, in particular, the speed at which some vehicles go along our streets.

We are tackling this problem on two fronts. Firstly, we have written to Tom McCourt, Head of Traffic at Tower Hamlets, suggesting a number of kerb extensions to narrow some streets down to single lanes, so that cars must slow down. We are not in favour of speed bumps as these cause considerable noise, particularly for those poor residents who have to live by one! . . . Both MEOTRA and the Antill Road Residents' Association, who are also suffering from rat-running, raised the following points:

• there is a significant build up of traffic along Grove Road

• the junction of Mile End Road/Grove Road/Burdett Road is becoming increasingly dangerous (the death of a young cyclist there at the end of last year highlights this)

• lorries and vans are speeding through the area, with no regard for school children who walk in our area

• vehicles are turning right at the bottom of Tredegar Road into Coborn Road which is both illegal and dangerous

• and the obvious one of increased traffic through our area"

 

Liveable Streets - Antill Road Exception Scheme

Recently many MEOTRA residents received a letter from Tower Hamlets Council regarding the commencement of works to install a new road closure to through traffic on Antill Road on the junction with Selwyn Road.

The closure is scheduled to be operational from Monday 28th March and construction works have already begun. 

Many MEOTRA residents are entitled to apply for a permit (£20 per annum) to pass through Antill Road in a westbound direction. (Only emergency vehicles can pass in an eastbound direction).

It transpires letters were sent prematurely, before the council's IT had updated the relevant website. This has now been done, but there is still an elephant in the room: You can't apply for a permit until THE DAY the scheme launches. This is obviously bonkers and it seems to be either that "RingGo", the outside company issuing permits, are unable to have cope with application dates before the start date, or council officers are being intransient for whatever reason.

At the moment our councillors are working to sort this out - it is a bureaucratic issue, rather than a political one.

If you do manage to get your permit sorted before the day you need it, then please let us know. We are monitoring the council site for updates and chasing the issue with both RingGo and the council. Keep an eye on the relevant council page and see if the application date moves to something more sensible.