Britons set road blocks on fire in revolt against eco-nuisance low traffic neighbourhoods
Citizens in Rochdale have protested against low traffic neighbourhoods.
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Britons across the country have been setting road blocks on fire in a demonstration against the introduction of low traffic neighbourhoods.
The scheme was designed to encourage people to cycle and walk instead of driving in typically residential streets.
They were introduced by the Government in 2020 through £225million in emergency funding.
The neighbourhoods have much wider pavements, cycle lanes and road blocks to stop cars coming through.
Bollards have been placed in a street in Cowley near Oxford
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But a number of the road blocks have been set alight recently by individuals in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in protest against the scheme.
The scheme, which has seen 300 road blocks set up so far, has been put on hold after the Rochdale incident.Hours after it was launched in February, motorists were seen driving around the blocks and mounting the pavement, raising concerns over the safety risk it posed to pedestrians.
On March 23, emergency services were called when a number of the blocks were set on fire and removed from the road.
The scheme, which has seen 300 road blocks set up so far, has been put on hold after the Rochdale incident.
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A video posted by Mohammed Yousuf showed a fire engine approaching one of the road blocks that was in flames.
Discussing the incident, Yousaf said: “Most of the community were aware of it being introduced but they weren't aware how many would be closed at once,
"Why block everything all at once? It added on at least half a mile for a lot of people's journeys which must have angered some members of the community.
"I passed it on to the local councillor Shahid and told him it (anger) would only get worse and the police and fire service would have to be involved again.
A video posted by Mohammed Yousuf showed a fire engine approaching one of the road blocks that was in flames.
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“He agreed we needed to sit down and start again and he worked all night on trying to address what had happened.” He told Manchester Evening News.
He continued: “They have managed to get it paused for now so we can reach an agreement again and proceed from there. The majority are for the scheme but not in the way it was done here, they shouldn't have blocked every street on the same day.
"A lot of people felt they were not involved in the consultation before so it's good news that they're going to get the community together where we can sit and talk it through, that's what people want.
“People want something done to address the problems the scheme was hoping for but they want it done right."
Similar scenes happened in Oxford, where a video emerged online of a driver approaching climate activists who were guarding a road block despite having no authority to.
Other parts of the scheme include introducing one-way streets and double yellow lines.
Low traffic neighbourhoods were introduced during the pandemic but quickly received criticism, with some saying they make all motorists drive onto the same roads, increasing congestion and pollution as a result.