One of London’s most polluted roads. Google Maps


Thousands of families in London’s East End are calling for lower speed limits along one of Britain’s most polluted roads.

They want a 30mph speed limit along the A12 Blackwall Tunnel Approach because they say they are trapped by the heavy traffic.

The current 40mph limit should be reduced at the only pedestrian crossing points on the six-lane dual-carriageway running through Poplar where it crosses Zetland Street and Lochnagar Street.

Up to 100 campaigners and their children from the Teviot and Brownfield housing estates along the A12 staged a protest last week at the crossing they say does not give them enough time to reach the other side.

“The A12 cuts right across our community and many homes are on the edge of this busy road,” grandmother Cissy Townsend told the East London Advertiser.

“Cutting the speed will make it safer for us all to get around. We have two crossings, but anyone with kids cannot get across in time. It is an accident waiting to happen.”

She is founder of Teviot Action Group which gives voice to 2,000 families on both estates who have now launched a petition demanding “no more cars in our back yard”.

The families, backed by Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association which manages the estates, plan to hand the petition to Tower Hamlets Council and the Department for Transport in Whitehall.

The A12 Approach opened in 1972 and is now one of London’s most congested and polluted highways, according to London Assembly statistics.

It also cuts Poplar in half, isolating families and businesses alongside the River Lea around Abbott Road.

“We have been protesting for years,” Cissy added. “The road cannot take any more traffic.

“The pollution is so toxic that many children in the six schools in the area have inhalers. We have to wash our curtains at least once a fortnight because they get so dirty.”

The campaigners say reducing the speed limit will not cause traffic jams—the A12 is already gridlocked regularly.

Politicians and planners have for years ignored protests from residents and calls from Railfuture and other groups to improve public transport, as a way to reduce the pollution and danger of road traffic. Reducing a speed limit by 10mph is the least they could do. Much more than that, however, is needed.

Original story by Mike Brooke, East London Advertiser: car protest