• FRESH from their success with low traffic neighbourhoods, LTNs, forcing traffic going north from all roads between Primrose Hill road and Eversholt Street to travel up Parkway, a road which is often limited in places to one lane (let’s not talk about the hopefully shelved plan to make that permanent with a bus lane), we now have morning-to-night traffic jams with all the extra noise and traffic pollution that goes with it.

I was walking that way on Thursday and the jam reached back through Gloucester Gate and down round the Outer Circle for 100 metres.

With autumn, school holidays are over and so more normal traffic levels have returned. We were assured by the post-event implementation meeting on LTNs that traffic levels were now lower and this would not be a problem… clearly the poor drivers who have to drive this way were not told; not to mention the serious problem for anyone who lives in the area.

The validation for LTNs were pollution and safety.

There has been no improvement in road deaths from these two LTNs because there were no road deaths before.

All the pollution has been shifted to Parkway… net improvement zero… and not a good look for a “food zone”.

What has changed is that we have a permanent traffic jam on Parkway.

This is bad for local businesses, bad for residents, bad for travellers through… no winners.

I wish I could say the council’s enlightened management of the area had resulted in a happy flourishing business environment. Sadly this is not the case.

I have seen a further charity shop open (no rates I assume), and a further good restaurant close on Parkway.

At what stage does the council remove failing staff and replace them with a new team rather more rooted in reality?

How bad do things have to get?

MARK JENKINS, NW1