A trial low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) scheme in Newcastle will not be made permanent, the city council has announced.

Through the 18-month trial scheme, which started in March 2022, bollards were installed to prevent through traffic from using residential streets in Fenham, with the aim of rerouting vehicles onto main roads.

Although data showed an intended increase in the number of vehicles on the main road network, it also showed increased traffic on smaller neighbouring streets, suggesting that through traffic was using alternative residential routes, the authority has said.

With the trial ending on 8 September, Newcastle City Council said it had reviewed data from the scheme and feedback from a public consultation and had not seen ‘enough evidence’ to keep the LTN in place.

The council is also trialling a similar scheme in Jesmond.

Cllr Jane Byrne, cabinet member for a connected, clean city, said: ‘Fenham was the first area of the city to pilot a neighbourhood low traffic zone trial and we haven’t seen enough evidence to keep it in place, particularly with the displacement of traffic on to what should be quiet residential streets, rather than rerouting onto the main roads.

‘As we have said many times, these schemes are trials which are really important as they allow us to try the changes in local areas and see what works for people living in the zone.

‘We also know that some people will be disappointed, but we’ve taken a lot of learning from the scheme, and we have a good basis for refining a future scheme by listening to residents and looking at the data in more detail.’