The EVIDENCE project: Measure no.4 - Access restrictions

This article draws on a review of literature on 'access restrictions': removing, filtering or controlling the flow of vehicles in a street or part of a city with the intention of encouraging other modes (public transport, cycling and walking) and improving the public realm• Pedestrianisation and access restrictions can bring considerable benefits to towns and cities - although the range of quantitative evidence is limited.• Pedestrianising shopping streets tends to increase retail revenues and the value of property on those streets.• Road closures do not cause ‘traffic chaos’ as critics often fear; drivers adapt their behaviour in ways that are not yet fully understood, but which avoid the worst consequences of congestion.• Benefits include: improvements to the urban environment, reduced traffic in central areas, reduced air and noise pollution and modal shift towards sustainable mobility.• There will normally be some increased traffic on surrounding streets. The extent of traffic displacement depends upon the existence of ‘spare capacity’ on the surrounding streets