Pollution levels had plummeted on Beech Street in London, which runs through central Barbican, after the City of London Corporation introduced an experimental traffic limit to electric vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. But in September last year, the city ended the order by welcoming diesel and petrol trucks, cars and cabs back to the road. Nitrogen dioxide levels, which damage the airways of humans and animals and cause lung disease, are once again above legal limits. The latest data from London Air show that so far this year the average NO2 level recorded on Beech Street was 43 micrograms per cubic meter. The legal limit is on average 40 μg / m3 over a year. The latest World Health Organization directive proposes a limit of 10 μg / m3. graphic “Dirty air is back in the Barbican,” said Oliver Lord, head of the Clean Cities Campaign in the United Kingdom, who commissioned the Beech Street air quality analysis from Imperial College London. “The opening of Beech Street to polluting diesel vehicles has led to higher levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide, with the road in danger of once again violating legal limits. “The city’s commitment to a zero-emission zone in the Barbican must be promoted as soon as possible, otherwise it risks negligence, giving cleaner air and then removing it.” Beech Street, a tunnel under a section of the Barbican estate in London City from which fumes can not be easily dispersed, has been a notorious hotspot of pollution for years. Prior to the scheme, the mean NO2 concentration in the air was 58 μg / m3. “Beech Street faces high levels of air pollution as it is a busy, closed road,” the municipality said as it launched its zero-emission program in March 2020. “Significant improvements in air quality are expected, resulting in health benefits for many pedestrians and cyclists using the road “. NO2 levels were reduced by 67%, to 19.5 μg / m3, even without any imposition beyond the marks and scars. However, this coincided with the first lockdown for the coronavirus and a general drop in traffic. Following the easing of lockdown restrictions and the return to life on the city streets and the implementation of enforcement measures, there was a slight increase in NO2 levels, averaging 24.7 μg / m3. Louise Mittal, of the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London and co-author of the report, said: It descended more than other sites in London, then ascended again when the road was removed. “Basically we saw an improvement when the plan was in place,” he said. In all, only about 930 vehicles a day used Beech Street during the program, compared with 9,500 before the restrictions began. About 34,000 penalty cards were issued to motorists caught on the road in petrol or diesel vehicles. The City of London said it had terminated the Beech Street program because the 18-month time limit for the pilot release had expired. Last December, members of the company voted to launch a public consultation to make the Beech Street program permanent.
