Emergency road safety measures will see a key route in Hackney closed to through-traffic.

Barnabas Road, linking Wick Road and Homerton High Street, is set to be shut to make more room for two-metre social distancing and to improve cycling and walking routes.

It is an important thoroughfare for residents using Homerton Station, workers at Homerton University Hospital and cyclists using protected lanes on Wick Road.

An experimental traffic order has been invoked for the move, which will see planters installed to block traffic.

This comes following an announcement from prime minister Boris Johnson in which he asked the country to avoid using public transport.

Cllr Jon Burke, Hackney Council’s cabinet member for energy, waste, transport and public realm, said: “As a result of the pandemic, people are walking and cycling more, but there is a clear danger that traffic will increase as people continue to avoid public transport.”

He described changes in behaviour as potentially representing a “radical long-term shift in levels of walking and cycling”.

The council is identifying roads which could benefit from improvement measures and has adapted its borough-wide traffic survey in light of pressures arising from the pandemic.

It is also resharing its School Streets toolkit, which sees roads by schools pedestrianised at peak times, and set up a hotline for other London boroughs looking for advice on implementing them.

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