Four key roads serving High Barnet -- which are just within the borough boundary -- have been excluded from the new vehicle emissions zone for the whole of Greater London.
As from August next year, all outer London boroughs will be included in the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone requiring older vehicles to pay £12.50 a day for entering and driving in and around Greater London.
According to City Hall’s latest estimate only 15 per cent of vehicles within the outer London boroughs will be liable to the £12.50-a-day levy.
In a further move to dissuade car use and reduce exhaust emissions, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is promising “the biggest ever expansion of the TfL bus network” – a pledge that will no doubt be seized upon by those campaigning for the restoration of the 84-bus service between New Barnet and Potters Bar.
Since the inner London ULEZ was created in 2019, and then expanded to the boundaries of the North and South Circular roads, the mayor says harmful pollution levels in central London have been reduced by almost a half.
There are estimates of 4,000 premature deaths a year from air pollution in the capital – and outer boroughs have some of the highest figures with 201 early deaths a year in Barnet, 204 in Bromley and 196 in Croydon.
The four High Barnet roads to be excluded from the ULEZ – but which can still be used without charge by vehicles that fail to meet the emissions standards -- are:
A1000 (Great North Road) north from Barnet town centre, to and from junction with St Albans Road
A1081 (St Albans Road) to and from junction with Barnet High Street
A411 (Barnet Road) to and from Stirling Corner to junction with Galley Lane
Galley Lane
These four roads provide strategic routes connecting areas just outside the new Greater London ULEZ zone such as Potters Bar and Borehamwood.
Drivers heading south on the A1 will have an alternative route to avoid having to cross the Barnet borough boundary and risk being caught in cameras at the start of the ULEZ zone.
By turning left along the A411 (Barnet Road) drivers can continue east to The Arkley public house and then turn left again and head north along Galley Lane which is also excluded from the zone.
Drivers heading towards Barnet on Galley Lane would have the option to turn right into Barnet Road and then head west for the A1 roundabout at Stirling Corner
Similarly, traffic heading south on the A1081 (St Albans Road) can turn left at the junction with Barnet High Street and head north along the A1000 (Great North Road) through Hadley Green and Monken Hadley.
The reverse option would be available to vehicles heading south towards Barnet on the A1000 which could turn right into the St Albans Road.
These four exclusions will also assist the movement of vehicles between farms and riding stables just north of the Barnet boundary – but one downside is that it could lead to even more older cars and vehicles parking along the St Albans Road to avoid paying the £12.50 ULEZ charge.
There are similar exclusions for key sections of other main roads and motorways which are within the boundaries of London boroughs and where alternative routes will be available to avoid entering the zone.
Alternative routes are needed at roundabouts or junctions where U turns are not permitted.
At present the ULEZ boundary is within the North and South Circular Roads. This will move from August 29, 2023, to the current boundary of the Low Emission zone and the expansion will take the new zone right up to the M25 in some places.
The £12.50 charge will have to be paid on the M1 between Brent Cross and London Gateway but not on the M1 north of London Gateway.
Other measures announced by the Mayor of London to smooth the expansion of the ULEZ – as well as expansion of the TfL bus network -- include a £110 million scheme to encourage the scrappage of older vehicles.
The only mention of Barnet in the list improvements to the bus network says there will be “new and improved services” at Brent Cross.
But the mayor has given an undertaking that all the money raised by the ULEZ will be used to fund local public transport to strengthen alternatives to the use of private cars.
Restoration of the missing 84 bus service between New Barnet and Potters Bar is seen as a high priority by the Chipping Barnet MP, Theresa Villiers.
Within the existing ULEZ inner zone, 96 per cent of cars comply with exhaust emission standards.
City Hall calculates that the 15 per cent in the outer London zone that do not comply – around 200,000 vehicles (160,000 cars and 42,000 vans) – is declining quite rapidly.
Older cars that will have to pay the £12.50 daily charge include petrol cars predating 2005 and diesels older than 2015.
Disabled drivers (including automatic Blue Badge holders) will have until October 2027 to comply and the deadline for community transport minibuses run by not-for-profit organisations in October 2025.
The ULEZ levy will be payable 24 hours a day, midnight to midnight, every day of the year, except Christmas Day. The £12.50 charge is in addition to the congestion charge. Motorists who do not pay the charge by the midnight of the day following their journey can be charged up to £180.
