‘First of its kind’ online tool created to help tackle pollution in London

BGS’s new, first of its kind online tool, Road Pollution Solutions, has gone live today (4 September 2023) and predicts which roads in London create the most runoff pollutants and how this can be tackled with nature-based solutions. The tool will help local authorities to prioritise water-quality improvement interventions at roads where major road runoff pollution is occurring and in the greenspaces that lie between the roads and the rivers.

Road runoff pollution in rivers and streams comes from oil, diesel and petrol spills as well as the wearing of roads, tyres and braking systems. These all leave residues and sediment that are washed off the roads and into waterways by rain. Roads where heavy goods vehicles regularly apply their brakes are often the worst affected.

Modelling shows that more than 2400 road sections covering a total of 451 km of London’s major roads pose a high risk of causing road runoff pollution. These roads are the priority for treatment, with natural barriers, such as wetlands, being used to help capture and prevent some of this road runoff pollution from entering rivers and streams.

The London boroughs ‘predicted’ to have the most polluting roads include:

• Barking and Dagenham
• Barnet
• Havering
• Haringey
• Waltham Forest

We have been delighted to work with Thames21 and its partners to create the Road Pollution Solutions tool. It will help local authorities and anyone seeking to improve our water environment to quickly identify the major sources of pollution from roads and to prioritise interventions to tackle them. Nature-based solutions have multiple benefits and we expect the tool to speed up their implementation.

Chris Jackson, BGS Head of Environmental Modelling

Road Pollution Solutions is built on years of research by environmental charity Thames21 and its partner Middlesex University, as well as the South East Rivers Trust. The charity started its initial road runoff project identifying key polluting London roads in 2019, with funding help from the Greater London Authority, Transport for London and the Environment Agency.

Additional support for the creation of the tool was provided by the UKRI/NERC-funded CAMELLIA project.