Graham Road

A short history of Graham Road

Graham Road is one of Hackney's important east–west roads, an “A” road linking the Dalston area with Mare Street and Hackney Central. Its history reflects a wider change across inner London: from a local street serving a growing Victorian suburb to a busy road carrying motor traffic through a densely populated residential area.

The central story is how the growth of motor traffic changed the road's function, affecting the balance between people walking, cycling, using public transport and driving.

1. The Victorian era: a new road for a growing suburb (1860s–1900)

Graham Road was laid out as part of the network of streets connecting Hackney's expanding residential developments in the 1860s. The surrounding area developed rapidly, with Victorian terraces, shops and other local amenities.

By the late Victorian period, Graham Road and Dalston Lane had become an important tram corridor, establishing a public transport function that continues today through its bus routes.

2. The rise of motor traffic (1900s–1960s)

During the twentieth century, trams gave way to buses and motor vehicles became increasingly dominant. Graham Road's role as a through-route grew alongside its continuing function as a residential and shopping street.

The result was a road increasingly expected to accommodate competing demands: buses, cars, goods vehicles, pedestrians and local businesses. There was even a plan to build a massive motorway here in this period - see our blog post.

3. Residents protest heavy traffic (1970s–1980s)

Crucially, complaints about excessive traffic on Graham Road are not new.

Residents were protesting traffic levels at least as early as 1979, decades before the introduction of modern Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. The July 1979 Hackney People's Press documented these protests, and archive photographs record further campaigning around this period.

In October 1979, Hackney MP Ronald Brown complained in Parliament that restrictions on heavy lorries using Tower Bridge had turned Graham Road into a 24-hour lorry thoroughfare.

This is especially interesting because it documents traffic displacement onto Graham Road nearly half a century ago.

4. The modern main road (1990s–2010s)

Graham Road became firmly established as part of the A1207 corridor, carrying substantial volumes of motor vehicles and buses.

5. LTNs and renewed traffic controversy (2020–present)

The introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods around London Fields and Hackney Downs, followed by changes to Amhurst Road, has renewed debate about Graham Road.

In 2022, Hackney Council acknowledged that traffic had increased on Graham Road following the London Fields LTN, although overall east–west traffic across the wider area had fallen by 11.6%.

In 2025–26, residents again raised concerns about congestion, pollution and road safety. A local campaign group reported increases in traffic between January 2024 and November 2025 (one year ago). However, increases during this time were likely affected by major building work happening on Amhurst Road, and we await new data to see where traffic levels are now that the Amhurst Road work is complete.

Hackney Council has proposed further bus priority, pedestrian crossings and junction improvements in their Main Roads Technical Note 2023-6 document. See below for more on these proposals.

The main historical lesson: It has been a heavily trafficked route, and a focus of residents' protests, for at least five decades. Recent traffic changes may have had some effect, but the underlying conflict between through-traffic and local quality of life is much older.

Data on traffic on Graham Rd

 The most recent Traffic in “Traffic in Hackney Annual Technical Note 2025” report shows that traffic volumes on Graham Road increased significantly during the second half of 2025 then declined in early 2026, albeit at a higher level than before 2025. The peak in 2025 coincides with the major building work on Amhurst Road and Pembury Junction that occurred then. This looks like it confirms local residents' experience that traffic increased during the Amhurst Road work. That work concluded in Autumn 2026 and, since it's usual for road changes to take a year or more to settle in, traffic monitoring needs to continue during 2027 to ensure the impact is clearly understood.

Residents issues - what are the problems?

• Excessive traffic volumes
• Noise from horns and loud motorbikes and cars
• Dangerous driving on the roads, including U turns, speeding at quiet times, overtaking to reach side roads ahead
• Insufficient pedestrian crossings
• Buses stalled in congestion
• Dangerous cycling conditions
• Poor air quality

Potential solutions - how Graham Road could be improved

The council’s Main Roads 2023-6 document proposed the following improvements to Graham Road: 

We are still waiting for the majority of these improvements to be implemented.

Crossings

Improved crossings on raised speed tables with level access for pedestrians should be introduced for pedestrians and cyclists, at locations local residents can highlight to traffic engineers.

Removing through traffic from side roads

Graham road itself is an A-road and through route, however some of the minor side roads coming off it are also carrying inappropriate volumes of through traffic.  These minor road cut-throughs are increasing traffic on Graham Road itself by making it a more attractive route. For example, a significant number of vehicles coming from the east (Mare St) are travelling along Graham Road before turning right into Navarino Rd to reach Dalston Lane, then some continuing north via St Marks Rise. One potential measure would be to prevent these minor roads being used as through-routes.  There are different ways this can be done including potentially using traffic filters or banned turns. This could reduce traffic volumes on Graham Road, and would certainly improve traffic flow as traffic waiting for a gap to turn into the minor roads causes delays on Graham Road itself.

Parking spaces

Many of the parking spaces could be converted to rain gardens or bus lanes where possible, with resident parking moved to side streets. Rain gardens should contain trees and planting to improve the streetscene. Parking spaces should also be replaced by loading bays since households on main roads often find it difficult to receive a delivery, or more cycle ‘hangars’ (secure cycle parking for residents). Kerbside management should be coordinated with nearby side-roads where it might be more appropriate to accommodate dockless cycle hire parking. Rain gardens can also be placed on side roads near junctions (though not blocking the crossing point), with trees, to add to greenery. 

Side road junctions

Continuous pavements across side road junctions can make the street safer for pedestrians.

Street trees

There may be an opportunity to add more street trees (additional to any planted in rain gardens in erstwhile parking spaces) however these would have to be located on the pavement and this should only happen if pavements are very wide, to ensure pedestrians are not impeded. 

Front gardens

Many front gardens on Graham Road already have hedges and greenery, but many have none at all. Residents should be encouraged and supported to add soft landscaping, including hedges or small trees. The nearby community gardeners at Garden of Earthly Delights may be able to help de-pave and re-green some gardens to help absorb noise and pollution, and make the street more pleasant.  

Bus priority on Graham Road

At the Mare Street end, an advance stop light could hold traffic back so the bus can move from the bus stop ahead of traffic. At the Queensbridge Road end, the bus lane could be extended by 10 or 15 metres to reduce the number of cars in front of the bus at the traffic lights, in the left hand turn filter lane. More generally, some parking could be removed to enable bus lanes to speed up bus trips and make using public transport more attractive.

Reducing overall traffic 

Road User Charging is likely one of the most effective methods of reducing miles driven in Hackney. If residents and non-residents had to pay per mile driven, it would almost certainly focus minds on whether a motor vehicle is the right tool for the job. In many cases, we believe, there are alternatives which would avoid paying the per mile charge.