"This £3.7m investment will go towards directly improving transport for people in Hillingdon"

This £3.7m investment will go towards directly improving transport for people in Hillingdon

The £3.7m funding includes £886,000 for the London Cycle Network+ for more cycle lanes and better facilities for cyclists in Hillingdon, £440,000 for School Travel Plans, £455,000 for road safety improvements across Hillingdon including the Joel Street and Tolcarne Drive junctions and £50,000 for noise barriers to reduce road traffic noise from the A4, A40 and A312.  

The funding is part of the record-breaking five year £792m programme for local transport schemes included in the Transport for London (TfL) £10bn Investment Programme.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said: "This new £3.7 million investment in local transport schemes will make the daily journeys of people in Hillingdon, safer, greener and more accessible, whether they are travelling by public transport, by car, on foot or by bike.

"Thanks to extra investment in local transport schemes, cycling has increased by 83 per cent since 2000 and more than 1600 school travel plans have been approved which encourage and enable more children and their parents to walk to school."

Local transport inprovements

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said: "This £3.7m investment will go towards directly improving transport for people in Hillingdon. Local people feel strongly about transport in their area and this funding will make a real difference to their experience each day.

"The investment will fund both large and small projects that will improve bus journeys and access to public transport, reduce congestion, improve the environment and promote a healthier lifestyle.

"This funding is an important part of our wider programme of spending in the boroughs to make improvements to local transport."

Projects funded in Hillingdon for 2008/09 include:

  • £886,000 for the London Cycle Network+
  • £455,000 for road safety improvements, including Joel Street and Tolcarne Drive junctions reducing the carriageway space crossed by pedestrians and creating areas for pedestrians to safely stand in the middle of the road when crossing. It is estimated that these proposals will cut the number of accidents by over a third
  • £150,000 for 20mph zones in Hillingdon to improve safety in local streets
  • £50,000 to erect noise barriers to reduce road traffic noise from some of the loudest roads in the borough, such as the A4, A40 and A312.  A feasibility study will identify suitable locations
  • £50,000 for measures to improve bus services and journey times, including a review of Route 282 to ensure all bus stops are fully accessible
  • £20,000 to finish the reconstruction work on Swakeleys Bridge Road. Its 25 tonne weight limitation will be raised following strengthening work. This is a very important connecting route to the A40

Editors notes

  • Each year the borough prepares a Local Implementation Plan to demonstrate how they propose to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally. While TfL awards funding for individual schemes, project delivery is the responsibility of the borough
  • Priorities for the Local Implementation Plans include:
    • Improving road safety
    • Improving bus journey times and reliability
    • Relieving traffic congestion and improving journey time reliability
    • Improving the working of parking and loading arrangements
    • Improving accessibility for all on the transport network
    • Encouraging walking and cycling
    • Bringing transport infrastructure into a good state of repair
  • Below is a table with a breakdown of 2008/09 Local Implementation Plan funding for Hillingdon:
    Principal road renewals - £563,000
    Bridge strengthening - £20,000
    Local safety schemes - £455,000
    20mph zones - £150,000
    Education, training and publicity - £27,000
    Walking - £100,000
    Cycling - £120,000
    London Cycle Network+ - £886,000
    Bus stop accessibility - £145,000
    Bus priority - £660,000
    School Travel Plans - £440,000
    Travel awareness - £10,000
    Environment - £140,000
    Local area accessibility - £40,000
    Total £3,736,000
  • A School Travel Plan is a package of measures, tailored to the needs of individual schools to deliver alternative transport methods for the school run. The aim of a school travel plan is to reduce single occupancy car journeys to school, reduce congestion and increase safety around schools
  • The London Cycle Network+ is funded by TfL. The London Cycle Network+ will provide 900km of safer, faster cycle routes through the Capital. It's due to be finished by 2010 and is one of TfL's major investments