Increase in funding and greater freedom over spending for Lewisham to cut road deaths, improve town centres and cycling facilities, tackle the school run and carry out essential main road maintenance.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson today announced £3.4m of funding from Transport for London (TfL) for Lewisham to deliver local transport improvements during the financial year 2009/10. 

As well as increasing next year's local transport funding from TfL - up to £168.3m from £161m in 2008/09 - the Mayor also confirmed that London's boroughs will have greater freedom in choosing local transport projects.

TfL has included £100,000 for the borough council to spend locally on transport as it chooses.

The £3.4m package will allow the borough to finance several schemes to improve local transport for residents including:

  • £240,000 road renewal works on Sydenham Road to repair any uneven surfaces, potholes and cracks. This will improve journeys and safety for all road users
  • £218,000 for a safety scheme in the Catford Hill & Perry Hill area. In order to reduce personal injury collisions, measures such as traffic islands and kerb build-outs will be implemented
  • £150,000 for improvement of the walking environment at Brockley Rise shopping parade. The area currently has a severely degraded environment with struggling retail outlets. Funding will allow for a dramatic alteration of the overall quality of the environment through a complete upgrade of the entire street to encourage walking to local shops and introduce linked bus stop and cycle improvements in conjunction with other TfL modal programmes. This is also a key route to schools
  • £100,000 for cycle training and £20,000 for cycle parking improvements
  • £40,000 to improve road safety for children, parents and other road users at Baring Primary School.  The measures include a 20mph zone and other traffic calming improvements to slow traffic in Linchmere Road

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: 'When I was elected I promised I would be different and give greater freedom to the Boroughs.

'This is why this year I have introduced a £100,000 award for Boroughs to spend as they choose.

'Boroughs are being given greater freedom to develop and deliver the schemes they want, which means more choice over a range of key local schemes to improve town centres and cycling facilities, tackle the school run and improve local roads.'
 
'I am awarding Lewisham a budget of £3.4m next year for local schemes that will make travelling safer, more accessible and more environment-friendly, helping to improve the quality of life for people across the borough.'

Funding for local transport schemes is allocated each year by TfL in response to the applications from boroughs based on their Local Implementation [transport] Plans (LIPs).

Funding is currently available for a wide range of programmes including road safety, maintaining borough roads, tackling the school run, improving walking, cycling and the local environment, making transport more accessible and measures to improve bus journeys.

Notes to editors:

Below is a table with a breakdown of LIP funding for Lewisham:
 20mph zones  £155,000
 Bus Priority  £470,000
 Bus Stop Accessibility  £80,000
 Education, Training, Publicity  £48,000
 London Cycling Network+  £275,000
 Accessibility  £60,000
Local Safety Schemes  £493,000
 Cycling  £170,000
 Parallel Initiatives  £110,000
 Principal road renewal  £240,000
 Regeneration  £80,000
 School Travel Plans  £288,000
 Streets For People  £620,000
 Town Centres  £30,000
 Travel Awareness  £21,000
 Walking  £150,000
 Work Travel Plans  £15,000
 Trial funding  £100,000
 Bridge Strengthening and Assessment  £40,000
 TOTAL:  £3,445,000
  • Each London borough has a LIP approved by the Mayor containing proposals to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally. While TfL allocates funding for individual schemes, LIP and individual project delivery is the responsibility of each borough
  • 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, aiming to reduce single occupancy car journeys to school, cut congestion and increase safety near schools
  • Priorities for Local Implementation Plans include:
    • Improving road safety 
    • Encouraging walking and cycling 
    • 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 
    • Bringing transport infrastructure into a state of good repair 
    • School travel planning