Increase in funding and greater freedom over spending for Hillingdon 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 £3.6m of funding from Transport for London (TfL) for Hillingdon 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 £3.6m package will allow the borough to finance several schemes to improve local transport for residents including:

£812,000 for road renewal works on Stanwell Moor Road to repair any uneven surfaces, potholes and cracks.  This will improve journeys and safety for all road users.

  • £300,000 for a local safety scheme at Cherry Lane Roundabout that will see the closure of the existing east/west vehicle movements across the roundabout in order to reduce the conflict points and improve road safety
  • £85,000 for cycle training
  • £50,000 for community audits that will identify and tackle crime hotspots at interchanges, parks, leisure centres and local amenities throughout the borough. This will increase awareness of community safety and therefore increase footfall to major trip attractors. The audits will inform future pedestrian improvement programmes to encourage greater levels of walking
  • £15,000 for the provision of school signage, road lining and fencing at a number of schools across the borough in association with School Travel Plans produced in 2008-09. These measures warn drivers to drive carefully outside schools, creating a safer environment for pedestrians, particularly schoolchildren, and other road users

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 Hillingdon a budget of £3.6m 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 Local Implementation Plan funding for Hillingdon:

 20mph zones  375k
 Bus Priority  550k
 Bus Stop Accessibility  75k
 Education, Training, Publicity  25k
 Environment  70k
London Cycling Network  + 238k
 Accessibility  60k
 Local Safety Schemes  550k
 Cycling  180k
 Principal road renewal  812k
 Regeneration  100k
 School Travel Plans  287k
 Travel Awareness   18k
 Walking 150k
 Trial funding  100k
 Bridge Strengthening and Assessment  45k
TOTAL:  3,635k

  • Each London borough has a Local Implementation Plan (LIP) approved by the Mayor containing proposals to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally. While Transport for London (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
  • NB funding can be broken down by LIP programmes as above once final allocations have been approved