Mayor confirms £2.5m for local transport improvements in Barking and Dagenham and £107,000 to support Cycle Superhighways

The Mayor of London today confirmed £2.5m for Barking and Dagenham to spend on local transport improvements during 2010/11, including £350,000 for essential road maintenance. 

Barking and Dagenham has been developing proposals for a number of schemes that it will be financing with the funding package, including:

• £450,000 to improve the Rainham Road Corridor including smoothing traffic flow, improving road safety and public transport reliability
• £100,000 to improve the walking and cycling route along the River Roding to encourage active travel and cut C02 emissions
• £200,000 to make further improvements to the Creekmouth Area including enhancing streetscapes, developing shared space and creating better access to jobs and services
• £25,000 to improve walking to Ripple school by addressing local safety concerns and also to address congestion around the school
• £65,000 to increase cycle training for both adults and children to encourage active travel

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: 'Even in these tough economic times I am committed to providing this funding to all of London's boroughs.

'The investment means that across the Capital town centres and public spaces are being overhauled, cycling and walking facilities are being improved, and roads are being made safer.

'We have cut red tape to make it easier for borough councils to choose the local transport projects that benefit their residents the most, simplifying the funding system and working together to give local people the improvements they want.

'This time we're also giving an extra focus to cycling - helping to provide the training, cycle parking, and maintenance knowhow to support the introduction of the first two Cycle Superhighways next year.'

Funding for local schemes is allocated each year by Transport for London.  

The Mayor has simplified the system - reducing the number of funding streams from 23 to five, and introducing fairer funding formulas where needed. 

Improving town centres

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said: 'Barking and Dagenham has identified a range of small and large scale projects that will make a real difference to local people by improving town centres and public spaces, reducing the number of collisions on our roads, improving the environment and promoting greener forms of travel. 

'Barking and Dagenham also has the flexibility to move certain funding between projects if, during the course of the year, they find more or less funding is needed for individual schemes.'

Alongside Local Implementation Plan allocations for cycling projects, the Mayor announced an additional £107,000 for Barking and Dagenham as part of £1.49m funding for the eight boroughs benefitting from the two pilot Cycle Superhighways being delivered next year. 

The money has been allocated to provide the appropriate cycle training, parking and maintenance to address the increase in demand from residents living near the new cycling infrastructure, part of the Mayor's cycling revolution in London.

The Cycle Highways funding allocated to Barking and Dagenham is as follows:

• Each borough produces a Local Implementation Plan (LIP) to demonstrate how they plan to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally. While Transport for London allocated funding for individual schemes, the LIP and delivery of individual projects is the responsibility of each borough
• In addition to the usual borough allocation, TfL has included £100,000 for each of the boroughs to spend locally on transport as they choose
• Below is a table with a breakdown of Local Implementation Plan funding for Barking and Dagenham: