"This funding will allow the boroughs to make real improvements to town centres"

This funding will allow the boroughs to make real improvements to town centres

The Mayor of London has confirmed £146m of funding which will allow boroughs to transform town centres and revolutionise roads across the Capital.

The money was allocated by Transport for London (TfL) for the London boroughs to spend on local transport improvements.

It will fund local projects which support the Mayor's Transport Strategy, including improvements to local town centres and public spaces, new cycling facilities, safer roads and measures to smooth traffic flow.

Today's funding announcement of £146m will mean the vast majority of the boroughs' proposed schemes for 2011/12 will be delivered.

To support this, the Mayor has given greater flexibility to the boroughs so that they can prioritise projects according to local need.

Following the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, the funding allocated to London boroughs will fall over the next three years to reflect the new reduced grant TfL receives from the Department for Transport. 

However, the funding for programmes such as road maintenance, bridge strengthening, major schemes and the borough discretionary fund have all been safeguarded. 

Local improvements

Funding to benefit all London boroughs is also being made available for modernising traffic signals and partnership initiatives such as completion of the London Strategic Walking Network.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: 'This funding will allow the boroughs to make real improvements to town centres, provide better cycling facilities and make roads safer across the Capital.

'I'm especially pleased we have been able to cut the red tape that used to surround these schemes and give the boroughs more freedom to choose how they want to spend money to improve their local communities.'

The funding supports hundreds of local transport projects, including:

  • £400,000 to make improvements to the Cheapside Area to widen pavements on either side of key streets and completely redesign the Cheapside/New Change junction to make it safer and easier to use
  • £267,000 for plans to develop Wellesley Road in Croydon as a greener, more accessible route, by creating more crossings, removing street clutter, while maintaining its use by buses and other heavy traffic
  • £540,000 to develop Fulham Palace Road including measures to smooth traffic through this busy and congested route, upgrading pelican crossings to puffin crossings and waiting and loading improvements
  • More than £1.3m to improve East Ham Town Centre in Newham, including better lighting, paved roads as well as installation of CCTV cameras for improved safety and in readiness for the 2012 Games
  • £550,000 to improve Wood Street and the surrounding area in Waltham Forest including removal of street clutter, improved access to public transport, new lighting as well as new trees along the road

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, said: 'Delivering the Mayor's vision for transport in London is an ambitious task and it is essential we work in partnership with the London boroughs to make it happen.

'This investment will play a significant role in continuing to improve transport across the Capital.'


Notes to editors:

  • Each borough produces a Local Implementation Plan (LIP) to demonstrate how they plan to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally. While TfL allocates funding for individual schemes, the LIP and delivery of individual projects is the responsibility of each borough
  • Following the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, the funding allocated to London boroughs will  be reduced over the next three years to reflect the reduced grant TfL receives from the Department for Transport. It will fall by £4m (-3%) in 2011/12, £8m (-5%) in 2012/13 and £18m (-12%) in 2013/14
  • A detailed breakdown of funding for bridge strengthening projects (£7m) will be finalised in February 2011 which will be allocated to the bridges in most need of work
  • Total allocation by programme area:
     Programme  Allocation across London (£m)
     Principal road maintenance  15.3
     Bridge strengthening  8
     Major schemes  26
     Signal modernisation  8.1
     Local transport funding  3.3
     Borough Officer training  0.3
     Partnerships  0.87
     Strategic Walk Network  0.8
     Corridors, neighbourhoods and supporting measures  83.3
     Total  146
  • Funding allocations for 2011/12:
     Borough

     Corridors, neighbour-
    hoods and supporting measures

    (Thousand)

     Principal road maintenance

    (Thousand)

     Major schemes

    (Thousand)

     Local transport funding

    (Thousand)

     Total

    (Thousand)

     Barking & Dagenham  1,741  355  0  100  2,196
     Barnet  3,888  653  0  100  4,641
     Bexley  2,074  726  270  100  3,170
     Brent  2,711  590  190  100  3,591
     Bromley  2,949  645  300  100  3,994
     Camden  2,522  345  2,120  100  5,087
     City of London  867  88  1,285  100  2,340
     Croydon  3,297  577  0  100  3,974
     Ealing  3,417  518  30  100  4,065
     Enfield  3,251

     780

     1,310  100  5,441
     Greenwich  2,739  570  550  100  3,959
     Hackney  2,343  195  1,250  100  3,888
     Hammersmith & Fulham  2,072  364  72  100  2,608
     Haringey  2,259  380  100  100  2,839
     Harrow  1,749  469  1,610  100  3,928
     Havering  2,588  356  1,030  100  4,074
     Hillingdon  2,952  580  900  100  4,532
     Hounslow  2,837  424  0  100  3,361
     Islington  2,094  249  150  100  2,593
     Kensington & Chelsea  2,038  187  1,550  100  3,875
     Kingston  1,610  341  1,000  100  3,051
     Lambeth  3,065  310  1,685  100  5,160
     Lewisham  2,814  245  1,300  100  4,459
     Merton  1,851  414  1,151  100  3,516
     Newham  2,417  590  618  100  3,725
     Redbridge  2,568  431  245  100  3,344
     Richmond  2,023  645  0  100  2,768
     Southwark  2,997  350  319  100  3,766
     Sutton  1,613  120  0  100  1,833
     Tower Hamlets  2,622  199  500  100  3,421
     Waltham Forest  2,330  470  950  100  3,850
     Wandsworth  2,962  236  440  100  3,738
     Westminster  4,069  592  5,000  100  9,761
     Total  83,330  13,994  25,925  3,300  126,549