Mayor announces over £5m for local transport improvements in Lambeth

The funding has been allocated by Transport for London (TfL) through the Local Implementation Plan (LIP) process and is awarded to the borough to spend on projects that support the Mayor's Transport Strategy, including safer roads, smoothing traffic flow, rejuvenating town centres and better facilities for cycling and walking.

The £5m funding package in 2012/13 will finance a range of transport projects in Lambeth, including:

• £1.16m to help pilot Lambeth's new 'cooperative approach' to designing transport and environment schemes and carry out improvements to pedestrian and cycle facilities in Oval, Stockwell, Vassall, Coldharbour, Ferndale, Larkhall and Clapham Town areas of the borough. As part of its plans to become the country's first cooperative council, Lambeth Council is developing a new 'community led' approach to designing transport improvements, working much more closely with residents through its 'Neighbourhood Enhancement Programme'. The LIP funding will help get this off the ground in the pilot wards of Oval, Vassall, Coldharbour, Ferndale, Larkhall and Clapham Town
• £550,000 to encourage more cycling in the borough, including cycle parking (both on street and residential), greenways for off-street cycling and route and junction improvements to facilitate safe cycling
• £110,000 for phase one of a two year project to make crossings and residential streets safe around Loughborough Junction

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'London is undergoing a neo-Victorian level of investment in its transport network. 

'Every London borough is receiving money that will directly benefit communities, making London an even better place to live and work. We've also cut bureaucracy to make it easier for the boroughs to decide how they want to spend their funding.'

The LIP funds hundreds of large and small scale transport projects every year. 

Last year in Lambeth it financed 434 cycle parking spaces, cycle training for 1,066 children and 612 adults ,17 new accessible bus stops, 24 workplaces to participate in walking events and 36 in cycling events, three new on-street electric vehicle charging points and 42 new street trees.

Working in partnership

Notable larger projects undertaken in Lambeth this year include major improvements to Venn Street, Clapham which receive £465,000 funding from the LIP, as part of the Mayor's Great Outdoors programme. 

This has created new shared space, making it possible for the popular market to be held weekly and allows local restaurants and cafes to use the pavement area.

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, said: 'Year on year the boroughs continue to deliver innovative projects that support the Mayor's vision for transport in the Capital.

'This investment will build on the excellent work that has already been achieved and complement the huge programme of work we at TfL are undertaking to make his vision a reality through working in partnership with the boroughs.'

The funding was previously forecast to reduce year on year to reflect the reduced general grant TfL receives from the Department for Transport. 

However, because of the importance of the boroughs in delivering the priorities of Mayor's Transport Strategy, the funding has been kept at a consistent level to 2013/14.

• Each borough produces a 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
• A detailed breakdown of funding for bridge strengthening projects (£5.3m), which will be allocated to the bridges in most need of work will be announced in the New Year
• Total allocation by programme area: