The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has today announced £2.5m for Hackney to invest in transport projects that will benefit the local community.

Transport for London (TfL) has allocated the money through Local Implementation Plan (LIP) funding for the borough to spend on projects that support the Mayor's Transport Strategy.

The funding is awarded to support projects in the London boroughs that will make cycling safer and easier, improve walking facilities, make roads safer, smooth traffic flow and breathe new life into town centres, public squares and local shopping areas to boost the local economy.

The £2.5m funding package in 2013/14 will finance a range of transport projects in Hackney, including:

  • £580,000 to make cycling safer and easier in the borough, with a wide range of improvements including cycle parking, cycle paths and cycle training to anyone that lives, works or studies in the borough
  • £302,000 to improve road safety along a busy stretch of Northwold Road ensuring children have easy access to the local school and the elderly and wheelchair users can safely get to and from local shops. The scheme will also improve the condition of the public realm helping to regenerate the local area

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said:  'This funding will benefit all of London and everyone living in, working in or visiting Hackney. 

'A world class city deserves a world class transport system and the borough will use this money to make significant improvements for local people.'

Local investment

This year, two new measures have been introduced which will help the boroughs to drive down their costs, deliver value for money and minimise the disruption caused by construction works and road maintenance.  

Boroughs can use the new London Highways Alliance Contracts (LoHAC) to avoid the need for each authority to separately appoint contractors to undertake works. 

These are four area-based joint highway contracts awarded in November by TfL and the boroughs to reduce costs, provide consistency in the quality of works and materials and to minimise disruption.

In addition, projects undertaken on main roads in the boroughs will be co-ordinated by TfL so that the method and timing of roadworks is managed to reduce their impact in the capital and associated inconvenience and disruption to residents and road users.

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy CBE said:  'We are working in partnership with Hackney and with all the London boroughs to bring real improvements to communities across the city. 

'The borough will be using this investment to fund hundreds of projects that will benefit all road users, including cyclists and pedestrians. 

'Public squares and local shopping areas will be rejuvenated, attracting more people to the area to boost the local economy.'

Last year in Hackney it funded 496 cycle parking spaces, cycle training for 680 children and 789 adults, 19 new accessible bus stops, enabled 51 schools to participate in walking events and 36 in cycling events, six new on-street electric vehicle charging points and 20 new street trees.

Notable larger projects undertaken in Hackney include the completion of the Kingsland High Street project which completed in June 2012. 

This received £1.9m from TfL towards the total £2.2m cost of the project which greatly improved the area around the high street, creating better conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and other users and providing better access to the station, market and shopping centre.

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 individual transport projects are the responsibility of each borough.