Mayor of London confirms money for local transport improvements and Cycle Superhighways

London's Mayor today announced that he was giving the London Borough's £155m for local transport improvements including £1.49m to “support” Cycle Superhighways. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the release of details of the charging regime for his new bike hire scheme.

According to a Transport for London (TfL) statement the funding is designed to improve local town centres and public spaces, create more shared space and simplify streetscapes.  It will also increase cycling facilities, support electric vehicles and car clubs and smooth traffic flow.

Examples of where the money will be spent include:

• Central London - £935,000 for streetscape and environmental improvements underneath the Westway and outside the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. In addition TfL is providing £6.55m towards the iconic Exhibition Road shared space project in the Capital’s museum district and £935,000 for streetscape and environmental improvements underneath the Westway and outside the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital;
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• South London - £1,230,000 for town centre improvements to Clapham Junction to provide a better interchange between transport modes and to provide better access for pedestrians;
• West London - £840,000 for improvements along the Twickenham Road aimed at smoothing traffic flow, providing improved conditions for cyclists, buses and pedestrians;
• East London - £250,000 to make road safety improvements in Havering, such as upgrading pedestrian crossings including around schools; and
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• North London - £130,000 to extend the existing Covent Garden pilot area for Legible London wayfinding scheme, encouraging more walking between Kings Cross and the Bloomsbury area and Covent Garden area.

The Mayor also announced an additional £1.49m of funding for the two pilot Cycle Superhighways being delivered next year – which along with his bike hire scheme are Mayor Boris's flagship cycling projects.  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 in the eight boroughs through which the new cycle routes pass. 

In a statement accompanying the announcement of his local transport spending plans 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. According to TfL, the Mayor has simplified the system - reducing the number of funding streams from 23 to five, and introducing fairer funding formulas where needed.

Commenting on the Mayor's initiative, London’s Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said: “The boroughs have 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.  Boroughs also have 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.”