£148m announced for London boroughs to improve road safety

The Mayor of London and Transport for London have announced £147.8m funding for projects to improve road safety, and increase cycling and walking across the capital.

Funds will be spent across several London boroughs for their Local Implementation Plans (LIP), part of a London-wide transport plan. The City of London will receive £1.4m, £200,000 of which will “transform” the notorious Bank junction, where 26-year-old Ying Tao was killed in June, with wider pavements and cycle routes.

Westminster gets the biggest funding injection of £6.4m, which will be spent “to transform public spaces”. Of this £1m will go to the West End, including heavily criticised Cambridge Circus improvements, which is, in name, part of cycling “Quietway 19”, but campaigners have said gives no thought to cyclists.

ONE London borough gets more cycle funding than whole of Greater Manchester

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said: “This latest round of funding will help to transform scores of locations in all four corners of our great city. It is specifically targeted to help make our roads, town centres and open spaces more attractive places with better facilities for walking and safer cycling. By helping the boroughs deliver on important local transport schemes, we can help to spur jobs and growth across London.”

London’s Transport Commissioner, Mike Brown MVO, said: “Londoners will see real improvements to their local areas as a result of this funding. Working with London boroughs, hundreds of transport projects will be delivered that will benefit pedestrians and road users, through safer streets and improved public squares and shopping areas. These improvements will help transform communities and boost the local economy.”

In addition to funding for boroughs, TfL says it is “working with them to help further improve the efficiency of the delivery of projects, ensuring value for money and keeping disruption to a minimum”.

Local Implementation Plans are prepared by each London borough (known as Local Transport Plans outside of London) to set out how each one proposes to meet the London-wide Mayor’s Transport Strategy in their area. Encouraging people to cycle is a key Mayoral priority.

Across the capital boroughs vary widely in their road safety records, with Westminster criticised this year for “mind-boggling” numbers of road casualties.